Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[PremierAndrew]

Dan Martin and Purito? Are you even talking about stage 2 of the dauphine?

 

[Taxus4a]

Well, GVA was there, but with not enough strengt to win... but EBH droped early and not much later Gerrans...

Despite it wanst very selective Froome showed stronger than Contador, becouse Contador never risk some seconds to save energies, even in buch springs when it is more difficult to split.and he got the line ssome seconds later than Froome, although I think at the same time.

Kiato did his work but he didnt look very strong... Poels dropped early, so I think he is not strong.. Henao and Landa are the men to help Froome at the end...

 

[Poursuivant]

Froome has looked stronger than I expected. I know it's only been two days to assess him, but I thought he would have shipped more time to Contador on Sunday, and today he looked strong in the last 300m, he came from far back on a finish that didn't particularly suit him. The mountains as always will tell us more but Sky have been saying that he is planning to be stronger last week of Tour, but to me, he looks stronger so far at this years Dauphine than he did at the start of last years Dauphine (getting dropped by van Garderen.) Maybe he is planning to not train as hard in the weeks between Dauphine and TDF?

 

[sir fly]

Froome was finishing really well today. Better than he was looking during the climb. Also, Sky shooting their men up tells me they wanted to test opponents.
A situational training today at the Dauphine.

 

[SeriousSam]

Gained a few seconds today thanks to his keen positional awareness. A ruthless competitor.

 

[Ramon Koran]

Re:

Gained a few seconds today thanks to his keen positional awareness. A ruthless competitor.

Say what you want about it he's the complete package, great tactical awarness, great climber, great tt'ist, decent descender (only nibali is better among gt specialists), best sprinter among gt specialist, top 5 in the world on short steep climbs, one of the best on the cobbles. All this despite coming from a backwards cycling nation, and not starting properly untill relatively late. A once in a lifetime cyclist like merckx, hinault...

 

[rick james]

he is looking good just now.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Good awareness to take a few seconds today, he's always pretty well positioned in a sprint finish.

Let's see how tomorrow pans out before reading too much into his form.

 

[sir fly]

Rather than ruthless competitivity, his racing in sprint finales looks nerdy to me. It's beyond safety concerns... He rides to be in the winner's group for really tiny benefit. The time differences are rarely applied, and when they are - they're most often insignificant.
But it's good to see that he knows how to handle these hectic finales.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Gained a few seconds today thanks to his keen positional awareness. A ruthless competitor.

Say what you want about it he's the complete package, great tactical awarness, great climber, great tt'ist, decent descender (only nibali is better among gt specialists), best sprinter among gt specialist, top 5 in the world on short steep climbs, one of the best on the cobbles. All this despite coming from a backwards cycling nation, and not starting properly untill relatively late. A once in a lifetime cyclist like merckx, hinault...

On what is this based? On one descent where he followed Nibali where Nibali said he didn't go full-out because the breakaway was going to win the stage anyway?

And lol if you think he's one of the bst on the cobbles. That stage last year was much easier than the year before. Proven by the fact a large group was still together and Tony Martin out of all people won.

 

[Ramon Koran]

Re: Re:

Gained a few seconds today thanks to his keen positional awareness. A ruthless competitor.

Say what you want about it he's the complete package, great tactical awarness, great climber, great tt'ist, decent descender (only nibali is better among gt specialists), best sprinter among gt specialist, top 5 in the world on short steep climbs, one of the best on the cobbles. All this despite coming from a backwards cycling nation, and not starting properly untill relatively late. A once in a lifetime cyclist like merckx, hinault...

On what is this based? On one descent where he followed Nibali where Nibali said he didn't go full-out because the breakaway was going to win the stage anyway?

And lol if you think he's one of the bst on the cobbles. That stage last year was much easier than the year before. Proven by the fact a large group was still together and Tony Martin out of all people won.

I know it's only one descent but Nibali was going falt out as was Valverde yet Froome was extremely confortable, i saw then that he was a great descender his balance on the bike for such a big guy is great. On the cbbles he was fantastic even fresh enough to attack afterwards, i believe if he gave P-R a go with his big engine and bike handling skill from dirt roads in kenya he would be one of the best.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

Gained a few seconds today thanks to his keen positional awareness. A ruthless competitor.

