‘Definitely not’ – Chris Froome can forget hopes of winning fifth Tour de France, says Robbie McEwen

Chris Froome is “definitely not” winning the Tour de France again, according to Eurosport expert Robbie McEwen. Froome’s hopes of joining Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain on five yellow jerseys look increasingly unlikely as he continues to look a shadow of his former self. Ad/> The Brit has not been the same rider since his horror crash during a recon ride at the Criterium de Dauphine in 2019, which left him with a fractured neck, femur, hip, elbow and ribs.

Mercan'Tour Classic‘I’ve seen a big progression’ – Froome posts best result since horror crash in 2019YESTERDAY AT 15:10 He returned to racing eight months later – a remarkable feat in itself – but has not cracked the top 10 in any major race since his comeback. However, he posted the best performance of his comeback on Tuesday at the Mercan'Tour Classic Alpes-Maritimes, finishing 11th after sticking to the lead group into the final climb. He issued an upbeat assessment after the one-day race in France, raising hopes he will appear at the Tour in July with Israel-Premier Tech, but McEwen says he should forget thoughts of adding to his haul of four titles and instead focus on helping the team.

“He should be at the Tour. That’s why Israel-Premier Tech signed him: to have a figurehead of the team, someone to fly the flag and get a lot of publicity,” said McEwen. “But in terms of performances, just purely physical on the bike, I don’t think he’s up to… definitely not winning the Tour anymore, I doubt that he will be in contention to win a stage.

“But he can make a difference to his own team. It all goes back to that horrible crash he had at the Dauphine. “He’s now 37, so he’s not getting any younger, it just gets harder and harder and