Team Ineos' directeur sportif, Servais Naveen, said Chris Froome's departure from the team after this season will not affect his role in the Tour de France.

Froome will join the Israeli startup nation in 2021 after 11 seasons with Team Sky/Ineos. He was previously reported to be considering a mid-season move to guarantee sole team leadership at the Tour.

Team Ineos' roster for the rescheduled 2020 Tour includes Egan Bernal, who will be looking to win the overall in Paris, and 2018 winner Geraint Thomas, but on Thursday, Froome reiterated that he wants to win a record-setting fifth title before leaving the team The team's first title in the last two years has been the first to be won by a team member. Knaben said that Froome's imminent departure will not change his status.

"During the Tour, it will be asked whether the fact that Chris is leaving will affect his status within the team, but I don't see any reason why his current position will change," Knaben told NU.nl (opens in new tab).

"We want to win the Tour. If Chris is the best, he will win. The fact that he is leaving us this year really makes no difference."

"I think it's especially important to be clear to the outside world. All the questions about Chris' future have been answered, so we don't have to talk about it anymore and we don't have to be distracted by it in the run-up to the Tour or during the race."

Froome has only competed in the UAE Tour once in February since being seriously injured in a crash at the 2019 Criterium du Dauphiné, but speculation about his future has been rife in recent months. Knaben dismissed the notion that a mid-season move was a realistic proposition.

"We always laughed a little when we saw that kind of talk in the media," he said. I don't think anyone wanted that to happen." [Chris is a fantastic rider and we are all very happy to have worked with him and to still be working with him. We've been through a lot over the last 10 years.