Tour de France 2020: Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas ditched from Team Ineos line-up

Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas were on Wednesday left out of Team Ineos’ Tour de France line-up despite having won the race five times between them.

Both British riders have paid the price for being way off the pace during last week’s Criterium du Dauphine, where they finished outside the top 30 and prompted Ineos sporting director Gabriel Rasch to warn they needed to “step up”.

This morning Ineos said they had decided reigning champion Egan Bernal would lead their squad in the Tour, which starts on August 29, alongside Richard Carapaz, who won last year’s Giro d’Italia.

As a result, four-time Tour winner Froome will compete in the Vuelta a Espana, which begins on October 20, in what could be his farewell race for Ineos before leaving for Israel Start-Up Nation next year. Thomas, winner of the 2018 race in France, will lead the team’s assault on the Giro.

Froome has struggled to return to his best following an horrendous crash a year ago, when he hit a wall at high speed during training and broke his neck, femur, elbow, hip and ribs. The 35-year-old, who was hoping to win the Tour for a record-equalling fifth time, described competing in the Vuelta as a “readjustment” but admitted it was the right call.

“I’ve had an incredible recovery and I’m in a very fortunate position to be back racing now already but I’m not confident I can fulfil the necessary job that would be needed from me at this year’s Tour,” Froome said. “It’s a lot more realistic targeting the Vuelta and gives me a chance to really get stuck into something that’s deliverable.”

Ineos team principal Sir Dave Brailsford said Froome needed “a little bit more time to continue his progress to the top level” and insisted the Giro, which begins on October 3, is “an opportunity” for Thomas to add another Grand Tour triumph to his CV.

The Welsh rider is pleased he now has a target and said: “It feels like it’s back to some sort of normality with the team and racing and everything and it’s nice to finally have a firm plan in place.”

Ineos leader Bernal withdrew from the Dauphine before the penultimate stage because of back pains but is expected to be fully fit for the Tour.

Andrey Amador, Jonathan Castroviejo, Michal Kwiatkowski, Luke Rowe, Pavel Sivakov and Dylan van Baarle make up Ineos’ eight-man squad for the Tour, which begins in Nice.