The wife of former Team Great Britain Olympic-winning cyclist Chris Froome caused online outrage as she claimed there were “no innocent Gazans” and called Muslims a “drain on society” in a social media outburst earlier this week.
Michelle Froome, who is also the four-time Tour de France-winning cyclist’s manager and agent, then deleted her entire X account after launching the tirade against Palestinians and Muslims.
However, a day later, she reactivated her X account and began deleting the posts, before protecting her account from public viewing.
Despite this, screenshots of her rant have been widely shared on social platforms.
Froome first wrote she was “sick of sitting idly by quietly supporting Israel while the Hamas propaganda takes over social media”, before launching into another diatribe.
"Women’s rights matter! Gay rights matter! Trans rights matter! Hamas doesn’t support any of those. Take the blindfolds off and see the reality of the hatred they are spreading. There are no innocent Gazans," she wrote.
Froome then rounded on Muslims in general, asserting they wanted to "take over".
"The silent majority needs to stand up and be heard. We don’t want your religion, we don’t want your beliefs. It is not compatible with modern civilisation," she wrote.
"Muslims are no longer the minority they claim to be. They are here to take over. The UK, France, they are happy to claim the benefits but will not integrate into those communities … They are a drain on modern society."
She went on to insult the Prophet Muhammad and continued her attacks on Islam, Palestinians and pro-Palestine activists.
Froome’s social media outbursts were allegedly inspired by protests against her husband’s cycling team, Israel-Premier Tech, which is owned by Israeli billionaires Sylvan Adams and Ron Barron.
The team, which is not connected to the Israeli government, distanced itself from her comments in a statement to cycling magazine road.cc.
Pro-Palestine protesters have called for “more protests than ever” against the team and plan to hold demonstrations at upcoming prestigious cycling events.
Earlier this month, the official Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) site posted a call for demonstrations titled "Road Closed to Genocide." The statement claimed that famous cycling races were "shamefully rewarding" Israel and helping it "sportswash its gravest crimes" by allowing Israel-Premier Tech to compete.
‘Dehumanising racist’
Froome’s comments prompted a flurry of outrage on X.
Joseph Willits, Head of Parliamentary Affairs at the Council of British-Arab Understanding, wrote of Froome’s comments that it was the "wife of UK Olympic winning cyclist @chrisfroome, going full blown depraved, unhinged, dehumanising racist".
"The levels of dehumanisation of Palestinians in Gaza to justify Israel's genocide against them are constant," he added.
Other users wrote that her tweets mimicked the ‘Great Replacement Theory’ supported by many far-right groups and individuals.