Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[ILovecycling]

Perhaps Bradley is trying to learn something from his idol, Lance. In 2009 situation was similar: two leaders, super strong team, and Lance also did the Giro, like Brad is doing now! Then, all Lance's plans were based on idea that once he gets the yellow, Contador will not attack him, and the team will control the race for him. But Lance missed yellow by a couple of seconds in the early phase, and then Contador spoiled everything by attacking at Arcalis.
The issue of leadership for the Tour, also developed similarly. At the beginiing Lance was supposed to work for Alberto. I remeber how one Lance fanatic on this forum 'Jackhammer' was absolutely certain that Lance will be the last in train and dragging Alberto on the climbs. Then all the games around the team leadership stared, and come July all was unclear.
Situation seems similar to me. So if Brad is copying Lance, Chris must copy Alberto and go on attack early on, even against team orders.

That's pretty obvious that Froomedog is gonna attack once they hit Ax3 after frantic pace on Pailharès,isn't it?

 

[webvan]

Yep, that will be the moment of truth, till then all the Sky parties, and especially the Cound Twitwoman, should STFU and focus on the work at hand, if not they might be in for a little Contador/Purito/Quintana/etc... surprise!

 

[jaylew]

I think that Froome could win the Tour without Wiggins.

I believe Wiggins could win it with Froome but not without him. And at this point I don't see a scenario where Froome would work for Wiggins unless there was a incident where he lost a boatload of time.

 

[Angliru]

Not really comparable, Lance was a lot weaker than Contador on ALL terrains, mountain and ITT, he had zero chance, even if Contador hadn't attacked on Verbier he would have won that TDF.

In theory BW is still stronger than Froome in ITTs especially since Froome seems to have lost a tiny bit there compared to previous years (if you look at the TA and Romandie ITTs)...and according to BW and Kerrisson, who knows his numbers, BW has progressed in steep climbs...where he was already pretty decent in 2012.

This is Wiggins with the Giro in his legs versus Froome who will be relatively fresh and singularly focused. I can't see Wiggins having any advantage (other than the possibilty of him being in yellow and Froome's hands being tied as a result) in this scenario especially come the final week of the Tour where fatigue will be more of factor with him than Froome. I think that Froome will ride his own race, taking opportunities where he can find them to put Wiggins in difficulty, yellow or no.

 

[Netserk]

 

[Jelantik]

LOL.. nice photoshop job

 

[Jelantik]

Not really comparable, Lance was a lot weaker than Contador on ALL terrains, mountain and ITT, he had zero chance, even if Contador hadn't attacked on Verbier he would have won that TDF.

In theory BW is still stronger than Froome in ITTs especially since Froome seems to have lost a tiny bit there compared to previous years (if you look at the TA and Romandie ITTs)...and according to BW and Kerrisson, who knows his numbers, BW has progressed in steep climbs...where he was already pretty decent in 2012.

And that makes him better than Froome? Not to mention a Giro leg vs a fresh leg?? Whew... BW must be drinking some cool-aid somewhere. I noticed that he won't make that statement if he won't believe that he is as strong as or better than Froome. It's really some statement there. If BW in yellow, i really want to see what Froome would do if the likes of contador and others are attacking BW. Wait or not to wait? priceless

 

[Afrank]

Interesting...so DB will not be saying anything it seems...kinda blows away that crazy Cound woman and showboating Froome, no? Again, I really don't see the problem in having dual leaders, or two "protected" riders, how can Froome seriously deny that to the defending champion. Kinda shows his lack of understanding of cycling rules/"etiquette", like when makes these scenes on Toussuire or Peyragudes or taunts Peraud on CI, this is going to bite back at some point, especially if he fails in the TDF this year, for one reason or the other, and there are many reasons for things to go wrong, mechanical, fall, tactics like at T-A, etc...

It's not an end in itself to be the "sole" leader, it certainly wasn't in 86, 97 or '09, the strongest won and if he'd been the strongest overall last year he would have won too. The issue is that he's not convinced it's changed this year, especially with what BW and Kerrison are saying these days about BWs climbing abilities. In any case Froome and Cound are not getting BW off the TDF team if he wants/can to be there so they should take a pill and relax.

The problem is Wiggins made Froome slave for him in 2 GT's that he likely could have won. And in one of those GT's he was even forced to work for him while in the leaders jersey. Froome, for all he's done for Wiggins, deserves the chance to be the undisputed leader for the 2013 Tour. Have Wiggins be the back-up leader in case Froome crashes or has some kind of other problem, that's fine. But Wiggins isn't saying he will be the back-up leader in case something like that happens. He is saying his goal is to win the Tour. Which directly conflicts with Froome's goal to win it.

