Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[Dr. Juice]

Froome blames going out way too quick for his poor performance:



I'm curious whether that's true, if only we had a time check after about 15 min.

He seemed to be around 7 seconds slower than Contador at 9:50 min into the race. Memorized a car standing on the side of the road.

 

[kingjr]

Froome blames going out way too quick for his poor performance:



I'm curious whether that's true, if only we had a time check after about 15 min.

If the rumours on the thread of this stage were accurate that he took close to 20 seconds out of Purito on the first 4k then it might be true.

 

[No_Balls]

Froome blames going out way too quick for his poor performance:



I'm curious whether that's true, if only we had a time check after about 15 min.

If true that is a rookie mistake of the highest caliber. Surely, a experienced rider like Froome wouldnt do that? Sounds weird.

 

[Jelantik]

If true that is a rookie mistake of the highest caliber. Surely, a experienced rider like Froome wouldnt do that? Sounds weird.

i had the same thought. Going too fast for someone like froome? it's kinda a rookie mistake. Or he is over confident since this is his terrain.

 

[Angliru]

Froome blames going out way too quick for his poor performance:



I'm curious whether that's true, if only we had a time check after about 15 min.

I'm not buying it. To go from someone that would do multiple, back to back blistering sprint like attacks in the mountains, with the ability to rapidly recover in between, to where he is now is quite the contrast. There's got to be more to it.

 

[Pricey_sky]

I'm not buying it. To go from someone that would do multiple, back to back blistering sprint like attacks in the mountains, with the ability to rapidly recover in between, to where he is now is quite the contrast. There's got to be more to it.

I just put on the race thread that my opinion is he started at a fast pace that he could do when in top form (Tony Martin pace) but his current form meant that he could not sustain it and would then quickly be in trouble.
He has said in interviews he doesn't really know how good his form is and is taking it one day at a time so maybe this is the answer.

 

[Jelantik]

I'm not buying it. To go from someone that would do multiple, back to back blistering sprint like attacks in the mountains, with the ability to rapidly recover in between, to where he is now is quite the contrast. There's got to be more to it.

How about he is just not in form? would that possible? He injured his wrist, but his leg is supposedly working. Rumors said he trained in Ca with Levy. Why? maybe just need different scenery or different motivation?

 

[willbick]

Froome knew the only way he could win this Vuelta would be to kill the TT and put significant time into the other GC guys. So he blasted off from the gun at a pace he could probably only sustain in tip top form. He probably knew in his heart that he was gonna struggle to sustain it but he doesnt come to races to aim at a top 5, he goes for the win. Clearly he's not in good enough form to win this Vuelta but you dont know for sure until you try.

 

[jens_attacks]

we'll see today but i doubt that blasting the first 5 kms was the cause of the weak performance

 

[IronCQ]

Going too hard? I don't believe it. With powermeters and test, riders know exactly how much they can push, in TT above all. And Froome is very good in racing with data in mind. To me, he seems overtrained, he is strong but not brilliant, his spinning is somehow weirder than ever (the Qring doesnt help a lot).
If in perfect shape, he would have beaten this Martin, looking at Uran and Cancellara results.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Going too hard? I don't believe it. With powermeters and test, riders know exactly how much they can push, in TT above all. And Froome is very good in racing with data in mind. To me, he seems overtrained, he is strong but not brilliant, his spinning is somehow weirder than ever (the Qring doesnt help a lot).
If in perfect shape, he would have beaten this Martin, looking at Uran and Cancellara results.

Uran would have beaten Martin as well if had been in Giro shape. Quite easily I'm guessing.

 

[willbick]

Uran would have beaten Martin as well if had been in Giro shape. Quite easily I'm guessing.

Why do you think Uran isnt in Giro shape? If he's not he cant be far off

 

[cocteau_ireland]

He's certainly not been that strong in the mountains so far, although today's losses, whatever he says they may stem from, seems to be linked to the fact that every time we saw him going round a corner he was wobbling all over the place at about 5kph. If it was a boring flat straight TT I wonder how it would have been.