Say what you want about it he's the complete package, great tactical awarness, great climber, great tt'ist, decent descender (only nibali is better among gt specialists), best sprinter among gt specialist, top 5 in the world on short steep climbs, one of the best on the cobbles. All this despite coming from a backwards cycling nation, and not starting properly untill relatively late. A once in a lifetime cyclist like merckx, hinault...

On what is this based? On one descent where he followed Nibali where Nibali said he didn't go full-out because the breakaway was going to win the stage anyway?

And lol if you think he's one of the bst on the cobbles. That stage last year was much easier than the year before. Proven by the fact a large group was still together and Tony Martin out of all people won.

While Ramon's post was ridiculous, Froome was one of the best positioned out of the GC guys at all times. That's mostly down to his team. But he looked as comfortable on the cobbles as Valverde and more so than Quintana and Contador who regularly found themselves behind minor splits, and in Quintana's case, behind a major split.

This is the only evidence we have for Froome and Quintana's ability on the cobbles compared to the others. So while you can't really draw many conclusions given how easy last year's cobbles were, it did seem that way. How Froome and Quintana compare to the other GC guys on wet cobbles is a completely different question that we simply cannot answer

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Good awareness to take a few seconds today, he's always pretty well positioned in a sprint finish.

Let's see how tomorrow pans out before reading too much into his form.

I'd be surprised if he doesn't take time on Contador and Porte tomorrow.

 

[Vasilis]

Re: Re:

Good awareness to take a few seconds today, he's always pretty well positioned in a sprint finish.

Let's see how tomorrow pans out before reading too much into his form.

I'd be surprised if he doesn't take time on Contador and Porte tomorrow.

That doesn't show a lot of faith in your favourite rider, a few seconds already mean that Contador would lose the jersey.

 

[portugal11]

Froome won't gain any time tomorrow.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Gained a few seconds today thanks to his keen positional awareness. A ruthless competitor.

Say what you want about it he's the complete package, great tactical awarness, great climber, great tt'ist, decent descender (only nibali is better among gt specialists), best sprinter among gt specialist, top 5 in the world on short steep climbs, one of the best on the cobbles. All this despite coming from a backwards cycling nation, and not starting properly untill relatively late. A once in a lifetime cyclist like merckx, hinault...

On what is this based? On one descent where he followed Nibali where Nibali said he didn't go full-out because the breakaway was going to win the stage anyway?

And lol if you think he's one of the bst on the cobbles. That stage last year was much easier than the year before. Proven by the fact a large group was still together and Tony Martin out of all people won.

I know it's only one descent but Nibali was going falt out as was Valverde yet Froome was extremely confortable, i saw then that he was a great descender his balance on the bike for such a big guy is great. On the cbbles he was fantastic even fresh enough to attack afterwards, i believe if he gave P-R a go with his big engine and bike handling skill from dirt roads in kenya he would be one of the best.

Nibali said in the post-race interview that he didn't take any risks and wasn't going all-out because the break was ahead...

Has Froome ever finished a Monument or WC? Yet you think he can win Roubaix...

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Good awareness to take a few seconds today, he's always pretty well positioned in a sprint finish.

Let's see how tomorrow pans out before reading too much into his form.

I'd be surprised if he doesn't take time on Contador and Porte tomorrow.

That doesn't show a lot of faith in your favourite rider, a few seconds already mean that Contador would lose the jersey.

Oh, I fully expect that to happen, either tomorrow or during the weekend. It's pretty clear he won't be the overall winner. There are just too many contenders who are still within half a minute, he can't control them all. Either Martin, Alaphilippe or Froome will probably take the jersey tomorrow. Froome is closest (within bonus second range) but the stage probably suits Martin and Alaphilippe better.
Edit: I should add that I don't believe this sprinting by Froome tells us much about his shape, he literally always tries to take a few seconds.

 

[Vasilis]

Re: Re:

Gained a few seconds today thanks to his keen positional awareness. A ruthless competitor.

