Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[HelloDolly]

I think SKYs season has been pretty good so far with several wins

 

[LaFlorecita]

Tirreno was a WT race last time I checked,




Tinkoff-Saxo had a slow start but had a great May with 3 big races won. Can't complain.

I think Sky have had a good year so far but Froome was below par and Little Richie failed big time at the Giro which leaves a bad taste.

 

[blackmamba]

Re:

Tirreno was a WT race last time I checked,




Tinkoff-Saxo had a slow start but had a great May with 3 big races won. Can't complain.

I think Sky have had a good year so far but Froome was below par and Little Richie failed big time at the Giro which leaves a bad taste.

Little richie didnt fail big time, he did as he always does in a GT rides strong for 1 week then yeah....Find it funny that people are still surprised by this. The guy is 30 years old and have once finished a GT top 10 and that was duo to a breakaway going in....Imo people had just way way way to unrealistic expectations on the poor little dwarfs shoulders

 

[Velolover2]

So far, Katusha has had the best season followed by Sky, Movistar and Etixx.

Tinkoff-Saxo has had a poor season compared to what was expected. They are one of the most expensive team in the sport. Contador and Sagan have been ok, but not superior. But the domestiques have been miserable. I think a team is judged on how good it is as a whole.

I rate Contador as equal to Froome and Sagan above any of Sky's sprinters/puncheurs/classics riders. But as a team, Sky has a lot more options. Both in the mountains and on the cobbles.

TS riders with a win: 4
Sky riders with a win: 12 + TTT

 

[Poursuivant]

Re: Re:

The big question is Richie Porte ...after preparing since last year & being in top form that Giro would have had to hurt ...maybe as much to go back on the beer !!

Thomas , Henao will come in ...and I would bring Kiri as a great TTer and very strong guy to have

Poels may not be ready as just back from a bad injury

...In fairness to Roche he has done the lions share of domestique work for Froome & Porte at Andalucia. Paris Nice, Catalunya & Romandie ...always there when others waxed & waned...So I think he will be at the Tour as he is consistent and is road captain (never had a problem with TTT before but 2 duds at SKY now needs addressing but if he paced himself better then he would not have had such a problem...)

Kennaugh & Stannard should be there

So that leaves 2 places & I would bring Deignan & Nieve as very good climbers

Sky lost riders to mechanicals so normally he wouldn't of needed to say on or do so much work. I imagine this will be Sky's tour team:

Froome, Konig, Porte, Kiry, Thomas, Henao, Roche, Stannard, Kennaugh

I'd be wary of taking too many who have been the Giro personally. If Poels can get in shape, I would definitely take him.

 

[Miburo]

Winning the giro is worth more than all the things Porte won this year.

Quality over quantity.

 

[blackmamba]

Re:

So far, Katusha has had the best season followed by Sky, Movistar and Etixx.

Tinkoff-Saxo has had a poor season compared to what was expected. They are one of the most expensive team in the sport. Contador and Sagan have been ok, but not superior. But the domestiques have been miserable. I think a team is judged on how good it is as a whole.

I rate Contador as equal to Froome and Sagan above any of Sky's sprinters/puncheurs/classics riders. But as a team, Sky has a lot more options. Both in the mountains and on the cobbles.

TS riders with a win: 4
Sky riders with a win: 12 + TTT

LOl you cant be serious counting wins like that? The giro win alone means three times as much as the 12+TTT stage wins. Gotte be the worst comparison ive read for a while...smh

 

[damian13ster]

Re: Re:

So far, Katusha has had the best season followed by Sky, Movistar and Etixx.

Tinkoff-Saxo has had a poor season compared to what was expected. They are one of the most expensive team in the sport. Contador and Sagan have been ok, but not superior. But the domestiques have been miserable. I think a team is judged on how good it is as a whole.

I rate Contador as equal to Froome and Sagan above any of Sky's sprinters/puncheurs/classics riders. But as a team, Sky has a lot more options. Both in the mountains and on the cobbles.

TS riders with a win: 4
Sky riders with a win: 12 + TTT

LOl you cant be serious counting wins like that? The giro win alone means three times as much as the 12+TTT stage wins. Gotte be the worst comparison ive read for a while...smh

Spoken like a true july fun Discounting 4 terrible months of cycling with one race

 

[Miburo]

Re: Re:

So far, Katusha has had the best season followed by Sky, Movistar and Etixx.

Tinkoff-Saxo has had a poor season compared to what was expected. They are one of the most expensive team in the sport. Contador and Sagan have been ok, but not superior. But the domestiques have been miserable. I think a team is judged on how good it is as a whole.

I rate Contador as equal to Froome and Sagan above any of Sky's sprinters/puncheurs/classics riders. But as a team, Sky has a lot more options. Both in the mountains and on the cobbles.

