Chris Froome has been forced to withdraw from next week’s Tirreno-Adriatico due to a back injury, with Richie Porte now leading Team Sky’s challenge in the week-long Italian stage race, which begins on Wednesday.
The British WorldTour outfit’s doctor, Alan Farrell, told the Team Sky website: “Chris has suffered a slight inflammation to the sacroiliac joint in the lower back.
“As a precaution we have chosen to withdraw him from next week’s Tirreno-Adriatico so he can focus on recovering and preparing for the Volta a Catalunya.”
Froome, runner-up to Astana's Vincenzo Nibali in last year's Tirreno-Adriatico, said on Twitter: “Slight inflammation in my lower back, so I’ll be putting my feet up for a few days on doctors orders. No racing for me in Tirreno next week.
“It’s disappointing to miss out on a week of solid racing, but rather safe than sorry at this point of the season.”
Team Sky performance manager, Rod Ellingworth, said: “This is just a minor setback for Chris and we hope he will get back to full training within a week.
“He’s obviously disappointed to miss Tirreno-Adriatico but we shouldn’t take any chances at this stage of the season.”
Porte had been due to begin his defence of his Paris-Nice title tomorrow, but Froome’s injury means he will now ride in Italy. Instead, Geraint Thomas will be Team Sky’s leader in France.
The reshuffling of the team’s line-up for forthcoming races also means that Sir Bradley Wiggins misses today’s Strade Bianche, where he has been replaced by Ben Swift.
11 thoughts on “Back injury forces Chris Froome out of next week’s Tirreno-Adriatico”
Racing starts ‘on website’!?
Racing starts ‘on website’!? Is it virtual racing? Or did you mean Wednesday?
Colin Peyresourde
Autocorrect Hell.
Hmmm. ‘Autocorrect’ is underlined in red…
Also, if Bradley has been
Also, if Bradley has been pulled today, what is he being reallocated to?
Back injury huh, this is
Back injury huh, this is laughable, just give up the pretence.
northstar wrote:Back injury
How do you mean?
northstar wrote:Back injury
What’s laughable is this comment! 8}
northstar wrote:Back injury
Rather than be oblique, why don’t you just spell out what you mean here? Presumably you’re accusing him of something to do with doping- but I’m not surwe why that would mean he’d have to miss a big race? Could you explain? Do remeber during your explanation that he’s on the whearabouts system and the the authorities can come calling any day they like, no matter where he is…
‘Presumably you’re accusing
‘Presumably you’re accusing him of something to do with doping- but I’m not surwe why that would mean he’d have to miss a big race? Could you explain? Do remeber during your explanation that he’s on the whearabouts system and the the authorities can come calling any day they like, no matter where he is…’
I think someone missed the last few decades of pro cycling…
andyp wrote:’Presumably
No, I think the point was he can be tested at home just as much as at a race, so there’s no advantage to be gained from ‘hiding away’….
I didn’t- much of the story
I didn’t- much of the story of the last couple of decadeshas involved people actually being caught because the testing regimes have become more and more onorous. Won’t stop everything, but does make it far harder now. So, can we have out-and-out accusations of doping, with coherent theories as to what he’s doing other than racing? Rather than cryptic comments that make no sense? After all, if they’re not wrong, they’re not libel.
Quite. I know some people
Quite. I know some people have been poisoned to paranoid cynicism by what’s happened in the past, but as I understand it now any attempt at “hiding” is likely to make out-of-competition testing slightly less random. If he was doping and was scared of being caught, he’d be better off starting and just riding a bit poorly during the race (low chance of random in-race test, whilst all jersey leaders and stage podium get tested every day)