Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) said he does not count Chris Froome among his favorites to win this year's Tour de France after he was part of the lead group away from four-time Tour winner Chris Froome at the Tour de l'Ain on Saturday.

Mollema was selected due to the fierce pace set by his former team, Jumbo-Visma, in the Jura mountains on stage 2.

Froome lost contact on the final climb as Jumbo's Tom Dumoulin led the pack, and Dumoulin himself quickly fell back. Froome's Ineos teammate and 2018 Tour champion Geraint Thomas also dropped out on the climb, leaving Tour champion Egan Bernal to face Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk on the final climb to the finish.

Asked by Dutch broadcaster NOS (opens in new tab) about his run, Mollema mentioned Dumoulin and Thomas and said it was encouraging that some of the big-name Tour de France winners had gone the distance. When the reporter added Froome's name, he smiled awkwardly.

"I don't count Frum out anymore," he said.

"I think you can see he's not at the level to just win the Tour.

Froome, still on his way back to top form after a career-threatening crash last June, finished more than 12 minutes behind the leading group and is in 57th place overall heading into Sunday's final stage.

He finished 37th in last week's Route d'Occitanie behind overall winner Bernal. Next week's Criterium du Dauphiné will bring him, Bernal, and Thomas together, revealing Ineos' hierarchy ahead of the Tour.

Morema, meanwhile, showed his frustration at the finish of stage 2. Morema went for a sprint win, but his right cleat broke, and he finished in 11th place.

"I came from perfectly behind with 200 meters to go and then I pedaled off. I tried to clip in again, but I went off the pedals again. It's a shame it didn't work out because I thought I could at least make the podium."

Nevertheless, Morema took heart in the fact that he was matched by an elite group and proved that he is in good shape for the Tour de France, where he will lead the pack with Richie Porte, who finished with Froome.

"I was happy to ride with six of the best climbers. There were only the Tour favorites in the bunch," Mollema said.

"It was a really tough race. The temperature went up to 35 degrees. It was really tough, but it was a good test. There are not many races that pick up the hardness of the course, and the Tour is only a few weeks away. This race and the Criterium du Dauphiné are the only opportunities to test myself at full throttle."