TS riders with a win: 4
Sky riders with a win: 12 + TTT

LOl you cant be serious counting wins like that? The giro win alone means three times as much as the 12+TTT stage wins. Gotte be the worst comparison ive read for a while...smh

Spoken like a true july fun Discounting 4 terrible months of cycling with one race

Says the nibali fan LMAO

Oh the irony. So beautiful, keep it coming

 

[Velolover2]

Re:

Winning the giro is worth more than all the things Porte won this year.

Quality over quantity.

I agree with that. I'm just saying as a team, Sky is way better with no weak spots. Tinkoff-Saxo has a lot.

Tinkov insist on having a handful of pro-conti level Russians on his team.
Sagan insist on having his brother on the team.
Contador insist on having his buddy on the team.
Past-it riders like Basso and Paulinho are still rated as great and have contracts for 2016 and maybe beyond.

 

[damian13ster]

I am a Majka and Kwiatkowski fan. Not Nibali's.
Btw, wasn't I called a sky-bot and Porte fan by you just a couple of weeks ago? Can you make up your mind ffs?

 

[Miburo]

Re:

I am a Majka and Kwiatkowski fan. Not Nibali's.
Btw, wasn't I called a sky-bot and Porte fan by you just a couple of weeks ago? Can you make up your mind ffs?

Give me the quote where i said it now.

Come on, give it to me.

 

[blackmamba]

Re: Re:

So far, Katusha has had the best season followed by Sky, Movistar and Etixx.

Tinkoff-Saxo has had a poor season compared to what was expected. They are one of the most expensive team in the sport. Contador and Sagan have been ok, but not superior. But the domestiques have been miserable. I think a team is judged on how good it is as a whole.

I rate Contador as equal to Froome and Sagan above any of Sky's sprinters/puncheurs/classics riders. But as a team, Sky has a lot more options. Both in the mountains and on the cobbles.

TS riders with a win: 4
Sky riders with a win: 12 + TTT

LOl you cant be serious counting wins like that? The giro win alone means three times as much as the 12+TTT stage wins. Gotte be the worst comparison ive read for a while...smh

Spoken like a true july fun Discounting 4 terrible months of cycling with one race

You sir clearly dont know anything about marketing and value. A giro win or a (TDF win even more!) means 10 times more than winning say the paris - nice/ dauphine and tirreno combined its just how it is any SD of any team would say this. Also every rider would want a giro or tdf win on their palmares 10 times more than the ones you mention clearly you gotte understand this if not there isnt much more needed to say to you sir

Its like comparing a roubaix win to 3 stage wins in paris-nice it doesnt make much sense does it

 

[Mr.White]

Sky's season is better than Tinkoff's so far, despite the Giro. I would rate Katusha, Movistar, Sky amd Etixx as the best, and then behind them Astana, Tinkoff and BMC

 

[Velolover2]

Re: Re:

So far, Katusha has had the best season followed by Sky, Movistar and Etixx.

Tinkoff-Saxo has had a poor season compared to what was expected. They are one of the most expensive team in the sport. Contador and Sagan have been ok, but not superior. But the domestiques have been miserable. I think a team is judged on how good it is as a whole.

I rate Contador as equal to Froome and Sagan above any of Sky's sprinters/puncheurs/classics riders. But as a team, Sky has a lot more options. Both in the mountains and on the cobbles.

TS riders with a win: 4
Sky riders with a win: 12 + TTT

LOl you cant be serious counting wins like that? The giro win alone means three times as much as the 12+TTT stage wins. Gotte be the worst comparison ive read for a while...smh

Spoken like a true july fun Discounting 4 terrible months of cycling with one race

You sir clearly dont know anything about marketing and value. A giro win or a (TDF win even more!) means 10 times more than winning say the paris - nice/ dauphine and tirreno combined its just how it is any SD of any team would say this. Also every rider would want a giro or tdf win on their palmares 10 times more than the ones you mention clearly you gotte understand this if not there isnt much more needed to say to you sir

Its like comparing a roubaix win to 3 stage wins in paris-nice it doesnt make much sense does it

So how would you rank the races in terms of prestige?

 

[blackmamba]

Re: Re:

So far, Katusha has had the best season followed by Sky, Movistar and Etixx.

Tinkoff-Saxo has had a poor season compared to what was expected. They are one of the most expensive team in the sport. Contador and Sagan have been ok, but not superior. But the domestiques have been miserable. I think a team is judged on how good it is as a whole.

I rate Contador as equal to Froome and Sagan above any of Sky's sprinters/puncheurs/classics riders. But as a team, Sky has a lot more options. Both in the mountains and on the cobbles.

