For the first time since July 2011, the Tour de France rolls away from Saturday’s Grand Départ without Chris Froome. Already, in the brasseries and cafes around the Grand Place in central Brussels, where this year’s Tour’s teams were presented to the public in warm evening sunshine, the talk is of who will fill the vacuum left by the four-times winner.
Froome’s dramatic crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné has opened up the Tour. Most pundits point to his fast-rising Ineos teammate Egan Bernal as heir apparent, at the expense of the defending champion, Geraint Thomas, but plenty of others – even the French – rate their own chances.
Written by Jeremy Whittle in Brussels
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jul/04/chris-froome-absence-tour-de-france-chances under the title “Froome’s absence gives Tour riders reason to believe in their chances | Jeremy Whittle”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
