Chris Froome signs with Israel Start-Up Nation cycling team
He intends to sign his long-term contact August 1, and from then on will be riding under the ISN's blue and white until the end of his storied career.
By ZACHARY KEYSERUpdated: AUGUST 21, 2020 03:11Chris Froome(photo credit: REUTERS/SATISH KUMAR)Israel Start-Up Nation (ISN), the Israeli professional cycling team, signed Britain's most decorated road cyclist to their roster on Thursday, four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome.Froome will be leaving Team Ineos at the end of the season.He intends to sign his long-term contract August 1, and from then on will be riding under the ISN's blue and white until the end of his storied career.“I’m really excited to be joining the ISN family," said Froome. "I look forward to challenging and being challenged by their talent and continuing to strive for the success that I've enjoyed up to now. ISN's impact on the sport is rapidly expanding, and I'm energized to be along for the ride. I feel we can achieve great things together.”With regard to leaving Team Ineos, Froome said, "It has been a phenomenal decade with the team. I look forward to exciting new challenges as I move into the next phase of my career but in the meantime my focus is on winning a fifth Tour de France with Ineos."The ISN itself, has made its way through the general classifications of cycling teams in just five years’ time – from continental, to pro-continental in 2017, to a world tour class team in 2019 – which earned it the ability to ride in the Tour de France.“This is an historic moment for ISN, Israel, Israeli sports, our many fans all around the world and, of course, for me personally – a moment of enormous pride,” said the team’s co-owner, Sylvan Adams.“Chris is the best rider of his generation and will lead our Tour de France and Grand Tour squad. We hope to make history together as Chris pursues further Tour de France and Grand Tour victories, achievements that would make a serious case for Chris to be considered the greatest cyclist of all time,” Adams added.ISN believes that Froome will be a great addition and leader for this up-and-coming team, hopefully making them a real contender in future races - more notably on cycling's largest stage, being the Tour de France.“We are committed to building a supportive Grand Tour team around Chris, such that we can make history together, as we compete to be the best, and achieve our principal goal: winning the Tour de France,” said Adams. “I am proud of the road we have travelled, which includes hosting the historic 2018 Giro d'Italia Grande Partenza in Israel, nurturing young Israeli talents, and inspiring a new generation of riders in Israel to take up the sport.
His former team general manager Sir Dave Brailsford said he and Froome "shared many memorable moments over the years, but I do believe this is the right decision for the team and for Chris," according to a team statement.Brailsford notes that the main reasoning behind Froome's departure was having to battle two other top-tier riders for the prestigious yellow Tour de France jersey, adding that he would like to assume "sole team leadership" given his accolades."Given his achievements in the sport, Chris is understandably keen to have sole team leadership in the next chapter of his career - which is not something we are able to guarantee him at this point," Brailsford noted. "A move away from Team Ineos can give him that certainty. At the same time, it will also give other members of our team the leadership opportunities they too have earned and are rightly seeking."In addition to being a four-time Tour de France champion, the Kenya-born rider Froome has won the Vuelta d’España twice (2017, 2011), the 2018 Giro d’Italia once where two stages took place in Israel, the Critérium du Dauphiné three times (2016, 2015, 2013) and seven individual stages of the Tour de France.He joined Team Sky, now Ineos, in 2009, and ran support during Sir Bradley Wiggins' 2012 Tour de France title run, which Wiggins successfully secured with Froome coming in second that year - it was Britain's first Tour de France title.From then on he would go on to be Britain's most decorated cyclist, winning the Tour four times himself - only two behind Belgian Eddy Merckx, who won the Tour six times throughout the 60s and 70s.With Chris, we will move to new heights at the very top of the sport. I wish to add that I admire Chris not only for his success as a cyclist, but also for how he conducts himself, as a true gentleman, off the bike. Chris will be a great role model for our team," Adams said.“So, in Hebrew, 'Baruch Haba' – welcome Chris Froome."
