Froome!

[Pan2]

What do we think? Coming from a long way out or a nailed on finish?

I'm no Ineos fan and am fairly ambivalent about Chris himself but I don't envy him his last few months there. Le Tour is going to be very awkward for all concerned I think. There's obviously quite a lot of money being spent at Israel Start Up Nation at the moment but I doubt they are going to have tge strength in numbers to protect him sufficiently to win a Grand Tour. That said, whilst most of his victories have been very much off the back of a strong team performance, he has had a few spectacular stage wins, and it was largely that monster solo effort on stage 19 that won him the 2018 Giro. So who knows? Maybe this is the chance he needs to prove he is more than a Sky/Ineos robot? At his age and after those injuries, I somehow doubt it though. Brailsford's "it's right for the team and its right for Chris" crap could probably be translated as "Chris is no longer any use to us" I suspect.

Not a Froome fan, it makes sense for him to leave Ineos - they have 23yr old Bernal now (with Thomas as back-up leader) no need for Froome any more.

Will the booing follow Froome in his new team or Ineos I wonder? Agree that Brailsford is full of crap.

I’m gutted. Loved froomey

I suspect that Ineos will still get the booing, as its their tactics and attitude that people dislike more than their individual riders. And the fact of how much they win. Admittedly Froome is not a popular individual either, but I suspect that once he is no longer riding for Ineos, and almost certainly therefore no longer winning, people won't be bothered or interested in him. Probably Ineos will also be a bit less unpopular with Bernal as leader (which he surely must be - G is too old now) as he's not British. So the animosity may decrease a bit both ways. However most fans of cycling will still dislike the sight of Ineos controlling races in their usual style. That's why so many, of all nationalities, were desperately hoping Julian Alaphillipe could carry the yellow jersey all the way to Paris last year I think, even though we knew it was an impossible dream.

Agree. He won't get what he had at SKY Ineos in terms of support.

Its also been quite nostalgic watching the call backs to 2012 and Froome's best-ofs on tv - all those rider and team names that have passed away or morphed into something else.
Radio Shack, Orica GreenEdge...excellent names.

And yes MrsA - it's the SKY/Ineos domination that was/is so nauseating to international fans, not so much the personalities. Froome won't have any of similar stick in the Israeli team.

We only have terrestrial tv, so have only been following the re-runs of 2018 TdF. Lovely to watch Thomas fulfilling his potential after all those years of loyal service, but it felt at the time, very much as though he was only given this chance due to Froome's early time losses. Still, catch those breaks when you can.

Dan Martin has already signed for ISN, so I guess that's his chance of being a team leader gone with Froome's signing.