are riders purposely avoiding froome at tour ?

[shades1]

reading through various threads the last few days it seems that a lot of high profile riders are targeting the giro as there main race of the year for 2014 , my question is are riders purposely avoiding froome at the tour and going for easier routes to win titles , the main one being the giro ?

i was always led to believe that if you want to be the best you have to compete against the best in the biggest games/races/tournaments in the world .

this is equivalent to rory mcilroy going to play the portugese open when the masters is on just to avoid tiger woods .

i guess as always it all comes down to money , they know they cannot compete for the winners cheque and all the added bonuses that comes with it by winning the tour so choose the easier option where its a much level playing field .

good business i guess but it will never win over the fans who want to see championship racing with the best riders all facing off against each other .

dodging opponents seems to be quite popular now in many sports so its no surprise to me that its suddenly crept into cycling . boxers and athletes have been doing it for years .

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

yea, not as if the giro is one of the biggest races to win, and who except Quintana and JRod is going to the giro btw?
Oh yea, it is old Evans, old Scarponi, and a couple of overrated colombians

 

[trevim]

Nibali, Contador and Valverde arguably three of the best GT riders in the world will be there. It's not like everyone is afraid of Froome. And the Tour isn't everything by the way, there are other races worth of winning. Is Froome avoiding Quintana and Rodriguez (his two biggest competitors in the Tour last year) by not riding the Giro? I don't think so.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

The problem with your ropy simile, is that anyone watching golf this month knows Rory is currently the worlds best player.

 

[hayzer114]

I would agree with the statement to a certain extent, would love to have seen Quintana and Rodriguez at the tour and throw them into the mix along with Froome, Nibali and Contador and you would have a cracking race. Also would like to see Uran doing the Tour but with Omega going to throw everything in behind Cav I doubt he will race and stick to the Giro (which he has a great chance in). I think you have the top three and then it is wide open after that. Would love to see Andy find some bit of form again because you cant deny that he brought entertainment in the mountains with his fluent climbing style (that is when hes not looking over his shoulder).

 

[hfer07]

nibali, contador and valverde arguably three of the best gt riders in the world will be there. It's not like everyone is afraid of froome. And the tour isn't everything by the way, there are other races worth of winning. is froome avoiding quintana and rodriguez (his two biggest competitors in the tour last year) by not riding the giro? I don't think so.

^^^^this^^^^

 

[Dazed and Confused]

As long as Voeckler brings his A game, the TdF should be fine.

 

[Tonton]

There's still some truth to the thread/question. Unlike golf, you can't line up and be competitive in all grand slams/grand tours, so the questions are: which one(s) to skip and why? Reasoning:

1. You don't skip the TdF if you think you can win it.
2. Look at mountains and ITT if you are not well-rounded (and TTT if your team lacks depth). What GT fits me best?
3. Decide if you'd rather win the Giro/Vuelta rather than finish 5th in the TdF.
4. If you are and/or your team is Italian/Spanish, the answer to 3. may be yes (think endor$ments, fame, ladies).
5. I bet we can find a couple more

Top riders and their team will never admit that 3. was the deciding factor when setting their race calendar. See Nibali and Scarponi making the Giro their priority for all these years: they may cite 4. There's is no doubt that over the years some have avoided crossing the path of a cannibal, a badger, a big mig in July. Is Froome/Sky spooking the competition? Maybe. We can't say for sure...

 

[Leonardus]

5. Is there a very high risk of crashing in the first week? (In the first place a TdF problem and with cobbles this year something to take into account.)

 

[GuyIncognito]

Also would like to see Uran doing the Tour but with Omega going to throw everything in behind Cav I doubt he will race and stick to the Giro

No, he'll do the Tour. Lefevere said Urán was hired specifically because the sponsor demanded a Top 10 at the Tour

 

[shades1]

The problem with your ropy simile, is that anyone watching golf this month knows Rory is currently the worlds best player.

hes had a few top10,s , nothing more , to say he is best in world over a 4 week time span is ridiculous , lets have a decent sample size of say 12 months and then the answer would be henrik stenson .

would you say kevin stadler is best in world if he goes out and wins in america next weekend after winning last week , of course not , so when using the "best in world" quote at least have a sample size of more than one month .

anyway lets get back on topic shall we

i am not trying to be demeaning of the giro here , it is a great race . but the tour is the "daddy" and and every rider knows it , i understand certain routes will suit certain riders , that is obvious and can be used as great reasoning to plan your year and ride the races that suit best . maybe a reshuffle around the calender is in order then so the "major" races can be ridden by all riders . it just seems a shame when it comes to the biggest race of the year with more prestige to it than all the others put together a lot of the "superstar" riders have skipped it for "whatever reasons" .

you will always remember the names of the winners of TDF's , doubtful you will remember too many names of vueltas and giros in 10 years .

