\n<\/p>\n
Four-time champion Chris Froome has been omitted from Israel-Premier Tech’s Tour de France team for the second year running.<\/b><\/p>\n
The British rider, who has not won a race since 2018, finished 81st in the recent Criterium du Dauphine, an event used traditionally to gauge form prior to La Grande Boucle.<\/p>\n
The 39-year-old has endured a difficult opening to the season after fracturing his wrist in the Tirreno-Adriatico in March and only returned to racing in May.<\/p>\n
Welshman Stephen Williams has made the eight-man squad, external<\/span><\/a>, designed to chase stage victories, after becoming the first British rider to win La Fleche Wallonne<\/a> in 88 years earlier this term.<\/p>\n Britain’s Jake Stewart and Canada’s Derek Gee, who impressed at the Dauphine, have also been included.<\/p>\n Froome finished 133rd in the 2021 Tour and was forced to withdraw 17 stages into the 2022 edition with Covid, while placed 26th in the general classification.<\/p>\n He originally joined Israel-Premier Tech in 2021, with the aim to get back to full fitness following a 2019 crash in which he sustained career-threatening injuries.<\/a><\/p>\n However, he has struggled to regain the sort of form that made him a multiple Grand Tour winner.<\/p>\n Sylvan Adams, Israel-Premier Tech’s owner, has previously said his signing has “absolutely not” been value for money, external<\/span><\/a> for the UCI Pro team.<\/p>\n Froome, who has one-year remaining on his contract with the Israeli team after this season, previously won seven Grand Tours in 10 years at Team Sky – the Tour de France in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, the Giro d’Italia in 2018 and the Vuelta a Espana in 2011 and 2017.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n