TS riders with a win: 4
Sky riders with a win: 12 + TTT

LOl you cant be serious counting wins like that? The giro win alone means three times as much as the 12+TTT stage wins. Gotte be the worst comparison ive read for a while...smh

Spoken like a true july fun Discounting 4 terrible months of cycling with one race

You sir clearly dont know anything about marketing and value. A giro win or a (TDF win even more!) means 10 times more than winning say the paris - nice/ dauphine and tirreno combined its just how it is any SD of any team would say this. Also every rider would want a giro or tdf win on their palmares 10 times more than the ones you mention clearly you gotte understand this if not there isnt much more needed to say to you sir

Its like comparing a roubaix win to 3 stage wins in paris-nice it doesnt make much sense does it

So how would you rank the races in terms of prestige?

Yes part has to do with prestige what you have to understand is that in paris-nice tirreno etc the big dogs are there to prepare for the main goal im not taking anything away from victorys at those races cause its brilliant and nice but all im saying its a difference betwen the world cup and friendlies sure most people understand that atleast...

Its like take Richie for instance had a nice early year won paris-nice and Catalunya which was brilliant nice results etc etc but if you think for 1 second he wouldnt switch both of em in a hearthbeat with winning the giro your mistaken and that quite alot
Its like I said its a difference betwen the world cup and friendlies and champions league and national homecup sure people have to understand this....

 

[Electress]

I dont know why, but Sky looks rubbish again this year.Except Froome of course (and maybe Henao).Their last good year was 2013 which is weird
(besides Stannards crazy 2014)

If they dont sort out things before Tour, their team will be weak.

I don't think Sky are 'rubbish', but nor are they anything like they used to be. Individual performances are not the issue. What I notice is that the team are not operating in the same way they did in 2012/3. Now, I didn't like their dominance or how they approached racing, but it was very marked. They operated extremely well as a unit, with a very strong sense of being focused on the same goal, hence the 'Skybot' kind of rhetoric. They no longer seem to be working like that - they seemed much more like a bunch of individuals who are jockeying for position in some way. The Giro shenanigans only reinforced that sense for me. I really don't know, but something just seems a little 'off' at Sky to me.

 

[SeriousSam]

Re:

Sky's season is better than Tinkoff's so far, despite the Giro. I would rate Katusha, Movistar, Sky amd Etixx as the best, and then behind them Astana, Tinkoff and BMC

Where's the team with the guy that won two monuments? But yeah, Tinkov haven't been impressive. Sure, Contador won the Giro, but Sagan was *** and no one else on that team is capable of winning anything of note. Sky have had Thomas and Porte win a few notable races, and won some stages here and there. Whether that's trumped by the Giro (and the Tour of California!) is a matter of preference.

The Giro is great for Contador individually, but for Team, I value breadth, as does Tinkov himself.

 

[Von Mises]

Re: Re:

Yes part has to do with prestige what you have to understand is that in paris-nice tirreno etc the big dogs are there to prepare for the main goal im not taking anything away from victorys at those races cause its brilliant and nice but all im saying its a difference betwen the world cup and friendlies sure most people understand that atleast...

Come on, "big dogs" are targeting Paris-Nice and Tirreno too. It is pretty standard to have season´s first peak during spring- PN, Tirreno, spring classics, Catalunya, Pais Vasco - look at winner´s list, these are not prep races, but usually fist goal of GT contenders.

 

[blackmamba]

Re: Re:

Yes part has to do with prestige what you have to understand is that in paris-nice tirreno etc the big dogs are there to prepare for the main goal im not taking anything away from victorys at those races cause its brilliant and nice but all im saying its a difference betwen the world cup and friendlies sure most people understand that atleast...

Come on, "big dogs" are targeting Paris-Nice and Tirreno too. It is pretty standard to have season´s first peak during spring- PN, Tirreno, spring classics, Catalunya, Pais Vasco - look at winner´s list, these are not prep races, but usually fist goal of GT contenders.

I agree but its secondary, usually the first goal yes indeed but also its prep races (you cant have watched one single interview of your entire life if you think something else)!!! Do you really compare a paris-nice win too a tdf win just cause its a win cmon now. I mean how is this hard to understand...

To put it this way for the mentally challenged people do you think sir brailsford would swap the Paris-Nice win with a TDF win? do you also think he would swap the paris-nice win and the catalunya win for a tdf win? yes yes yes yes yes

 

[Netserk]

Re:

So far, Katusha has had the best season followed by Sky, Movistar and Etixx.

Tinkoff-Saxo has had a poor season compared to what was expected. They are one of the most expensive team in the sport. Contador and Sagan have been ok, but not superior. But the domestiques have been miserable. I think a team is judged on how good it is as a whole.

