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Britons Froome and Thomas were below par in the
Criterium du Dauphine, which serves as a form indicator ahead of
the Tour.
The Tour starts on Aug. 29 from Nice.
Team manager Dave Brailsford brought in 2019 Giro d'Italia
champion Richard Carapaz of Ecuador to help Colombian Egan
Bernal retain his title.
"Egan will once again target the yellow jersey in France and we
are very excited to give last year's Giro winner, Richard
Carapaz, his debut in this year's Tour also," Brailsford said in
a team statement.
Brailsford's decision completes the changes at the top of Ineos,
placing the team's last two grand tour winners ahead of Froome
and Thomas.
Bernal withdrew from the Dauphine before the penultimate stage
because of back pains but is expected to be fully fit for the
Tour.
Froome, who is back this season after a serious crash last year,
will compete for a third Vuelta title from Oct. 20-Nov. 8 while
Thomas will ride the Giro d'Italia from Oct. 3-25.
"Geraint will target the Giro and take on the opportunity to
double up his Tour de France win with another Grand Tour title,
with the aim of being the first Welshman to win it," said
Brailsford.
"In turn, Chris Froome will target the Vuelta. Chris is a legend
of our sport, a true champion who has demonstrated incredible
grit and determination to come back from his crash last year.
"We want to support him to compete for another Grand Tour title
and the Vuelta gives him that little bit more time to continue
his progress to the top level."
Froome will leave Ineos at the end of the season to join Israel
Start-Up Nation.
On the Tour, Bernal and Carapaz will team up with Andrey Amador,
Jonathan Castroviejo, Michal Kwiatkowski, Luke Rowe, Pavel
Sivakov and Dylan van Baarle.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and
Barbara Lewis)
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