A pay-per-view event featuring froome on a downhill mtb trail would surely bring in the shekels. Carnage and a first round knockout all but guaranteed.

 

[movingtarget]

Why do you think Uran isnt in Giro shape? If he's not he cant be far off

I agree. In the Giro he also rode good TTs but his climbing was a bit off his best. Seems the same in this race. Even if Froome did go out too quickly, comparing his time to Rodriguez and Valverde's who are usually mediocre TT riders for GC men, does not look too good. If Froome can't improve as the race goes on and I'm not convinced he will, he can't win. Most people expected Froome to recover from the Tour debacle better than Contador but it seems the other way around at the moment. Uran might be the one to challenge Contador in the third week.

 

[JRTK73]

I agree. In the Giro he also rode good TTs but his climbing was a bit off his best. Seems the same in this race. Even if Froome did go out too quickly, comparing his time to Rodriguez and Valverde's who are usually mediocre TT riders for GC men, does not look too good. If Froome can't improve as the race goes on and I'm not convinced he will, he can't win. Most people expected Froome to recover from the Tour debacle better than Contador but it seems the other way around at the moment. Uran might be the one to challenge Contador in the third week.

But how good is Uran at climbing really? Stage 10 at the 2013 Giro was a fantastic performance and he had a few others in that race. That's really the only time I have seen him climb well in a big race.

 

[Netserk]

But how good is Uran at climbing really? Stage 10 at the 2013 Giro was a fantastic performance and he had a few others in that race. That's really the only time I have seen him climb well in a big race.

http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=26052

 

[del1962]

http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=26052

There are times when he climbs well 2013 TA comes to mind, but he also seems to have more bad days in the mountains that some other GC guys

 

[MBotero]

There are times when he climbs well 2013 TA comes to mind, but he also seems to have more bad days in the mountains that some other GC guys

You are right about Rigo,no matter how much i like him he's consistency is worse then Bad Day Richie.I don't think he'll challenge the Spanish trio,one of them will emerge with the win.

 

[TomasC]

You are right about Rigo,no matter how much i like him he's consistency is worse then Bad Day Richie.I don't think he'll challenge the Spanish trio,one of them will emerge with the win.

I'd argue he's quite consistent recently in that he's a great TT'er and a very good climber who occasionally can climb with the best. He does not tend to have really bad days, does he? All in all he's developed into a possible podium contender in any GT.
You may be right about this Vuelta but I certainly hope he'll give the Spanish trio and Froome a good run for their money and manages to squeeze himself on the podium!

 

[MBotero]

I'd argue he's quite consistent recently in that he's a great TT'er and a very good climber who occasionally can climb with the best. He does not tend to have really bad days, does he? All in all he's developed into a possible podium contender in any GT.
You may be right about this Vuelta but I certainly hope he'll give the Spanish trio and Froome a good run for their money and manages to squeeze himself on the podium!

He's bad days are not Porte type,but certainly are more frequent.
I know that in the right conditions he can podium everywhere,but i was hopping he will become a GT winner,not a GT podium contender.

 

[MatParker117]

Credit to the guy, thought he was dropped six times.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Incredible ride from him today, anyone who thinks this guy is mentally weak like Wiggins need to think again. Pure heart and fight from him.

 

[SeriousSam]

I'm confounded. Does his climbing software only allow two modes,
1. Hard Drilling and
2. Dropping Everyone
with the second mode currently not available due to power problems? What did we just see?

 

[King Boonen]

I'm confounded. Does his climbing software only allow two modes,
1. Hard Drilling and
2. Dropping Everyone
with the second mode currently not available due to power problems? What did we just see?

Ever ridden a climb where you get a pace and just have to keep it or you know you're going to blow? That just happened.

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

Froome just did what Monfort does on every climb.