By doing this, IMO, Wiggins is just being a A-hole and causing more headache for Froome. He really needs to grow up and acknowledge that Froome deserves to be the undisputed leader much more than he does.

 

[offbyone]

I think that Froome could win the Tour without Wiggins.

I believe Wiggins could win it with Froome but not without him. And at this point I don't see a scenario where Froome would work for Wiggins unless there was a incident where he lost a boatload of time.

+1
No way wiggins wins last year without froome. No chance in hell he wins a hillier tour this year without froome.

 

[webvan]

I don't know what race you guys watched last summer but writing that BW wouldn't have won the TDF without Froome is complete BS! Froome pulled maybe 5km tops for BW, the rest he was being paced like BW by Eisel, Rogers, Porte, etc...he had to let BW take over on Toussuire for several Ks to recover and same on Peyresourdes. There is absolutely ZERO chance that BW would have lost 3 minutes to Froome on Toussuire or Peyragudes, ZERO. Not even open to discussion if you know anything about cycling.

Having said that, I think we all agree that BW should be there as a backup leader, because, yes Froome has shown to be a better climber at this point, because Wiggins will have a Giro in his legs (normally) and because Froome worked for him at the Vuelta 2011 (most likely losing the Vuelta because of that, but no need to have that debate again, he was totally uproven as a GT rider before the Vuelta, and after the Angliru Wiggins buried himself for Froome) and the TDF 2012, in spite of the useless showboating.

The problem at this point is that Froome and the Cound Twitwoman apparently don't want BW to be starting the TDF, this is unacceptable and shows they have some issues they need to sort, preferably not in public as they've been doing lately.

 

[Pippo_San]

By doing this, IMO, Wiggins is just being a A-hole and causing more headache for Froome. He really needs to grow up and acknowledge that Froome deserves to be the undisputed leader much more than he does.

Sorry? Are we talking the same Knight who won in 2012 everything he could win and some more like Paris-Nice, Romandie, Dauphine, Le Tour and the Olympics?

Are we talking the same Froome who everytime he entered something significant lost? (see Tirreno-Adriatico 2013) Whose greatest win to date is the Tour of Oman?

Come on. Should Wigans disappoint miserably at the Giro I could understand, right now the crybaby is Froomey Dog.

 

[Pentacycle]

Sorry? Are we talking the same Knight who won in 2012 everything he could win and some more like Paris-Nice, Romandie, Dauphine, Le Tour and the Olympics?

Are we talking the same Froome who everytime he entered something significant lost? (see Tirreno-Adriatico 2013) Whose greatest win to date is the Tour of Oman?

Come on. Should Wigans disappoint miserably at the Giro I could understand, right now the crybaby is Froomey Dog.

He won Romandie 2 days ago, and it's pretty clear who has a better chance to win the Tour.

They'll only give Wiggins undisputed leadership if he dominates the Giro(wins by a 5' margin), and has something left for the TdF.

 

[spalco]

I don't know what race you guys watched last summer but writing that BW wouldn't have won the TDF without Froome is complete BS!

He probably would have won without Froome, but he almost certainly would not have won with Froome being on a different team or being allowed to race for himself.

 

[Sophistic82]

i totally agree that Froome should get the chance to go for the tour win - at the end of 2011 he had plenty of offers from other teams, he chose to stay with Sky and Wiggins, so he is the one who gave away the chance.

 

[williamp78]

Here's a wee clip from the BBC were Geraint Thomas gives his opinion on it. Geraint always gives very entertaining interviews and although this clip is less than a minute long his last line is hilarious!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/22374964

 

[martinvickers]

That's true but Porte gets on really well with Wiggins too. Little Richie is going to be the man in the middle.

No. He's gonna be the man who comes THROUGH the middle. 'Cos sky are just that devious...

 

[Franklin]

Now that would be truly epic... Porte winning the TdF!

Does Richie have a nice vocal wife?

 

[TANK91]

Sorry? Are we talking the same Knight who won in 2012 everything he could win and some more like Paris-Nice, Romandie, Dauphine, Le Tour and the Olympics?

Are we talking the same Froome who everytime he entered something significant lost? (see Tirreno-Adriatico 2013) Whose greatest win to date is the Tour of Oman?