Say what you want about it he's the complete package, great tactical awarness, great climber, great tt'ist, decent descender (only nibali is better among gt specialists), best sprinter among gt specialist, top 5 in the world on short steep climbs, one of the best on the cobbles. All this despite coming from a backwards cycling nation, and not starting properly untill relatively late. A once in a lifetime cyclist like merckx, hinault...

On what is this based? On one descent where he followed Nibali where Nibali said he didn't go full-out because the breakaway was going to win the stage anyway?

And lol if you think he's one of the bst on the cobbles. That stage last year was much easier than the year before. Proven by the fact a large group was still together and Tony Martin out of all people won.

I know it's only one descent but Nibali was going falt out as was Valverde yet Froome was extremely confortable, i saw then that he was a great descender his balance on the bike for such a big guy is great. On the cbbles he was fantastic even fresh enough to attack afterwards, i believe if he gave P-R a go with his big engine and bike handling skill from dirt roads in kenya he would be one of the best.

Nibali said in the post-race interview that he didn't take any risks and wasn't going all-out because the break was ahead...

Has Froome ever finished a Monument or WC? Yet you think he can win Roubaix...

Yes he has finished LBL five times. Best result was 36th.

 

[Ramon Koran]

Re: Re:

Gained a few seconds today thanks to his keen positional awareness. A ruthless competitor.

Say what you want about it he's the complete package, great tactical awarness, great climber, great tt'ist, decent descender (only nibali is better among gt specialists), best sprinter among gt specialist, top 5 in the world on short steep climbs, one of the best on the cobbles. All this despite coming from a backwards cycling nation, and not starting properly untill relatively late. A once in a lifetime cyclist like merckx, hinault...

On what is this based? On one descent where he followed Nibali where Nibali said he didn't go full-out because the breakaway was going to win the stage anyway?

And lol if you think he's one of the bst on the cobbles. That stage last year was much easier than the year before. Proven by the fact a large group was still together and Tony Martin out of all people won.

I know it's only one descent but Nibali was going falt out as was Valverde yet Froome was extremely confortable, i saw then that he was a great descender his balance on the bike for such a big guy is great. On the cbbles he was fantastic even fresh enough to attack afterwards, i believe if he gave P-R a go with his big engine and bike handling skill from dirt roads in kenya he would be one of the best.

Nibali said in the post-race interview that he didn't take any risks and wasn't going all-out because the break was ahead...

Has Froome ever finished a Monument or WC? Yet you think he can win Roubaix...

Nibali won't admit it of course, he doesnt want to give credit to froome but quintana was really struggling to hold ond and contador crashed because of speed. I know froome has finished liege, can he win roubaix? If he puts his mind to it yes a dry roubaix is winnable.

 

[Vasilis]

Re: Re:

Good awareness to take a few seconds today, he's always pretty well positioned in a sprint finish.

Let's see how tomorrow pans out before reading too much into his form.

I'd be surprised if he doesn't take time on Contador and Porte tomorrow.

That doesn't show a lot of faith in your favourite rider, a few seconds already mean that Contador would lose the jersey.

Oh, I fully expect that to happen, either tomorrow or during the weekend. It's pretty clear he won't be the overall winner. There are just too many contenders who are still within half a minute, he can't control them all. Either Martin, Alaphilippe or Froome will probably take the jersey tomorrow. Froome is closest (within bonus second range) but the stage probably suits Martin and Alaphilippe better.
Edit: I should add that I don't believe this sprinting by Froome tells us much about his shape, he literally always tries to take a few seconds.

I deem it likely that Contador will be fixated on Froome again, so I think it's more likely someone else takes the jersey, but I eagerly anticipate the coming showdowns regardless.

 

[MatParker117]

Re: Re:

Good awareness to take a few seconds today, he's always pretty well positioned in a sprint finish.

Let's see how tomorrow pans out before reading too much into his form.

I'd be surprised if he doesn't take time on Contador and Porte tomorrow.

That doesn't show a lot of faith in your favourite rider, a few seconds already mean that Contador would lose the jersey.

Oh, I fully expect that to happen, either tomorrow or during the weekend. It's pretty clear he won't be the overall winner. There are just too many contenders who are still within half a minute, he can't control them all. Either Martin, Alaphilippe or Froome will probably take the jersey tomorrow. Froome is closest (within bonus second range) but the stage probably suits Martin and Alaphilippe better.
Edit: I should add that I don't believe this sprinting by Froome tells us much about his shape, he literally always tries to take a few seconds.

Sky have made an art form out of race control, Poels, Landa, Henao will be with for a long time and Froome has taken a best defence is a good offence approach before.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

Gained a few seconds today thanks to his keen positional awareness. A ruthless competitor.

Say what you want about it he's the complete package, great tactical awarness, great climber, great tt'ist, decent descender (only nibali is better among gt specialists), best sprinter among gt specialist, top 5 in the world on short steep climbs, one of the best on the cobbles. All this despite coming from a backwards cycling nation, and not starting properly untill relatively late. A once in a lifetime cyclist like merckx, hinault...

Better than Valverde? You must be kidding!! And before you protest that Valverde is not a "gt specialist", he is one of the elite grand tour riders having made the podium in multiple grand tours (all 3 as a matter of fact), won the Vuelta, over the course of his long career.

Also what is your measuring stick for deciding that Froome is a better descender than Aru, Contador, Valverde or any of the other riders that have finished on the podium of a grand tour that is still active (Sammie Sanchez for example)?

 

[Angliru]

Re:

Rather than ruthless competitivity, his racing in sprint finales looks nerdy to me. It's beyond safety concerns... He rides to be in the winner's group for really tiny benefit. The time differences are rarely applied, and when they are - they're most often insignificant.
But it's good to see that he knows how to handle these hectic finales.

I would think the teams with sprinters' actually competing for the win that they would prefer that the little climber dudes and their domestiques just get out of the way after the 3 kms to the line point. Just seems to add to the chaos.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

Gained a few seconds today thanks to his keen positional awareness. A ruthless competitor.

Say what you want about it he's the complete package, great tactical awarness, great climber, great tt'ist, decent descender (only nibali is better among gt specialists), best sprinter among gt specialist, top 5 in the world on short steep climbs, one of the best on the cobbles. All this despite coming from a backwards cycling nation, and not starting properly untill relatively late. A once in a lifetime cyclist like merckx, hinault...

On what is this based? On one descent where he followed Nibali where Nibali said he didn't go full-out because the breakaway was going to win the stage anyway?

And lol if you think he's one of the bst on the cobbles. That stage last year was much easier than the year before. Proven by the fact a large group was still together and Tony Martin out of all people won.

I know it's only one descent but Nibali was going falt out as was Valverde yet Froome was extremely confortable, i saw then that he was a great descender his balance on the bike for such a big guy is great. On the cbbles he was fantastic even fresh enough to attack afterwards, i believe if he gave P-R a go with his big engine and bike handling skill from dirt roads in kenya he would be one of the best.

He is too fragile for Roubaix and too light. The cobbles of Roubaix would wear him down. I really doubt at his present weight that he would be one of the best. He'd need bulk up a bit and then actually finish the event a few times to get an idea of what he's in for and what it takes to "be one of the best".

 

[Ramon Koran]

Re: Re:

Gained a few seconds today thanks to his keen positional awareness. A ruthless competitor.

Say what you want about it he's the complete package, great tactical awarness, great climber, great tt'ist, decent descender (only nibali is better among gt specialists), best sprinter among gt specialist, top 5 in the world on short steep climbs, one of the best on the cobbles. All this despite coming from a backwards cycling nation, and not starting properly untill relatively late. A once in a lifetime cyclist like merckx, hinault...

Better than Valverde? You must be kidding!! And before you protest that Valverde is not a "gt specialist", he is one of the elite grand tour riders having made the podium in multiple grand tours (all 3 as a matter of fact), won the Vuelta, over the course of his long career.

Also what is your measuring stick for deciding that Froome is a better descender than Aru, Contador, Valverde or any of the other riders that have finished on the podium of a grand tour that is still active (Sammie Sanchez for example)?

Yes Valverde is a better sprinter, but I didn't include him as he's not a contender to win the tour, nor is sammie who I believe is even better than nibali in descents. Alberto crashed on the descent where Froome followed Nibali there for he is not as good. Finally despite Aru impressive descending yestaerday he is I believe prone to making mistakes in descents.