Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[Carols]

I don't see anything wrong with his comments. Based on his form over the course of the year and the performances of his rivals, including Contador, I think it is reasonable for him to believe that he is better than them. Now that may not turn out to be the case, but it is not an unreasonable belief.

I agree, on paper he is the better ITTer. We'll see what happens on the road.....Tomorrow!!! Is Contador fit enough??? Won't know until they ride it.

 

[Andre.J]

I don't think he has a thread yet. He deserves one, I like how he rides.

And he made fun of Wiggins in the tour, how can you not like him for that? lol

He attacks when he can. And not an ***.

Anyway great rider and IMO the guy who is going to be the biggest challenge for Contador in the future GT's.

And he has a cute girlfriend, she doesn't know when to be quiet, still very nice

Ha..you should see Gilbert's Girlfriend.

 

[palmerq]

froome will bash contador tomorrow :S wait and see

 

[Publicus]

froome will bash contador tomorrow :S wait and see

In lots of ways, this is probably the best result for the fans because it means Contador will attack and attack until he succeeds or fails, which generally makes for very exciting racing.

 

[Miburo]

In lots of ways, this is probably the best result for the fans because it means Contador will attack and attack until he succeeds or fails, which generally makes for very exciting racing.

That's the great thing with Contador. If he loses 3 minutes we can't say it's over with him. Aslong as we've mountains you can never say it's over with this guy, that's so awesome about him.

Still I hope Contador wins against Froome and that Wiggins put his tv on

 

[Forunculo]

Go Froome, don't collapse now, you're still in contention.

 

[maxmartin]

froome will bash contador tomorrow :S wait and see

that did not happen

Froom's career path so far seems tragic to me, hand over last year Vuelta win, hand over this year Tour win, and possibly fall off the podium of Vuelta this year. Well hope he will not regret too much when he looks back his career and he only have himself to blame.

He is still relatively young, so still have plenty chances to get on the top of the podium. But assessing current SKY situation, I can only imagine more drama between him and Wiggins for next year tour. And in the end maybe neither of them can benefit from them, let's wait and see.

Also expect much close fight in the next year Tour, people are catching up with SKY innovative training methods, it is already obvious in the Vuelta right now.

 

[cineteq]

He is still relatively young, so still have plenty chances to get on the top of the podium. But assessing current SKY situation, I can only imagine more drama between him and Wiggins for next year tour. And in the end maybe neither of them can benefit from them, let's wait and see.

Right, but can he have the same preparation with a different team? I doubt it.

 

[webvan]

Why not, he knows how it's done, it's not rocket science, anyway if he can't win the Vuelta he's not going anywhere.

All is not lost but this ITT is a friggin' disappointment, clearly he doesn't have the shape he had in the TDF but he didn't do a lot of work over there (pulled what, 15k top for Wiggins? ) and had raced very little before...and Kessiakoff was on the TDF too. If anything it confirms that he couldn't have put much time into Wiggo on La Toussuire and Peyragudes, certainly not the time he lost in the ITTs in any case and that he we could have done with a little less showboating, not to mention his GF's ridiculous tweets.

Anyway he'd better get his act together and win the Vuelta or he'll have to bow down to Wiggo again in the next TDF. It's not the first time a very talented rider would do that, Jean-François Bernard (and to a lesser extent Gérard Rué) did that for Indurain in the early 90s.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Right, but can he have the same preparation with a different team? I doubt it.

LOL.
Katusha have the guy who was in a day of winning the Giro,
looking to be the likely winner of the Vuelta.
To date, zero bad days in the mountains:-a first.
Plus, they seem to have taught him to time trial, since forever.

I'd say they get full marks for preparing Purito.

 

[Anonymous]

That seems a very fair summary Webvan. I never was convinced that Froome could have put on enough time in the TdF to beat Wiggins. Look at those two videos again anyone who thinks otherwise..

 

[cineteq]

I'd say they get full marks for preparing Purito.

I sense bitterness LOL! Look in the dictionary to the word: progression.

 

[Mellow Velo]

I sense bitterness LOL! Look in the dictionary to the word: progression.

Not at all.

You needed a non Sky example of perfect preparation.
He's the man of the year.
Unless, of course, your definition of preparedness, is more cynical and clinical than mine.
In which case, your comments are open to misinterpretation, being in the incorrect section of the forum.

 

[Froome19]

Why not, he knows how it's done, it's not rocket science, anyway if he can't win the Vuelta he's not going anywhere.

All is not lost but this ITT is a friggin' disappointment, clearly he doesn't have the shape he had in the TDF but he didn't do a lot of work over there (pulled what, 15k top for Wiggins? ) and had raced very little before...and Kessiakoff was on the TDF too. If anything it confirms that he couldn't have put much time into Wiggo on La Toussuire and Peyragudes, certainly not the time he lost in the ITTs in any case and that he we could have done with a little less showboating, not to mention his GF's ridiculous tweets.

He didnt do a lot of work in the Tour de France?
He was up there in every single Mountain stage performing better than any other rider in the race...
Nevermind working for Wiggins, many if not all riders would be fatigued after that, if they could achieve such.

Anyway he'd better get his act together and win the Vuelta or he'll have to bow down to Wiggo again in the next TDF. It's not the first time a very talented rider would do that, Jean-François Bernard (and to a lesser extent Gérard Rué) did that for Indurain in the early 90s.

Sky know he is not at top form and now that Wiggins has won the Tour and Froome was hyped as stronger than Wiggins in the Tour, it will be easy for them to change leaders if need be. Sky will know which of the two is stronger and they will go with that rider.

