2012 Tour de France: Stage 17, Bagnères-de-Luchon - Peyragudes 143.5KM

[burning]

and if he hadn't punctured.

In hindsight, he could have easily won 1 minute on Toussuire and Wiggins would have been completely alone after Froome went so this make things even worse for Wiggins as well

 

[rkp5097]

um. i think he succeeded in making wiggins look exactly like a b*tch. he kept riding away from him, showing to the world that he was stronger, over and over and over again. if he was seriously interested in helping he would have kept the pace steady.

how much time could have froome really put into wiggins in the two mountain top finishes where he had the chance? 30 secs? 40? not really enough to offset the ITTs and the lost time on mechanical in the first week. and i am not a wiggins fan at all.

Absolutely correct.
Froome lost time in the first week and lost time in the ITT.
Like Wiggins he had the benefit of the SKY train on the mountain stages.
It's nuts to suggest SKY should have played it any other way.
Froome was showboating to make a point. The only point he made was. "I could take 10 to fifteen second off Wiggins here"
On todays stage if Froome was certain he could have taken the stage he would have. Better to show off, less effort and less risk to his marketability in the coming season.

 

[Pricey_sky]

I've just been back over Pricey_Sky's posts and I have no idea what s/he has done wrong.

Really, people can't get excited about the team they support doing well?

Particularly when his posts came in such close proximity to another about Wiggins being "evil", which apparently is just fine.

Thanks, it's a he btw.

I've been reading this forum since the Vuelta last year but decided to join this month as I love pro cycling and thought it would be great to interact with others who have the same passion.

Unfortunately all I've read over these 3 weeks is that Sky are boring, the tour is boring because of Sky and that Wiggo is evil and weak.

Perhaps I should have reacted abit better after today's stage but when all I read is negativety towards my country's team and cyclist's it was very difficult.

Apologies if I offended anyone.

 

[SuperH-]

How do you know? All you saw is a fleeting attack. For all we know, Froome might have fizzled out later and gained only 20 seconds.

Ok fanboy, im sure most neutral cyclist fans and people who understand cycling better clearly know Froome could have exploded Wiggins

 

[wirral]

By the way, no one has abandoned in this stage, pretty weird I'd say

Chris Anker finished but may not start tomorrow.

 

[Swifty's Cakes]

We've actually seen Froome better than Wiggins in 2 mountain stages but Wiggo better in the TT and prologue and will be better in the final TT on Saturday aswel.

Its at least 3, on Belle Filles he dropped wiggo the moment they let him go, la toussuire he had to wait, and again today.
Not counting the mechanical the lead on the road is a little over 30 seconds and Froome could have taken that and more on any one of 3 stages.

I feel a bit of sympathy for Froome, but not all that much. He took the big pile of cash when he renewed with Sky, he could have been a leader if he accepted a bit less money.

 

[El Pistolero]

BUT HE ISN'T.

Face the facts

Sky pays Froome ****loads to do his job - protect Wiggins at Tour 2012. He did this.

Sky pays Wiggins even more to do his "job". Froome should leave Sky asap. Wiggins won't be winning much anymore then.

 

[simonk]

Dont know if its been mentioned before but Chris Anker Sørensen have to go to the hospital in Toulouse and get an operation. Its possible that he cant start tomorrow and wil have to quit the Tour.

Riis said two of his fingers was just like almost destroyed completely with no flech back at all, and that it was just crazy he could finish the stage and specially as number 24.

 

[TRDean]

Funny...lots on here saying Froome should have done his thing...but were chastizing TJVG for basically doing the same to Evans lol!!! Make up your mind people...you either have a job to do on the team or you don't.

Also, I think seeing Wiggins looking like the weaker rider today...really made me smile. Froome may get another chance...lets hope he finds this form again.

 

[Richeypen]

Its at least 3, on Belle Filles he dropped wiggo the moment they let him go, la toussuire he had to wait, and again today.
Not counting the mechanical the lead on the road is a little over 30 seconds and Froome could have taken that and more on any one of 3 stages.

I feel a bit of sympathy for Froome, but not all that much. He took the big pile of cash when he renewed with Sky, he could have been a leader if he accepted a bit less money.

Thats just cherry picking though. Froome had a 1.30 min deficit from the get go, after that he was never going to win this Tour.

 

[BillytheKid]

How do you know? All you saw is a fleeting attack. For all we know, Froome might have fizzled out later and gained only 20 seconds.

That and Froome looked a childish waving at Wiggins that way. Froome has got lots of physical talent, but he should just have left the hand jestures alone. Like...Wiggins does not know he's on the limit?

