Froome: Signing for BMC is complete rubbish

Team Sky rider denies reports that he discussed contracts with American team

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Chris Froome at the start of the Critérium du Dauphiné's first stage

(Bettini Photo)

Chris Froome has dismissed reports that he has discussed signing for BMC Racing in the future as 'complete rubbish'.

French sports newspaper L'Équipe reported on Thursday that Froome had offered his services to the BMC team, requesting a salary of five million Euro despite being under contract with Team Skyfor 2018. However, Froome told Cyclingnews at the start of stage 5 of the Criterium du Dauphine that this was not the case.

"Complete rubbish. I don’t know where that’s come from," he told Cyclingnews. "As it stands I have a contract until the end of 2018. I’ve got no intentions of leaving. I’ve not even thought about it. There’s been no discussion with Ochowicz."
Froome has been with Team Sky since its inception in 2010, and will lead the team's bid for their fifth Tour de France title - his fourth - this July.
L'Équipe claimed that Froome had been affected by events at Team Sky following the series of leaks and revelations concerning medical practices at Team Sky that are still being investigated by UK Anti-Doping. Froome was initially quiet when it was reported in early March that some riders had considered asking Brailsford to step down from his post. He eventually publicly backed Brailsford a week later, but said that the situation had been poorly handled. It appears that his relationship with Brailsford has been damaged by the revelations of Bradley Wiggins’ TUE injections, the jiffy-bag investigation and the subsequent headlines.
L’Équipe suggested that BMC has yet to make a final decision on the hiring Froome due to doubts about its long-term future. BMC has Richie Porte as its team leader for the 2017 Tour de France. They claimed that the BMC bike brand is set to step back as a title sponsor and become just a technical sponsor of the US-registered WorldTour team in 2018, with Tag Heuer likely to become the team’s title sponsor. However, L’Équipe also claims that the BMC team is in a moment of reflection due to the expected departure of team owner and principle long-term backer Andy Rihs.
L’Équipe concluded its report saying that Froome hopes to better understand his future before the start of the Tour de France.
When asked if he would like to ride with Porte in the future, Froome said it could be a possibility but he again dismissed the BMC link.
"I’d love to ride with Ritchie again but I’ve got no intentions of leaving Team Sky. [The story is] not true. It’s absolutely false. I’ve no idea where that came from. I’ve not been in any talks with BMC."
Froome surprisingly lost 37 seconds to Porte in Wednesday’s time trial stage at the Criterium du Dauphine and admitted he has work to do before the Tour de France.
"It was a tough time trial and not my best performance, but if anything it shows what great shape some of my other Tour de France rivals are in," Froome said after the stage. "We've got three weeks now after the Dauphine in terms of time trial work, and it's something obviously that I'll have to work on."
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