 

[webvan]

You can try to spin it whatever way you want it will be a big disappointment if he doesn't win the Vuelta, the ITT is bad enough (Kessiakoff went all out at the TDF too as you may remember. This coming from a huge Froome fan, who was NOT impressed by his showboating om Peyragudes.

As for the next TDF we're not there yet, best Froome can hope for, barring in any accidents is an Ullrich 1997 status.

 

[Angliru]

Why not, he knows how it's done, it's not rocket science, anyway if he can't win the Vuelta he's not going anywhere.

All is not lost but this ITT is a friggin' disappointment, clearly he doesn't have the shape he had in the TDF but he didn't do a lot of work over there (pulled what, 15k top for Wiggins? ) and had raced very little before...and Kessiakoff was on the TDF too. If anything it confirms that he couldn't have put much time into Wiggo on La Toussuire and Peyragudes, certainly not the time he lost in the ITTs in any case and that he we could have done with a little less showboating, not to mention his GF's ridiculous tweets.

Anyway he'd better get his act together and win the Vuelta or he'll have to bow down to Wiggo again in the next TDF. It's not the first time a very talented rider would do that, Jean-François Bernard (and to a lesser extent Gérard Rué) did that for Indurain in the early 90s.

I don't see how his Vuelta performance proves he wasn't capable of beating Wiggins had they been on different teams. What it proves is that he's capable of showing fatigue after riding in the Tour which is what many here predicted would eventually happen. It shows that the Tour wasn't a cakewalk for him and he wasn't simply freewheeling around France while his opponents were actually pounding their cranks.

I've got a feeling that based on his Tour performance, Froome won't be willingly riding in support of anyone in the future. He will go into the Tour with his own ambitions and he won't hesitate to ride in pursuit of his own interests, regardless of what is going on in his earpiece. He's on record saying that he believes he could have won the Tour, so I simply can't see him going into the 2013 Tour with the passive attitude of riding for Wiggins because that is the team's strategy. From the start of the 2013 training camp he will likely let the Sky management know that it's his time and at worst he will accept dual leadership at the Tour with Wiggins, not an assignment as Giro/Vuelta leader and Tour super-domestique. That would be a trap by Sky management to limit the liklihood that he would be able to challenge Wiggins in the Tour and it would feed into their ambitions of their dominating the sport by potentially winning all 3 grand tours in one season. Possibly their plan could be to have him skip the Tour altogether making Porte, Henao or Uran Wiggins' chief lieutenant in the mountains of the Tour.

Ultimately with their wealth of talent Sky also has major drama to deal with next year. Compound that with the fact that Wiggins stated that he would ride for Froome at the Tour "in the future", leaving when exactly the future may be open to his own interpretation.

 

[DominicDecoco]

Definitely needed another thread...

Froome seems like a nice chap. His constant looking down is doing my head in though and his bird is a bit of a ****.

 

[Angliru]

Definitely needed another thread...

Froome seems like a nice chap. His constant looking down is doing my head in though and his bird is a bit of a ****.

I have to ask, has it been confirmed that he's constantly looking at his power meter or is it just strange habit that he has while climbing?

 

[JRanton]

Much depends on the the Tour route and specifically how many TT km's there will be. If there are 75-100km of ITT then I'd still go with Wiggins as leader. I think Wiggins putting 2 minutes or so into Contador in the time trials and then hanging onto that advantage in the (likely much harder) mountain stages is a more realistic route to victory than Froome matching Contador in the time trials and hoping that CF will then out climb AC in the mountains.

 

[DominicDecoco]

I have to ask, has it been confirmed that he's constantly looking at his power meter or is it just strange habit that he has while climbing?

Nothing to do with his power meters. Just an awkward way of riding (it's not just climbing)...

 

[jilbiker]

Was it me or did Chris look tired today. he seemed to be pushing it. really pushing it, not anyway as smooth as his ITT in the TDF. Is the TDF finally hitting his legs? Or he just wasn't used to this kind of course for ITT?

 

[UpTheRoad]

Was it me or did Chris look tired today. he seemed to be pushing it. really pushing it, not anyway as smooth as his ITT in the TDF. Is the TDF finally hitting his legs? Or he just wasn't used to this kind of course for ITT?

It might not be the TdF that is hitting his legs, it's this Vuelta. It's been really hot, the stages have not been flat, and the competition is attacking. That didn't happen at the TdF.

The Tour legs seems to be taking a toll, and perhaps it is most evident with the other Sky riders and not Froome. But, but he is being pushed more than he was in the Tour. The Spanish Armada said he was blown on the final Cat 3 the other day -- that just didn't happen at the TdF. The TdF kms are a factor, but the course, competition and the heat have got to be doing an even bigger number on him.

 

[maxmartin]

Froom's career path so far seems tragic to me, hand over last year Vuelta win, hand over this year Tour win, and possibly fall off the podium of Vuelta this year. Well hope he will not regret too much when he looks back his career and he only have himself to blame.

He is still relatively young, so still have plenty chances to get on the top of the podium. But assessing current SKY situation, I can only imagine more drama between him and Wiggins for next year tour. And in the end maybe neither of them can benefit from those drama, let's wait and see.

Also expect much close fight in the next year Tour, people are catching up with SKY innovative training methods, it is already obvious in the Vuelta right now.

 

[maxmartin]

Good news is he is still pretty much in the game, although lost a little momentum. But he can turn that around in just one stage because the race is so tight right now.

 

[The Hitch]

Froom's career path so far seems tragic to me, hand over last year Vuelta win, hand over this year Tour win, and possibly fall off the podium of Vuelta this year.

He has just hit his form 1 year ago. He has a good 6 years left in him minimum, plenty of chances to go after the TDF.