 

[richwagmn]

Thanks, it's a he btw.

I've been reading this forum since the Vuelta last year but decided to join this month as I love pro cycling and thought it would be great to interact with others who have the same passion.

Unfortunately all I've read over these 3 weeks is that Sky are boring, the tour is boring because of Sky and that Wiggo is evil and weak.

Perhaps I should have reacted abit better after today's stage but when all I read is negativety towards my country's team and cyclist's it was very difficult.

Apologies if I offended anyone.

Your country's team? Ummm, it's not a national team. It's a commercial team. Unless you're saying Sky (and therefore Rupert Murdoch) are your country. Then I get it.

 

[Swifty's Cakes]

Thats just cherry picking though. Froome had a 1.30 min deficit from the get go, after that he was never going to win this Tour.

Thats one view, I've seen enough of Froome and Wiggins to be fairly sure he could have made up the 2 minutes and more during the mountains had he been given the chance to ride for himself.

 

[DominicDecoco]

 

[mscaviy2601]

Hello Sky-fan and july watcher. If you don't get it don't reply.

I'm obviously talking about the whole Froome-debacle. A guy like that should have always have his own chances in a final like this.

What's wrong with supporting a team from your own country. As for a July watcher, you couldn't be more wrong - Just because I haven't commented on this forum before now doesn't mean I'm new to cycling.

What Froome debacle? A bit of show-boating from Chris Froome hardly makes Sky a bad disease. Why were the two of them out ahead in the first place? Because Wiggins had put the hammer down. As for team instructions which this is clearly a case of, you seem to be suggesting that this is something new. So it was just coincidence that five BMC riders rode in together yesterday? Or that Frank never waited for Andy.

It's a team sport. That means team instructions. Sky have never hidden from the fact that they are all in for Wiggins. Froome knew that when he re-signed his contract. It's a team sport, that requires team discipline. Sky have demonstrated that they are the best at discipline which is why they are 1-2. What happened with Froome was just a demonstration of that discipline.

 

[Amused]

Riis sounded quite nervous on his behalf... You can see why.

 

[Sørensen]

FS! What a Viking!

 

[happytramp]

That and Froome looked a childish waving at Wiggins that way. Froome has got lots of physical talent, but he should just have left the hand jestures alone. Like...Wiggins does not know he's on the limit?

Fair enough, but it's very rare (and probably extremely frustrating) to be able to, yet not allowed to, win two GT's in a row.

 

[cycladianpirate]

And on it goes....

I don't like Sky, I really don't, but it's not for me to question their motives. Froome knew, well in advance of this Tour what he was going to be required to do has part of his job description. It is, further, documented that he was given offers to jump ship following last year's Vuelta.

He chose to continue on at Sky as a Super Domestique. And now his g/f is *****ing on twitter and he hasn't got the decency to stick with the choice he freely made. Frankly, those "I'm looking over my shoulder at you boss" antics were the actions of a spoilt brat.

I don't know whether some here have noticed, but there are TRADE TEAMS out there. If Sky want Boris Johnson to be dragged up a mountain because they think it's good for business, that's their call and no one else's.

If you want a Peoples Democratic Republic of Cycling, say so. Take away sponsorship and the job is done. And good luck with that.

Rant over....

 

[burning]

It's amazing that CAS was able to finish the stage, and he finished pretty fine even you discard his hand, huge props to him

 

[Armanius]

So was Froome trying to embarrass Wiggins then?

 

[djlovesyou]

That poor SKY fan getting all the abuse (and from mods too).

It's because everyone has been howling about the 'invasion of hysterical British SKY psycho fanboys' since the start of the tour, and it took until stage 17 for one to come along.

He just got the stick and nearly sanctions for all the crimes of these 1000 imaginary posters that we've been hearing about for weeks but not actually seeing. Poor guy.

Not that he did anything wrong.

 

[rhubroma]

So was Froome trying to embarrass Wiggins then?

One would hope so.

 

[Richeypen]

Thats one view, I've seen enough of Froome and Wiggins to be fairly sure he could have made up the 2 minutes and more during the mountains had he been given the chance to ride for himself.

Froome has a massive kick but not a sustainable one. Just look at his victory on Pena Cabarga. Wiggins riding tempo would comfortably limit his loses to under 2mins.

 

[SuperH-]

Fair enough, but it's very rare (and probably extremely frustrating) to be able to, yet not allowed to, win two GT's in a row.

I gotta say its his own fault , because he went for money with Sky . He could easily have got a lower salary contract elsewhere , but he decided to go for money. Now he should pay the consequences.