Chris Froome may share leadership with Dan Martin at 2021 Tour de France, say Israel Start-Up Nation

ByJames Walker-Roberts

Updated 17/11/2020 at 10:35 GMT

Chris Froome may not find himself as the sole leader for Israel Start-Up Nation at the 2021 Tour de France. Froome will be riding for a new team for the first time since 2010 after leaving Ineos, but may share leadership duties at the Grand Tour with Dan Martin, who finished fourth at the Vuelta a Espana this year.

Israel Start-Up Nation general manager Kjell Carlstrom has suggested Chris Froome could share leadership duties at next year’s Tour de France.

Froome will be riding for the team in 2021 after agreeing to join from Ineos, where he has spent the last 10 years.

The five-time Tour de France winner is still recovering from a serious crash at the 2019 Criterium du Dauphine and finished 98th in the recent Vuelta a Espana, where Israel Start-Up Nation's Dan Martin came fourth.

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Martin also won a stage in the opening week of the race and Carlstrom say the team may look to both riders as potential general classification options.

"Everything has to go well but that's the idea that Chris would be our Tour de France leader, but at the same time Dan showed great maturity,” he told Cyclingnews.

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Some teams have three potential leaders at the Tour so it wouldn't be bad to have at least two potential guys to fight for the podium. It's a good tactic.

Along with Froome, Israel Start-Up Nation have also added Michael Woods, Patrick Bevin, and Sep Vanmarcke to their ranks.

Carlstrom says they have a “pretty decent team” for 2021 and is hopeful Froome can rediscover his best form.

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I believe that if you have once been on a certain level it doesn't go away. Maybe it takes some time before you can come back but it's in you.

"The crash that he had - it was a really big one, so it takes some extra time before he can fire on all engines. I think that it was encouraging to see him improving at the Vuelta and then we'll see how things go over the winter and how much stronger he'll get.

"Even after that, he'll have a few more months until the next Grand Tour. I do believe that he's on the right track.

"I've always said that age is just a number and as long as you're motivated and physically able to ride well then there's no problem with being 40 years old."

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