Tour director tells AP race won’t be same without Froome

PARIS (AP) — The director of the Tour de France says this year’s race will be different without four-time champion Chris Froome.

Speaking in an Associated Press interview, Christian Prudhomme says the Tour without Froome is “not the same thing” but his absence will allow “other scenarios” to open up.

Froome was injured last week in France in a high-speed crash that left him with multiple fractures.

Defending champion and Team INEOS teammate Geraint Thomas was also hurt in a crash, needing stitches above his eye after the accident during the Tour de Suisse. He is expected to defend his title, but Prudhomme says that still leaves “lots of question marks.”

With Froome out and Thomas recovering, Prudhomme talked up 22-year-old Colombian rider Egan Bernal — another Team INEOS rider.

Prudhomme says “Egan Bernal is ready, it seems to me.”