Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[blackmamba]

I will say what I said on the contador page but people relax, Froome is not suppose to come into the Tour with peak form id be more worried if he was flying today, sure he coulda hoped for 10-15 sec better (same for Contador) but its no big deal and according to plan this was never the stage to win the tour ofcourse Froome and everyone else with a brain know this and planned their form accordingly!

 

[mufana]

Re: Re:

I don't think Froome will win this Tour. He looked anxious at the team presentation. How he grabbed the mic/hand of the presenter during the interview. Very akward moment there. He's not looking good to me.

body language expert are we??

As a matter of fact I am.

 

[Walkman]

Re:

I will say what I said on the contador page but people relax, Froome is not suppose to come into the Tour with peak form id be more worried if he was flying today, sure he coulda hoped for 10-15 sec better (same for Contador) but its no big deal and according to plan this was never the stage to win the tour ofcourse Froome and everyone else with a brain know this and planned their form accordingly!

I think you have a point but I also think that he will play it safe this first week. Stay upright and just control things until they hit the mountains.

 

[mufana]

Re: Re:

I don't think Froome will win this Tour. He looked anxious at the team presentation. How he grabbed the mic/hand of the presenter during the interview. Very akward moment there. He's not looking good to me.

body language expert are we??

I thought the exact same thing, plenty of awkward nervousness and I'm not entirely sure it's due to not being happy in public eye or in front of people. There's something wrong with this guy's inner chimp.

If you look at the 2014 team presentation you see a very different Froome. Maybe it's the cobbles that make him a bit nervous. I don't know.

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Re:

I will say what I said on the contador page but people relax, Froome is not suppose to come into the Tour with peak form id be more worried if he was flying today, sure he coulda hoped for 10-15 sec better (same for Contador) but its no big deal and according to plan this was never the stage to win the tour ofcourse Froome and everyone else with a brain know this and planned their form accordingly!

I think you have a point but I also think that he will play it safe this first week. Stay upright and just control things until they hit the mountains.

Agree

Froome & SKY are doing two things

1. Doing there best to survive and limit loses in week 1
2. Putting strong climbing team into action in final half for Froome to drop rivals


Its simple but effective especially with the team they have

 

[mr. tibbs]

Re: Re:

Agree

Froome & SKY are doing two things

1. Doing there best to survive and limit loses in week 1
2. Putting strong climbing team into action in final half for Froome to drop rivals


Its simple but effective especially with the team they have

And I suspect that he's got the best climbing form in the race right now, so when the time comes, he'll be practically free-wheeling in the train until it's time for the 150 rpm attack.

I think Froome's the favorite right now, but it'll take a while for the community consensus to catch up to that because we'll be collectively wowed by the handfuls of seconds at play in the first week.

 

[Dog]

Re:

I don't think Froome will win this Tour. He looked anxious at the team presentation. How he grabbed the mic/hand of the presenter during the interview. Very akward moment there. He's not looking good to me.

This has to be one of the silliest things I've read on this message board.

 

[cellardoor]

Re: Re:

I will say what I said on the contador page but people relax, Froome is not suppose to come into the Tour with peak form id be more worried if he was flying today, sure he coulda hoped for 10-15 sec better (same for Contador) but its no big deal and according to plan this was never the stage to win the tour ofcourse Froome and everyone else with a brain know this and planned their form accordingly!

I think you have a point but I also think that he will play it safe this first week. Stay upright and just control things until they hit the mountains.

Agree

Froome & SKY are doing two things

1. Doing there best to survive and limit loses in week 1
2. Putting strong climbing team into action in final half for Froome to drop rivals


Its simple but effective especially with the team they have

I don't really understand why Froome would be thinking of limiting his loses in a TT. He used to be a guy that took time on his rivals in both TTs and the mountains. In many ways, his TTing ability was his ace card. I don't see why he would need to sacrifice his TTing ability for climbing ability - all he needs to do is have the form from 2012/13 where he was the best at both.

 

[mufana]

Re: Re:

I don't think Froome will win this Tour. He looked anxious at the team presentation. How he grabbed the mic/hand of the presenter during the interview. Very akward moment there. He's not looking good to me.

This has to be one of the silliest things I've read on this message board.

Thats exactly the reason why I post these things here. This board is full of silly things.

 

[46&twoWheels]

Sky is clearly built to be the best on the mountains but not so effective on the TTT
----
Astana very effective on both "terrain" but not the best in either of them
Movistar VERY great on TTT, will be nowhere to be seen on the mountains
Tinkoff-Saxo obviously great on the mountains, at the same time TTT is not their cup of tea

 

[Rollthedice]

Froome has all his eggs in one basket, watts/kg up the mountains. Problem is he has to be very careful not to drop the basket until he reaches the mountains.

 

[Ramon Koran]

Froome is a class act both on and off the bike, his team is the strongest in the race on all terrains, remains to be seen though weather he can live with the likes of Nibali and Contador in top shape in the mountains, personally think he will struggle.

 

[blackmamba]

Re: Re:

I will say what I said on the contador page but people relax, Froome is not suppose to come into the Tour with peak form id be more worried if he was flying today, sure he coulda hoped for 10-15 sec better (same for Contador) but its no big deal and according to plan this was never the stage to win the tour ofcourse Froome and everyone else with a brain know this and planned their form accordingly!