I rate Contador as equal to Froome and Sagan above any of Sky's sprinters/puncheurs/classics riders. But as a team, Sky has a lot more options. Both in the mountains and on the cobbles.

TS riders with a win: 4
Sky riders with a win: 12 + TTT

Huh? Two riders don't make a team. They probably aren't in the top-5 regarding budget.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

So far, Katusha has had the best season followed by Sky, Movistar and Etixx.

Tinkoff-Saxo has had a poor season compared to what was expected. They are one of the most expensive team in the sport. Contador and Sagan have been ok, but not superior. But the domestiques have been miserable. I think a team is judged on how good it is as a whole.

I rate Contador as equal to Froome and Sagan above any of Sky's sprinters/puncheurs/classics riders. But as a team, Sky has a lot more options. Both in the mountains and on the cobbles.

TS riders with a win: 4
Sky riders with a win: 12 + TTT

LOl you cant be serious counting wins like that? The giro win alone means three times as much as the 12+TTT stage wins. Gotte be the worst comparison ive read for a while...smh

Spoken like a true july fun Discounting 4 terrible months of cycling with one race

That sounds an awful lot like Vincenzo's past 2 seasons.

 

[HiroAntagonist]

Someone call the burn unit!

 

[damian13ster]

Re: Re:

So far, Katusha has had the best season followed by Sky, Movistar and Etixx.

Tinkoff-Saxo has had a poor season compared to what was expected. They are one of the most expensive team in the sport. Contador and Sagan have been ok, but not superior. But the domestiques have been miserable. I think a team is judged on how good it is as a whole.

I rate Contador as equal to Froome and Sagan above any of Sky's sprinters/puncheurs/classics riders. But as a team, Sky has a lot more options. Both in the mountains and on the cobbles.

TS riders with a win: 4
Sky riders with a win: 12 + TTT

LOl you cant be serious counting wins like that? The giro win alone means three times as much as the 12+TTT stage wins. Gotte be the worst comparison ive read for a while...smh

Spoken like a true july fun Discounting 4 terrible months of cycling with one race

That sounds an awful lot like Vincenzo's past 2 seasons.

Yeah, he was so terrible entire 2013 season
He did target only a single race in 2014 though. Didn't like that but he was so awesome during it that he was still 3rd in cq ranking (which includes all races, not just WT)
Of course that statement was about a team, but if you think is no difference between a single rider and a team full of cyclists then your statement is still wrong

 

[rhubroma]

I dont know why, but Sky looks rubbish again this year.Except Froome of course (and maybe Henao).Their last good year was 2013 which is weird
(besides Stannards crazy 2014)

If they dont sort out things before Tour, their team will be weak.

I don't think Sky are 'rubbish', but nor are they anything like they used to be. Individual performances are not the issue. What I notice is that the team are not operating in the same way they did in 2012/3. Now, I didn't like their dominance or how they approached racing, but it was very marked. They operated extremely well as a unit, with a very strong sense of being focused on the same goal, hence the 'Skybot' kind of rhetoric. They no longer seem to be working like that - they seemed much more like a bunch of individuals who are jockeying for position in some way. The Giro shenanigans only reinforced that sense for me. I really don't know, but something just seems a little 'off' at Sky to me.

But Sky has always been a Tour team and prefers races in which they can control the variables to their liking, which in the mega-blockbuster, corporate giant the French race has become, those variables are more dominable.

At the Tour you have teams willing to maintain say a 13th place, the level and prestige being so high, than take risks by creating new variables that could effectively alter the race by deviating from "the script." Everything is thus more controlled, everything follows, more or less, the most "logical" outcome based on what everybody can achieve or is willing to settle for much earlier in this grand tour than the others. For this reason, both the Giro and the Vuelta have generally been much better grand tours to watch from the spectator's point of view. Look at what happened at the Tour last year, the two favorites crashed out and then the "third" best rider was practically offered a triumphal procession to Paris, the moment he demonstrated superior form, while Sky litterally fell apart (but not Saxo). I think back in the 80's a guy like Nibali's rivals under such circumastances, no matter how inferior, would have attacked the hell out of him, but instead we got a rather dull and controlled race where everyone was racing for their best top ten from second, not first, out. In this sense the Tour has truly become too big for its own good.

At any rate, Sky has demonstrated a real difficency in cycling acumen, the moment they have to race with lots of variables they can't control such as at the Giro and at the classics. For this reason their corporate and pedantic approach to the sport is somewhat pathetic, for they have few real lessons to give. Furthermore Sky was a bit of a "novelty" in the years you bring up, but the status of being the "new sensation" is up, which can only be to the benefit of the rivals as far as teams go. I doubt, therefore, that Sky will ever return to the position of dominance it enjoyed in those years.