According to Dylan Van Barre, Chris Froome has told his Ineos teammates that he is staying on and will ride the Tour de France with them this summer.

Froome's contract expires at the end of this year and he is considering a move away from Ineos. Cycling News has revealed the possibility of a mid-season move to avoid a leadership battle with Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas.

Israeli startup Nation has expressed interest in signing the four-time Tour de France champion, and a report in Tuttobici this week suggested that they are close to agreeing on a three-year contract starting in August.

According to Dutch newspaper AD, van Baar, who is currently in a training camp with Froome and Ineos' long list of Tour de France riders, revealed that Froome has told him he will not leave.

"Of course, that was talked about. But as far as I know, he wants to stay and participate in the Tour with Ineos," van Baar said.

"At the end of the day, I don't know what's going on behind the scenes with him, but he's there because he's telling us so.

Van Baarle did not mention that Froome said anything about his plans beyond 2021.

"That's strange," he said.

"And his leaving early is not going to happen.

Froome joined Team Ineos (then Team Sky) in 2010 and won seven Grand Tours with the British team. However, his future came into question when he suffered a career-threatening injury at the Criterium du Dauphiné last June, forcing the 22-year-old Bernal to miss the Tour he won.

Froome had not yet signed a new contract at that point and continued his efforts to fully recover his health and fitness in order to prove that a record fifth Tour title was possible.

Froome competed in the UAE Tour in February, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed his entry in the race.

Froome has won four Tour races and is looking to make history, but he is not ranked higher than the last two Tour winners, Bernal and Thomas. All three have been "encouraged" to prepare to lead the pack, and a decision will be made later.

Bernal recently commented that if he were in perfect shape, he would not sacrifice his chances for his teammates.