Chris Froome won over by disc brakes after tweaking his set-up

Tour de France 2021 - 108th Edition - 11th stage Sorgues - Malaucene 198,9 km - 07/07/2021 - Chris Froome (GBR - Israel Start-Up Nation) - photo Luca Bettini/BettiniPhoto©2021
(Image credit: Bettini Photo)

After showing his personal disdain for disc brakes and sparking debate about their use in the professional peloton at the start of 2021, Chris Froome has revealed he has used the braking technology frequently during his first season with Israel Start-Up Nation, and is working with bike sponsor Factor to make further improvements.    
Froome rode on rim-brake-equipped Pinarello bikes for a decade at Team Sky and Ineos Grenadiers but switched to a Shimano-equipped Factor bike following his move to Israel Start-Up Nation. He had since joined a consortium that has invested capital into the company and its parts and accessories subsidiary Black Inc.

In a video released in February, the four-time Tour de France winner enthusiastically presented the features of his new main race bike, the Factor Ostro VAM, but struggled to hide his distaste for disc brake technology.  

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Stephen Farrand
Head of News

Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.