I think you have a point but I also think that he will play it safe this first week. Stay upright and just control things until they hit the mountains.

Agree

Froome & SKY are doing two things

1. Doing there best to survive and limit loses in week 1
2. Putting strong climbing team into action in final half for Froome to drop rivals


Its simple but effective especially with the team they have

I don't really understand why Froome would be thinking of limiting his loses in a TT. He used to be a guy that took time on his rivals in both TTs and the mountains. In many ways, his TTing ability was his ace card. I don't see why he would need to sacrifice his TTing ability for climbing ability - all he needs to do is have the form from 2012/13 where he was the best at both.

What is it you dont understand? Riders cant have top form for 3 weeks thats all it is, people arent going to peak their form for stasge 1 (IF THEIR TRYING TO WIN THE TOUR, IF UR DENNIS YOU WILL)) why would you think that? however if this TT was in the 2 or 3 week Froome would be a different beast trust me so would Contador its simple a matter of peaking at the right time dunno what your talking about sacrifising TT ability etc cause it has nothing to do with that in the large scheme of things its simple a matter of simple physics riders CANT sustain their best form for 3 weeks!!....

 

[SlickMongoose]

Re: Re:

I don't really understand why Froome would be thinking of limiting his loses in a TT. He used to be a guy that took time on his rivals in both TTs and the mountains. In many ways, his TTing ability was his ace card. I don't see why he would need to sacrifice his TTing ability for climbing ability - all he needs to do is have the form from 2012/13 where he was the best at both.

Froome's climbing performance in 2013 was good, but it's also overrated due to the poor competition. Nilbali climbed as well or slightly better last year. With Nibali and a stronger (compared to 2013) Quintana and Contador to beat, if Froome is going to win this year he will have to climb better than 2013, and I think he knows it.

 

[Angliru]

Do those that aren't Froome's greatest fans, mentally prepare yourself for long efforts in excess of 6.5w/kg. Froome's body fat seems to be ridiculously low

That is comparable to people suffering from famine. How can someone be in that state and still compete at an elite level without endangering their health?

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Do those that aren't Froome's greatest fans, mentally prepare yourself for long efforts in excess of 6.5w/kg. Froome's body fat seems to be ridiculously low

That is comparable to people suffering from famine. How can someone be in that state and still compete at an elite level without endangering their health?

Just look at some ethiopian long-distance runners

 

[Angliru]

Do those that aren't Froome's greatest fans, mentally prepare yourself for long efforts in excess of 6.5w/kg. Froome's body fat seems to be ridiculously low

That is comparable to people suffering from famine. How can someone be in that state and still compete at an elite level without endangering their health?

Just look at some ethiopian long-distance runners

His arm looks emaciated. The absence of fat is such that his bicep looks....just unnatural.

 

[Electress]

Do those that aren't Froome's greatest fans, mentally prepare yourself for long efforts in excess of 6.5w/kg. Froome's body fat seems to be ridiculously low

That is comparable to people suffering from famine. How can someone be in that state and still compete at an elite level without endangering their health?

This picture is just ghastly. Every time I see it I think - there's a guy with osteoporosis kicking in at 40. If he does fall off his bike, there cannot be much shock absorption from impact.

IMO, the pursuit of ever lower weight as some kind of benchmark of athletic 'peak' is one of the least edifying aspects of cycling.

 

[mufana]

Do those that aren't Froome's greatest fans, mentally prepare yourself for long efforts in excess of 6.5w/kg. Froome's body fat seems to be ridiculously low

That is comparable to people suffering from famine. How can someone be in that state and still compete at an elite level without endangering their health?

Looks a bit like Rasmussen. Doesn't look healty. Let's hope it won't rain.

 

[SeriousSam]

It's understandable why climbers pursue such low levels of body fat. Ascent times for steep long climbs are approximately inversely proportional to weight and fat is dead weight.

But that region around his elbow looks grotesque. It's a mystery how he managed to reduce "deadweight" tissue to the extent he has.

 

[cellardoor]

Please, stop quoting the picture when commenting on it

 

[Mozart92]

He is scary. Such a low level of fat shouldn't be allowed. They push themselves too far in order to get better perfomances, this is not healthy.

 

[Warhawk]

Re:

But that region around his elbow looks grotesque. It's a mystery how he managed to reduce "deadweight" tissue to the extent he has.

Next step is to cut off his arms and just strap himself to the bike.

 

[Tonton]

Do those that aren't Froome's greatest fans, mentally prepare yourself for long efforts in excess of 6.5w/kg. Froome's body fat seems to be ridiculously low

That is comparable to people suffering from famine. How can someone be in that state and still compete at an elite level without endangering their health?

Auschwitz. That is what this picture reminds me of. God bless.

 

[movingtarget]

The pictures of Andy Schleck in a swimming pool where the same. Wiggins was the same. His legs were worse. It seems that these days weight is everything for GT riders. Contador and Nibali are shorter and look like weightlifters compared to the the latter. Quintana looks like a young boy with an old face. None of this seems to affect how they perform but their weight must fluctuate a lot in the off season when they get hungry and are not training. It must be hard to keep disciplined with their weight if these weights are considered optimal for racing.