Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[IndianCyclist]

Re: Re:

The man is ugly on the bike, but what a master controlling his pace. He schooled everybody but Dumoulin today. My number one favourite for the overall win.

At best, he's good with numbers.

At best he's the best GC rider this year and arguably over the last few years

It is his team that probably devised that strategy especially useful when on the ropes. Attack only when required. Probably they would have also come up with a scientific explanation as well.
The others if they attack and then after some time start looking at each other, allowing him to comeback like last year will lose especially as a TT is there.

 

[SeriousSam]

Froome's style of doing that 4k climb was surely more energy saving then following the attacks, stopping, following the attacks. But then can only explain so much, the rest is Froome simply being a better climber, even now, than the others.

Still, astounding that Tom D was able to win, remaining in the chasing group at all times, attacking himself a couple times.

 

[Springveldt]

He's brilliant. The fact he's genuinely hated by so many people who follow the sport is a tragedy.

Agreed. Some may not like how he looks on a bike, some may question is sudden rise but I can't understand how you can dislike a guy who gives his all and always animates the race. Even when he is about to be dropped he gives it one last attack, I love watching the guy.

Plus, he animates this forum like no one else as well.

 

[Springveldt]

Re:

Froome's style of doing that 4k climb was surely more energy saving then following the attacks, stopping, following the attacks. But then can only explain so much, the rest is Froome simply being a better climber, even now, than the others.

Still, astounding that Tom D was able to win, remaining in the chasing group at all times, attacking himself a couple times.

Tom D's ride was mindblowing. I couldn't believe he came back at the end and overtook Froome.

Looks like Froome is riding himself back into shape. If none of the pure climbers (i.e. the ones who can't TT) don't take time on Wednesday then then their red jersey hopes could be over.
Aru and Purito will lose minutes in the TT.

 

[Walkman]

Re: Re:

The man is ugly on the bike, but what a master controlling his pace. He schooled everybody but Dumoulin today. My number one favourite for the overall win.

At best, he's good with numbers.

At best he's the best GC rider this year and arguably over the last few years

It is his team that probably devised that strategy especially useful when on the ropes. Attack only when required. Probably they would have also come up with a scientific explanation as well.
The others if they attack and then after some time start looking at each other, allowing him to comeback like last year will lose especially as a TT is there.

What are you saying?

 

[BrentonOfTheNorth]

He's brilliant. The fact he's genuinely hated by so many people who follow the sport is a tragedy.

Agreed. Some may not like how he looks on a bike, some may question is sudden rise but I can't understand how you can dislike a guy who gives his all and always animates the race. Even when he is about to be dropped he gives it one last attack, I love watching the guy.

Plus, he animates this forum like no one else as well.

There are plenty of real reasons to dislike him, mostly having to do with lies and inconsistencies in many of the stories he tells about badzilla and his preparation. I'm not saying I agree with them, but just saying that people have their reasons. To me it's funny to read someone say here "I can't understand how you can dislike the guy" while there's a thread on the same website with over a million views talking about why people dislike the guy. No offence or anything... I know it's just sport, and we post here for fun, not to have a scrutinized debate.

Anyway, I do agree that the dislike/hate that most pro cyclists (and athletes in general) get can be really unfair and over the top. I think that it is sad if someone is watching a sporting event while being bothered by one of the performances, even if I don't fault them too much for feeling that way. The Ronaldo vs Messi vitriol for example is a sad display of everyday human nature, IMO. All cyclists are fun to watch, in my opinion... even the ones with 'boring' styles as they provide a contrast with the others. And there are many GC riders past and present who are significantly more boring than Froome. Yesterday was not boring! I don't know how any cycling fan could not be impressed by Froome's tactics yesterday. I'm excited to see what he will do next.

 

[dacooley]

hatred for froome is first of all an animal fear of him beating the other big riders his haters have crush on. that's the way fan involvement works. fans sometimes associate themselves with sportsmen they cheer for. for sure if a favorite team or sportsman wins, his fan feels like a winner too, but if loses, that's a bit of personal drama. i joined the forum as a neutral fan. to be objective, i tend to regard froome, contador, nibali or nairo mainly just like great names of modern cycling and each of them for sure is quite controversial character and has the reasons to be liked and disliked, but the treatment froome gets on here made me support him.

 

[ray j willings]

Re:

Froome's style of doing that 4k climb was surely more energy saving then following the attacks, stopping, following the attacks. But then can only explain so much, the rest is Froome simply being a better climber, even now, than the others.

Still, astounding that Tom D was able to win, remaining in the chasing group at all times, attacking himself a couple times.