 

[Taxus4a]

I dont think so. Contador, Andy, Valverde, Nibali (who is italian), as well than Vdb, Pinot, Betancur, Rui Costa...are going to the Tour, but it is true that Froome and his team give respet to others contenders.. and if you go to the Giro, you can target the Vuelta as well, better than if you do the Tour, and Giro-Tour is difficult as well...

Evans is who I think must target the Tour... Uran as well, but Omega is all for Cav in the Tour, with Tony as well for the ITT...
With Quintana is another thing, they dont want to give pressure to a young rider after a second place, they consider they need a learning period, that includes the Giro...
For Purito and Quintana the cobble stage have been important as well.

But I remember one day when everybody criticates rider to think just in the Tour and dont target the Giro when the Tour was really difficult, so why now criticates this?

The problem is that, with Quintana in the Giro, is as difficult to win as the Tour...

 

[karlboss]

I think the real question is who is avoiding Froome? The only two possibilities are Quintana and Rodriguez, as everyone else not going would be lucky to find themselves in the top 10, and given that there aren't an abundance of MTFs and 50+km of flat TT kilometres, both of these guys can expect to lose 5 minutes, it is completely understandable to attempt to win the Giro. The tour just doesn't suit these guys. I think these two are realistically faced with fighting for top 5 in the tour or win the giro. Personally on this route i think the main competition to froome may be offered by wiggins.

 

[Afrank]

No, he'll do the Tour. Lefevere said Urán was hired specifically because the sponsor demanded a Top 10 at the Tour

Not according to him...
http://www.cyclingquotes.com/news/uran_going_for_glory_in_the_giro/

 

[Afrank]

Riders targeting the Giro to avoid Froome is something I could see happening in future years if Froome continues on his path of dominance he began in 2013. But it's not happening yet I don't think. With top riders like Nibali, Contador, Kreuziger, and Valverde among others heading to the tour this year, the competition will still be good.

And the top riders that will be choosing the Giro over the Tour this year have good reasons to do so.
Quintana will have a better chance at winning the overall in the Giro.
Rodriguez got his Tour podium so now is back to the Giro-Vuelta schedule that suits him.
Evans is getting old and has a better shot at a high GC in the Giro.
Porte wants to lead a GT, Froome is top dog in Tour, so Giro is next best thing.

 

[42x16ss]

Quintana needs to learn to lead a GT team and handle the pressures of a favourite from day 1, away from the furnace that is the Tour. If he smashes the field in May (which he should do) then he'll head to the Tour next year and Froome will have a real fight on his hands.

 

[Archibald]

...i think the main competition to froome may be offered by wiggins.

well, Wiggins avoided Froome at last year's tour

 

[gospina]

yea, not as if the giro is one of the biggest races to win, and who except Quintana and JRod is going to the giro btw?
Oh yea, it is old Evans, old Scarponi, and a couple of overrated colombians

Hey! as a colombian, I have to say: You forgot Basso

 

[gospina]

I remember just 2 years ago how everyone dogged Purito and never really considered him a GT threat. Don't sleep on Basso people. He did win it a few years ago..he did have a saddle sore last year.

 

[karlboss]

well, Wiggins avoided Froome at last year's tour

of a fashion

 

[42x16ss]

I remember just 2 years ago how everyone dogged Purito and never really considered him a GT threat. Don't sleep on Basso people. He did win it a few years ago..he did have a saddle sore last year.

Basso was a shadow of the rider who won the '10 Giro at the '11 Tour onwards

 

[skidmark]

I don't really think sport works like that. Like, riders are not afraid to face another rider and don't avoid them; sponsors are not afraid of a rider's dominance, or even a reduced paycheque (2nd at the Tour is pretty good, I'd imagine). Did the world's top riders avoid the Tour when Lance won 7 straight? Not really. The things riders target have to do with the goals of their sponsors, the parcours, internal team dynamics, and to a certain degree their own interests. Talking about riders 'avoiding' other riders just makes a narrative that's not there, in my opinion.

