Chris Froome gave his own take on the balance of power among the top teams on the World Tour. He claimed that other teams have caught up to his former team, Ineos Grenadiers, while admitting that his current team, Israel Premier Tech, is not there yet.

Froom won the Tour de France four times, the Vuelta a España twice, and the Giro d'Italia once.

The team, which won the Tour seven times in eight years, has missed out on the yellow jersey twice in the past due to the rise of Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates). In addition, the team's stage race prowess has been undercut by Jumbo Visma and especially by Primoš Roglic, winner of the last three Vuelta's.

"Team Sky had set the benchmark, but in previous years, other teams have caught up," Froome said at this week's team presentation at Israel's Premier Tech.

"There are certainly a couple of big teams that are at a very similar level right now, especially when it comes to running Grand Tours and controlling the Grand Tours in the overall class. So in that sense, it seems to be a more level playing field."

"It's a very competitive environment.

Despite the team's launch, Frum was not inclined to include Israel Premier Tech in that bracket, but insisted that they are closing the gap. His 2021 contract should have signaled a new willingness after the team stepped up to the World Tour in 2020. Even if injuries continued to keep him off his feet, the team continued to invest, signing Michael Woods, Jacob Fuglsang, and Giacomo Nizzolo for 2022, and bringing in Premier Tech as title sponsor.

"In terms of being an Israeli start-up nation, we are not necessarily one of the benchmark teams for the overall class in the Grand Tour. I think we have a great platform to strengthen our team for the next few years.

"The team took a remarkable step up last year and I think there is a lot of momentum and positive energy, especially with the addition of Premier Tech this year. Everyone is enthusiastic with ambitious goals for this year. I'm really looking forward to being a part of that journey and seeing the team step up more and more."

After spending 2021 mostly off the pace due to ongoing physical issues stemming from a career-threatening crash at the 2019 Criterium du Dauphiné, Froome suffered a further setback before the 2022 season. He ruptured the tensor fascia femoris tendon in his leg in pre-season training, and although he would not confirm when he would start racing, he indicated that it would affect him early in the season.

"I missed this camp last year, so I'm really happy to be here and start training with everyone.

"It will be a little later when I start racing. I'm happy to be able to work here. I'm not feeling any pain at the moment, but we have to go slow and steady in the early part of the season."