Anyone looked at his face in the races? he is tired and its a mental fatigue that shows on his face. He does not have the power in the legs that he once had, he himself admits that, crash or no crash. But his riding style demands that he has that power in the legs, he cannot ride the Froome pace-yourself style and be the effective dynamo he was. Its a sad feeling for a champion, his guns are gone. It makes him nervous hence the number of crashes we have seen.
Perhaps its the pressure of some fans who seem to feel he can still fly (and I mean fly like a real plane) that makes him not pack up. We cannot compare him to Federer who is still hanging around, you can do that in tennis which is a stop start game, how do you do that in cycling 5hrs of non-stop high speed biking ending up on a punishing 18% gradient mountain and sometimes 3 days in a row and for 3 weeks? Some sports are just more high intensity and there is no cruising around, either you suffer and come say top 5 or you pack it in. For Bertie, if he is going to suffer, it had better be for 1st.
Perhaps its the pressure of some fans who seem to feel he can still fly (and I mean fly like a real plane) that makes him not pack up. We cannot compare him to Federer who is still hanging around, you can do that in tennis which is a stop start game, how do you do that in cycling 5hrs of non-stop high speed biking ending up on a punishing 18% gradient mountain and sometimes 3 days in a row and for 3 weeks? Some sports are just more high intensity and there is no cruising around, either you suffer and come say top 5 or you pack it in. For Bertie, if he is going to suffer, it had better be for 1st.