Quintana is not riding the Tour, despite being the obvious #1 contender. The reality is, he could win the Tour, possibly even over Froome, but especially if one of the many unpredictable things that happen to riders happens to Froome (crashes out, has a hunger knock one day, whatever). The frequency with which that happens is by far worth it for a rider or a team to take the chance to try to win the world's biggest race. But Movistar/Caisse has had Valverde front and center for a decade now, and it's no secret that it's an important career goal for him (and you better bet Movistar, as a Spanish team) to get a TdF podium. At 34, with Quintana coming up, this is it for him. That was the plan last year until the crosswinds; you saw how they used Quintana in the first week. Valverde can podium in the same way Wiggins won - by being good enough and holding on. There's no way that'll happen, or if it does there's no way it'll look good, if he has Quintana riding away from him. So, easy solution - separate them; go for a Giro win and a Tour podium and then a double assault in the Vuelta. Sounds good to me, if I'm Movistar.

Rodriguez has made no secret that he left Caisse to make the decisions on his schedule, which have included the Tour a few times, but most of the time not. This is certainly not because he was 'afraid' of Wiggins or Cadel (a year where there wasn't even a clear favourite to avoid), he just targets what seems to work best for his year-long schedule. Now that he's gotten his Tour podium, which is the best he can do unless a Sastre-like confluence of events occurs, he has little incentive to ride it again. If it was the only race that mattered to him, you better believe he'd be there trying to stay at the top in case something happened to Froome. But the Vuelta, the Giro, the Worlds, Liege, Lombardia - hell, even Catalunya and whatever week long races he does - all of these seem pretty important to J-Rod.

You could do a similar exercise for any rider. Framing it as 'avoiding' Froome seems silly to me, it's just practical goals for teams and athletes.

 

[manafana]

their is a little bit of that I feel, the Giro is still a huge race however, when people avoid the tour to do a Vuelta then we can get worried.

 

[TearMeApart]

Strong rider focus on reachable goals. Nibali likes riding the Giro not because he fears the Tour field. He just has more chances to win the Giro. And yet we have riders' personal prefences like Valverde's or the Schleck brothers' choice. Though, I'm a bit surprised that Rodriguez has chosen the Giro this year.

 

[SafeBet]

I don't really think sport works like that. Like, riders are not afraid to face another rider and don't avoid them; sponsors are not afraid of a rider's dominance, or even a reduced paycheque (2nd at the Tour is pretty good, I'd imagine). Did the world's top riders avoid the Tour when Lance won 7 straight? Not really. The things riders target have to do with the goals of their sponsors, the parcours, internal team dynamics, and to a certain degree their own interests. Talking about riders 'avoiding' other riders just makes a narrative that's not there, in my opinion.

Quintana is not riding the Tour, despite being the obvious #1 contender. The reality is, he could win the Tour, possibly even over Froome, but especially if one of the many unpredictable things that happen to riders happens to Froome (crashes out, has a hunger knock one day, whatever). The frequency with which that happens is by far worth it for a rider or a team to take the chance to try to win the world's biggest race. But Movistar/Caisse has had Valverde front and center for a decade now, and it's no secret that it's an important career goal for him (and you better bet Movistar, as a Spanish team) to get a TdF podium. At 34, with Quintana coming up, this is it for him. That was the plan last year until the crosswinds; you saw how they used Quintana in the first week. Valverde can podium in the same way Wiggins won - by being good enough and holding on. There's no way that'll happen, or if it does there's no way it'll look good, if he has Quintana riding away from him. So, easy solution - separate them; go for a Giro win and a Tour podium and then a double assault in the Vuelta. Sounds good to me, if I'm Movistar.

Rodriguez has made no secret that he left Caisse to make the decisions on his schedule, which have included the Tour a few times, but most of the time not. This is certainly not because he was 'afraid' of Wiggins or Cadel (a year where there wasn't even a clear favourite to avoid), he just targets what seems to work best for his year-long schedule. Now that he's gotten his Tour podium, which is the best he can do unless a Sastre-like confluence of events occurs, he has little incentive to ride it again. If it was the only race that mattered to him, you better believe he'd be there trying to stay at the top in case something happened to Froome. But the Vuelta, the Giro, the Worlds, Liege, Lombardia - hell, even Catalunya and whatever week long races he does - all of these seem pretty important to J-Rod.

You could do a similar exercise for any rider. Framing it as 'avoiding' Froome seems silly to me, it's just practical goals for teams and athletes.

Nothing to add. Perfect post really.