Chris Froome has blamed his equipment after being omitted from the Israel Premier Tech line-up for the Tour de France, saying because of the equipment shortcomings he was limited in his ability to show off his true form of late.
However, recently retired ex-pro Philippe Gilbert has said it's now over for Froome, adding the four-time Tour winner had his chance and now his time had passed; an appraisal that perhaps would have been accurate at any time in recent years.
Gilbert said while Froome managed to make the podium on a stage of last year's Tour, it wasn't enough and he doubted he could repeat those performances had he been selected for the 2023 edition, which gets underway in Bilbao on Saturday.
“Success? I don’t think so," Gilbert said when asked if Froome could be successful at the Tour ever again. "I don't think that Froome is even able to finish just a normal World Tour GC race in the top 10.
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“He’s still able to do some good stages, I think he was twice third last year in stages," Gilbert added speaking to Eurosport. "I have the feeling that’s quite the maximum that he can do today. And with one more year in the legs, it will not become better. Unfortunately I think he had his chances and it’s over today.”
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Froome won the Tour four times, taking seven stages along the way and the climbers' classification once. He also won two editions of La Vuelta and claimed the Giro once. Indeed, his last career win came at the Giro, in 2018.
The last time he crossed the line first in a race was on stage 18 of the 2018 Giro, winning the mountain stage to Jafferau by three minutes after an epic solo breakaway. He was absolved of an anti-doping rule violation for excess levels of salbutamol in the 2017 Vuelta.
In the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné, Froome suffered a major crash during a TT recon ride, with fears for his life in the days that followed. While he has since returned to the peloton - and switched from Ineos Grenadiers to Israel Premier Tech from the start of 2021 - he has never gone close to regaining his former abilities; his best performance last year 3rd on the Alpe d'Huez stage at the Tour from the early breakaway.
While he was speaking lately about his plans for the Tour, he was left out of his team's line-up for the race but immediately said he would regroup and then refocus for future goals.
"’I'm obviously disappointed with the decision. The Tour de France holds an incredibly special place in my heart," he said. “Physically I was ready, but unfortunately I was unable to show my full ability at the races assigned to me due to equipment issues."