Come on. Should Wigans disappoint miserably at the Giro I could understand, right now the crybaby is Froomey Dog.

Come on now Eienstein did you not just watch the Tour de Romandie.

 

[TANK91]

Funny guy, you are absolutely missing the point, which is a direct reply to airstrteam.

1, Either we look at last year and decide Wiggo is the best.
2. We look at this year and say Froome is the strongest.

Saying that undoubtedly both are the strongest due to both reasons is eating your cake and having it too.

So according to your view of today you would 100% agree with me that Wiggo is not as strong as Contador. Seems you should be laughing at airstream, not at me.

No your missing the point read my post it's about Froome being stronger than Contador, we all no in the 3 GT parcours this year that Contador would beat Wiggo in any 1 of them, but would he to Froome based on this year. I think not.. I said many times that Contador is not the same Contador as he once was, sure his results are not terrible but Contador has always looked stronger and better etc than this start to the season.

 

[offbyone]

we all no in the 3 GT parcours this year that Contador would beat Wiggo in any 1 of them

I don't know. The Giro was essentially designed to match Wiggins skill set.

 

[TANK91]

I don't know. The Giro was essentially designed to match Wiggins skill set.

I still think Wiggo would have beat Contador in 2012 because Contador would not have been how to gain all the time he needed, but on the parcour's this year id probably say like you that this is the only GT that Wiggins would have a chance because even Contador's ITT has got weak imo.

 

[Jelantik]

I still think Wiggo would have beat Contador in 2012 because Contador would not have been how to gain all the time he needed, but on the parcour's this year id probably say like you that this is the only GT that Wiggins would have a chance because even Contador's ITT has got weak imo.

hmm not sure about that. Contador said the in the giro the mountains are closer so it allows a long range attack compare to the tour. He might not win with the TT, but he sure can beat wiggin in the mountain. but this is all big if. No one is right since it never happens

 

[Afrank]

Sorry? Are we talking the same Knight who won in 2012 everything he could win and some more like Paris-Nice, Romandie, Dauphine, Le Tour and the Olympics?

Are we talking the same Froome who everytime he entered something significant lost? (see Tirreno-Adriatico 2013) Whose greatest win to date is the Tour of Oman?

Come on. Should Wigans disappoint miserably at the Giro I could understand, right now the crybaby is Froomey Dog.

Something like this almost doesn't dignify a response, have you been watching the sport the last couple months?

First of all, Froome has not been given a chance to lead until this year. And in case you haven't noticed, Wiggins isn't winning like he did in 2012.
And second, you should actually read what the athletes say. Wiggins is still going on about Froome riding away from him, while Froome is just reasserting that he will be leader at the Tour. Now I ask you, which one is being the "crybaby" there?

 

[Jelantik]

Something like this almost doesn't dignify a response, have you been watching the sport the last couple months?

First of all, Froome has not been given a chance to lead until this year. And in case you haven't noticed, Wiggins isn't winning like he did in 2012.
And second, you should actually read what the athletes say. Wiggins is still going on about Froome riding away from him, while Froome is just reasserting that he will be leader at the Tour. Now I ask you, which one is being the "crybaby" there?

IMHO.. both of them

 

[Ripper]

Sorry? Are we talking the same Knight who won in 2012 everything he could win and some more like Paris-Nice, Romandie, Dauphine, Le Tour and the Olympics?

Are we talking the same Froome who everytime he entered something significant lost? (see Tirreno-Adriatico 2013) Whose greatest win to date is the Tour of Oman?

Come on. Should Wigans disappoint miserably at the Giro I could understand, right now the crybaby is Froomey Dog.

You know, a post like this simply makes you look like a novice. Not so much fanboyism as just someone trying to do a windup but not knowing what they are talking about.

Hm, Froome won Oman and Romandie. He did not win TA, but he still did quite well there. 2 out of 3 is not so bad thus far. BTW, Wiggo is not doing so well thus far this year. is he?

Last year Froome had already been racing at the sharp end for too long by the time he got to the Vuelta. Not a surprise he was toasted.

OK, next up - when's Froome been whining? He has simply asserted his leadership. That is a whole lot better than the d!ckwad who said he was not going to race/focus on the Tour this year, did not want to do "a Cadel", wanted to race the Giro, but now is not only backing up but also bringing up all these whimpy child like issues about Froome from last year.

It's likely all just for the press. But if Wiggo is actually an ounce like his TV persona, he's a suck hole.