Chris Froome has addressed the situation concerning his former soigneur David Rozman who left the Tour de France amid a fresh investigation into alleged links to convicted doping doctor Mark Schmidt.
Ineos Grenadiers’ head carer David Rozman left the Tour de France after the International Testing Agency (ITA) launched an investigation and requested an interview over his alleged texts with Schmidt, the German doctor who was in 2021 jailed for four years for running a major doping ring.
Schmidt’s illicit work doping cyclists and cross-country skiers led to 20 athletes receiving bans, including pro riders Alessandro Petacchi, Danilo Hondo, and Borut Bozic, and involved a form of powered haemoglobin.
In June, a documentary by German national broadcaster ARD claimed that Rozman, who was not named in the programme, may have even played an important role in Schmidt’s doping network, according to text messages presented as evidence during the Erfurt-based doctor’s trial.
It was to that context that Rozman’s presence at the Tour de France, where he continued to work for Ineos Grenadiers as one of the team’s longest-serving members of staff, became a major controversy until he was ultimately sent home in the second week.
Ineos Grenadiers bus, stage 15, 2025 Tour de France (credit: Ryan Mallon)
The Slovenian has worked for the British squad, formerly known as Team Sky, for much of its existence, and also served as a soigneur for Team GB at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, working especially closely with Froome in the early 2010s and effectively being his personal soigneur.
Addressing the subject for the first time since the ITA launched its investigation and Rozman left the Tour, Froome told reporters before today’s opening stage of the Tour de Pologne that he’s “only seen what’s been in the media” and “I only know as much as you guys”.
He confirmed he has not spoken with Rozman since the investigation emerged and refuted claims that he had deleted social media posts of him and his former soigneur.
“That’s not true. Go on my social media. Go on my social media, they’re all there,” he said.
One such picture shows Froome and Rozman together while the four-time Tour de France winner trained in January 2015, another showing the soigneur looking after his rider at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
Chris Froome David Rozman tweets (credit: Chris Froome)
According to David Walsh’s account of Sky’s 2013 Tour de France, Inside Team Sky, Rozman even named one of his children after Froome.
“Rozman told me how highly he regarded Froome and that it wasn’t just because he was a damn good cyclist. In Froome, he saw a fine human being,” Walsh wrote in the book.
However, Walsh also reported that Rozman’s close relationship with Froome had caused concern among other members of Sky’s staff, who believed his focus on the team’s leader meant he was neglecting other duties.
“Within the team’s inner sanctum, any move towards individual relationships is considered a slightly dangerous thing,” Walsh wrote. “So Rozman was gently told he wouldn’t be doing Froome that much in 2014.”
Froome posted multiple images of Rozman over the years on his social media accounts, including one where he referred to the Slovenian as the “best soigneur in the world”.
According to the messages allegedly attributed to Rozman during Schmidt’s trial, and published by the Irish Independent earlier this month, the Slovenian asked Schmidt a month before the 2012 Tour: “Do you still have any of the stuff that Milram used during the races? If so, can you bring it for the boys?”
In another message, the Sky carer asked Schmidt to “call me ASAP”, with the doctor writing the next day: “What say team?”
Meanwhile, on 6 July, the day before Froome won the mountaintop finish at La Planche des Belle Filles and Bradley Wiggins rode into the yellow jersey, which he would hold all the way to Paris, messages were exchanged between Schmidt and the staff member about meeting for “a beer” at the Team Sky hotel.
With controversy swirling at this year’s Tour, Ineos remained silent on the documentary, texts and Rozman for day after day, repeatedly opting against commenting until ultimately the ITA investigation was launched and the soigneur left the race.
Ineos Grenadiers team car, 2024 Tour of Britain (credit: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com)
Accompanying that departure was a statement explaining Rozman had been contacted by an ITA agent in April, and had relayed details of this meeting to the Ineos management.
“Following recent media allegations, David Rozman has now received a request from the ITA to attend an interview. Accordingly, he has stepped back from race duties and has left the Tour,” the statement said.
“David Rozman was informally contacted in April 2025 by a member of ITA staff, who asked him about alleged historical communications. David immediately notified the team of his meeting with the ITA and his recollection of the contents of the meeting.
“Although the ITA assured David at the time that he was not under investigation, Ineos promptly commissioned a thorough review by an external law firm.”
The statement continued: “The team has acted responsibly and with due process, taking the allegations seriously whilst acknowledging that David is a long-standing, dedicated member of the team. The team continues to assess the circumstances and any relevant developments, and has formally requested any relevant information from the ITA.
“To date the team has received no evidence from any relevant authority. In response to the team’s request for information, the ITA has advised the team that it cannot share any further information, due to legal and confidentiality restrictions.
“Both David and the team will of course co-operate with the ITA and any other authority. The team reiterates its zero-tolerance policy and is unable to comment further at this time.”
Last week it emerged that Rozman had worked briefly at Manchester United last year as part of a ‘knowledge exchange’ developed since Ineos’s billionaire owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe became a co-owner at Old Trafford and Sir Dave Brailsford became involved through his head of Ineos Sport role.
The Rozman situation is not the first time that Team Sky’s early 2010s has been subject of controversy.
Following the Fancy Bears hack of 2016, it was revealed that Bradley Wiggins received injections of the powerful corticosteroid triamcinolone on three occasions, including before the 2012 Tour, using therapeutic use exemption certificates arranged by Dr Richard Freeman.
Freeman was later struck off and banned from sport in 2023 after being found to have ordered testosterone in the knowledge or belief it was for a rider.
Geert Leinders was also employed by the team on a consultancy basis at the time of the 2012 Tour, before the former Rabobank doctor was let go at the end of that year when his role in the Dutch team’s doping programme was revealed as part of the USADA investigation into Lance Armstrong and US Postal.