Have to disagree. If they rode like a typical climb just waiting near the end then we would have seen no time gaps or very minor. Froome was quite a bit back while those "fools" were attacking each other. Froome saved all his energy for the end and by then the " fools" had used up the tank.
Like I said just like the Vuelta last year. Contador got it right last year.

 

[Poursuivant]

Re:

hatred for froome is first of all an animal fear of him beating the other big riders his haters have crush on. that's the way fan involvement works. fans sometimes associate themselves with sportsmen they cheer for. for sure if a favorite team or sportsman wins, his fan feels like a winner too, but if loses, that's a bit of personal drama. i joined the forum as a neutral fan. to be objective, i tend to regard froome, contador, nibali or nairo mainly just like great names of modern cycling and each of them for sure is quite controversial character and has the reasons to be liked and disliked, but the treatment froome gets on here made me support him.

First sentence nails it

 

[PremierAndrew]

For what it's worth, the reasons I like Froome are:

1) It's nice to see someone from a different background being competitive on the cycling scene, as opposed to European, American or Colombian cyclists dominating on all fronts.
2) He always tries. He isn't scared to attack, and never simply follows in the wheels.
3) Despite getting so much hate, he stays fairly cool, and just gets on with it.
4) He's very ambitious. Always committed, and doesn't turn away from challenges (eg Even if his reason for doing the Vuelta was the recent history of Tour winners doing the previous Vuelta, he could have just relaxed, and aimed for stage wins. The fact that he is genuinely attempting the double is definitely commendable.)
5) He takes one for the team when he's asked to (Maybe he did put Wiggins in difficulty at one point in the Tour, but on the whole he stuck by him. Rode his heart out for Cav at the Olympics etc)

Equally, I understand the reasons to dislike him, but he definitely has a lot of likeable traits that a lot of people refuse to consider.

hatred for froome is first of all an animal fear of him beating the other big riders his haters have crush on. that's the way fan involvement works. fans sometimes associate themselves with sportsmen they cheer for.

This is very true. Froome seemed to be much more popular when he was slaving for Wiggins than he became when he started winning himself

 

[dacooley]

massive hatred obviously makes froome only stronger. in the beginning of the main phase of his career froome aimed to prove he was better than wiggins. today froome tries to convince people that his presence on top is well-deserved. i'd like him to do the double because apart from historical aspect of this achievement that would be a huge suckout for his detractors.

 

[Inquitus]

Re:

For what it's worth, the reasons I like Froome are:

1) It's nice to see someone from a different background being competitive on the cycling scene, as opposed to European, American or Colombian cyclists dominating on all fronts.
2) He always tries. He isn't scared to attack, and never simply follows in the wheels.
3) Despite getting so much hate, he stays fairly cool, and just gets on with it.
4) He's very ambitious. Always committed, and doesn't turn away from challenges (eg Even if his reason for doing the Vuelta was the recent history of Tour winners doing the previous Vuelta, he could have just relaxed, and aimed for stage wins. The fact that he is genuinely attempting the double is definitely commendable.)
5) He takes one for the team when he's asked to (Maybe he did put Wiggins in difficulty at one point in the Tour, but on the whole he stuck by him. Rode his heart out for Cav at the Olympics etc)

Equally, I understand the reasons to dislike him, but he definitely has a lot of likeable traits that a lot of people refuse to consider.

hatred for froome is first of all an animal fear of him beating the other big riders his haters have crush on. that's the way fan involvement works. fans sometimes associate themselves with sportsmen they cheer for.

This is very true. Froome seemed to be much more popular when he was slaving for Wiggins than he became when he started winning himself

He seems to be a true gentleman, he always conducts himself well in interviews etc. he comes across very well in his autobiography.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Odd, I felt he came across as a bit of a **** in his autobiography.

 

[Afrank]

@Inquitus, I've edited your post, please keep doping talk in the clinic. Thank you.

 

[Walkman]

Re:

Odd, I felt he came across as a bit of a **** in his autobiography.

Yeah, but in all fairness, you are not that objective in the matter at hand.

Didn't you tried to make his "How is that coffee Alberto" into Froome being a racist and him degrading Contador?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Odd, I felt he came across as a bit of a **** in his autobiography.

Yeah, but in all fairness, you are not that objective in the matter at hand.

Didn't you tried to make his "How is that coffee Alberto" into Froome being a racist and him degrading Contador?

Not racist, but that and his other comments about Alberto in his book show a certain lack of respect.

