Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

super awesome peak

but 2nd is 2nd.

"The 2nd place is not good"

Anyway I am impressed by Froome, super long peak and props for going to the Vuelta even after smashing it at the Tour.

 

[PremierAndrew]

He really should have won this Vuelta but completely got Purito'd

Doesn't hurt as much as the original Purito tho I guess

 

[Tonton]

Yes, second place is not good ...

Great season for the Dawg. And classy in defeat,which should earn him more fans. I hope that Quintana cured what I perceive as an inferiority complex, so we can expect a great rivalry in the years to come. Only Sky's best line up is truly dominant, it seems. Can Movistar match it? What/who would it take?

Congrats, Chris. Great '16 vintage.

 

[Mr.White]

Re: Re:

grats on the best cycling season since Pantani's double
with olympic bronze in i would say its on par with Pantani's double

I'm really not sure if serious.

i'm waiting for your argument

i don't think there is any discussion about this TdF 1st Vuelta 2nd Olympics bronze > any season that any cyclist has had since Pantani's double

so let's discuss why Froome 2016 = Pantani 1998 imo

because of the location of the post im not going in to the Froome 2016 = Indurain 1993 stuff

You must understand that Olympics ITT bronze is not such big achievement. For example I would rank Sagan's win in Quebec yesterday higher than that.
Although I think Froome is the best rider of the season so far, he's not so dominant as you think, not even close. Sagan and Quintana are fairly close to him.
As for the double talk, well he didn't do it, while Pantani did, and one more rider did it in 2008

 

[Eclipse]

Re:

He came remarkably close to doing the double. What an utterly dominant season he's had. Incredible how he reaches a world-beating form very single year since late 2011.

Reaching it is one thing but wow his sustained strength was amazing this year.

Right through from the Dauphine to end of the Vuelta at the very highest level (not to mention being exceptionally competitive early in the season too)

 

[Amnes2015]

re: Froome 2016 = Pantani 1998

for start, nobody takes serious the 5 consecutive Champions Cup Real Madrid won 50 years ago. Imagine today someone winning 5 consecutive Champions League. Impossible.

so in the past winning was much much easier. no global competition , no money, no media.

this is the first reason i think Froome 2016 = Pantani 1998

the 2nd reason is the competition they faced. I think Pantani got a good period , with Indurain declining and Armstrong yet to appear. Froome competes in what is probably the heaviest GC field ever.

3rd reason is that Froome 2016 has more wins, has a Dauphine win and a longer period of being competitive at top level.

that's enough for me

 

[Escarabajo]

Chapeau Froome.

I appreciate him going to the Vuelta after Tour and Olympics. He animated the race.

 

[Pricey_sky]

A fantastic season, he set out to stay competitive from the Tour through Rio and in to the Vuelta and he more than did that. He was one of the few GC guys that actually tried something courageous in France.

A 1st-2nd in back to back GT's is a very good achievement, even if the Tour-Vuelta is the easier double to do. Add an Olympic medal in to that and its one of the best seasons in recent history.

Also liked his mark of respect to Quintana at the end, a very nice gesture that shows he is actually a decent guy who appreciates the sport and competition.

He deserves a well earned rest now and all thoughts begin to turn to the fight for a 4th Tour win, although personally one year I'd love him to do a Giro-Vuelta season.

 

[Amnes2015]

ASO will be ridiculous again with a route to give Quintana a chance

in that scenario what are the chances the let Froome do Giro - Vuelta and send Landa to do a TdF with many mountains and no ITT's ?

maybe not in 2017 as he is still at peak but maybe 2018 when he will probably start to decline

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Re:

re: Froome 2016 = Pantani 1998

for start, nobody takes serious the 5 consecutive Champions Cup Real Madrid won 50 years ago. Imagine today someone winning 5 consecutive Champions League. Impossible.

so in the past winning was much much easier. no global competition , no money, no media.

this is the first reason i think Froome 2016 = Pantani 1998

the 2nd reason is the competition they faced. I think Pantani got a good period , with Indurain declining and Armstrong yet to appear. Froome competes in what is probably the heaviest GC field ever.

3rd reason is that Froome 2016 has more wins, has a Dauphine win and a longer period of being competitive at top level.

that's enough for me

yea, the olden days of late 90's

 

[sir fly]

It's a pity we haven't witnessed the summer double. It's been a really good opportunity.
3 months at the very top of professional cycling can't be called otherwise than class.
Congrats.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

ASO will be ridiculous again with a route to give Quintana a chance

in that scenario what are the chances the let Froome do Giro - Vuelta and send Landa to do a TdF with many mountains and no ITT's ?

maybe not in 2017 as he is still at peak but maybe 2018 when he will probably start to decline

Your dislike for Quintana is blinding you. Froome is still the main Favorite for the Tour. They will still put a long TT in the Tour. Or two medium ones. Froome will still show up with the strongest team. It is up to their rivals to change tactics. It is also up to Froome to do a Giro-Tour double if he gets bored with the Tour wins.

 

[TomLPC]

Re:

re: Froome 2016 = Pantani 1998

for start, nobody takes serious the 5 consecutive Champions Cup Real Madrid won 50 years ago. Imagine today someone winning 5 consecutive Champions League. Impossible.

so in the past winning was much much easier. no global competition , no money, no media.

this is the first reason i think Froome 2016 = