Tour de France ambitions take blow as Chris Froome abandons Critérium du Dauphiné ill

The run of promising results Chris Froome has been showing for the past few weeks has come to an abrupt stop as an illness has forced him to abandon the Critérium du Dauphiné ahead of the mountain stages where he'd be testing himself.

“I was looking forward to the final two stages of the Dauphiné, but I haven’t been feeling 100 percent. It’s disappointing to leave the race unfinished, but I’ve been progressing well, and I don’t want to set myself back at this important stage of the season," he told reporters before the start of stage seven where he would be attempting to get back to a high level in the mountains alongside some of the peloton's best. This means that if he is to ride the Tour de France, he will be going in with very little idea of what level he will be comparing to the competition. 

The Briton had shown promising signs of rising form by finishing the Mercan'Tour Classic in 11th place, and although distanced he finished a 35th spot in the hilltop to Sancy which allowed him to battle for a minor GC place. However, illness took over him in the following days, and has seen him loose ground in the peloton repeatedly.

There will be a sigh of relief that there was a justification for the time loss, but another of disappointment as Froome now finds himself in a complicated position to even get selected to the Tour de France.