 

[Walkman]

Re: Re:

Odd, I felt he came across as a bit of a **** in his autobiography.

Yeah, but in all fairness, you are not that objective in the matter at hand.

Didn't you tried to make his "How is that coffee Alberto" into Froome being a racist and him degrading Contador?

Not racist, but that and his other comments about Alberto in his book show a certain lack of respect.

Well, then we have to disagree.

I just don't see the lack of respect. I see humor among, what seems to be, two competitors that also are friends. Maybe I am wrong, but that's just me.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Odd, I felt he came across as a bit of a **** in his autobiography.

Yeah, but in all fairness, you are not that objective in the matter at hand.

Didn't you tried to make his "How is that coffee Alberto" into Froome being a racist and him degrading Contador?

Not racist, but that and his other comments about Alberto in his book show a certain lack of respect.

Well, then we have to disagree.

I just don't see the lack of respect. I see humor among, what seems to be, two competitors that also are friends. Maybe I am wrong, but that's just me.

We can disagree, that is fine

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

Odd, I felt he came across as a bit of a **** in his autobiography.

Books are there to be sold, controversy sells and that's a fundamental rule of business.

I've always found him to be quite respectful with the majority of riders. Of course there are always odd examples but then most riders have a few incidents I'm sure they regret. He receives much more abuse than he gives out but on the whole has handled himself well as an individual.

His riding style is absolutely awful and obviously people hate his style, that's fair enough. However he is quite an entertaining rider, he isn't going to try a suicide attack from 100k's out but he always looks to try and take time and animate races.

 

[May0maniac]

I don't mind Vuelta Froome, at least normally he's not supported by the boring Sky train and they way he rides at his own pace is fun to watch. I'll probably never understand how you can be a pro for sooo long and still have such a horrible position on you bike (my neck already hurts when I observe him staring at his stem for long amounts of time) but that's not my affair.

 

[Jakub]

Re: Re:

Odd, I felt he came across as a bit of a **** in his autobiography.

Yeah, but in all fairness, you are not that objective in the matter at hand.

Didn't you tried to make his "How is that coffee Alberto" into Froome being a racist and him degrading Contador?

Not racist, but that and his other comments about Alberto in his book show a certain lack of respect.

Well, then we have to disagree.

I just don't see the lack of respect. I see humor among, what seems to be, two competitors that also are friends. Maybe I am wrong, but that's just me.

Definitely you are wrong, who has told you that they are friends? Friends...OMG

 

[Jakub]

Re:

I don't mind Vuelta Froome, at least normally he's not supported by the boring Sky train and they way he rides at his own pace is fun to watch. I'll probably never understand how you can be a pro for sooo long and still have such a horrible position on you bike (my neck already hurts when I observe him staring at his stem for long amounts of time) but that's not my affair.

Yes, me too, exactly. One more detail I would mention but it's for....a different part of the forum

 

[cantpedal]

Re: Re:

I don't mind Vuelta Froome, at least normally he's not supported by the boring Sky train and they way he rides at his own pace is fun to watch. I'll probably never understand how you can be a pro for sooo long and still have such a horrible position on you bike (my neck already hurts when I observe him staring at his stem for long amounts of time) but that's not my affair.

Yes, me too, exactly. One more detail I would mention but it's for....a different part of the forum

but you did mention it the smiley face is not some antidote for bad behavior.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Re: Re:

The man is ugly on the bike, but what a master controlling his pace. He schooled everybody but Dumoulin today. My number one favourite for the overall win.

At best, he's good with numbers.

At best he's the best GC rider this year and arguably over the last few years

It is his team that probably devised that strategy especially useful when on the ropes. Attack only when required. Probably they would have also come up with a scientific explanation as well.
The others if they attack and then after some time start looking at each other, allowing him to comeback like last year will lose especially as a TT is there.

What are you saying?

When he is dropped, he is alone and therefore loses the energy saved in drafting ~1-2% but he stays within some boundary w.r.t his power with insane cadence not using lot of his anaerobic reserves. This he then utilities during the last 1-2k to explosively attack or close the gap. IMO this presumes that a) He will recover well not getting too tired during the stage b) his opponents will attack each other losing valuable energy but will not pull away from him due to their inability to work together(having different agenda). Same situation during last Vuelta with only Contador wise to this tactic. I don't know how this strategy works but it works for him. Sort of a anaerobic reserve range. I have this much reserve. So if i travel a x m/s for last 1.5 k i will consume this reserve and then plan the tactic accordingly.

 

[Singer01]

team sky marginal gains no 75 - froome drinks the tears of fans of other riders.