Ireland's Dan Martin looks set for free role at Tour de France

Dan Martin looks set to be given a free role at the Tour de France, where he will be permitted to target stage wins without riding for general classification.

And he will also be supported by the team in his bid for stage wins, even though Michael Woods would be the team's main general classification rider.

Israel Start-Up Nation is not due to name its team for the French Grand Tour until next week but has indicated Woods will lead the team from a general classification perspective.

And while Chris Froome's form has been poor and, by his own admission, well below what he expected, it seems he will be included in the team's line-up after all.

It will the first time Froome has ridden the Tour since 2018, when he finished 3rd overall, behind his then Team Sky team mate Geraint Thomas and runner-up Tom Dumoulin, then riding for Team Sunweb.

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Israel Start-Up Nation directeur Rik Verbrugghe has told La Dernière Heure the Tour de France team has not been confirmed and that final decisions would not be made until after the end of the Tour de Suisse this weekend.

However, he also outlined who the main riders would be and what their roles would be. He added the team's selection would, unfortunately, be influenced by injuries as several of the team's riders are out with broken bones at present.

“Our selection will be built around Michael Woods, who will go for the general classification, and Dan Martin who will aim for stages,” Verbrugghe said.

Aside from those two, Alessandro De Marchi is still out of action due to his crash at the Giro, after leading that race. Daryl Impey and Carl Fredrik Hagen are also out injured.

However, while Krists Neilands broke his collarbone after the opening TT stage of the Giro, the team is hopeful he will be ready for the Tour.

Verbrugghe added the team was not contractually obliged to pick Froome for the Tour, as some media reports had suggested. But he added Froome would likely still be picked as it would be a mental and physical boost for him and may help him towards La Vuelta later in the year.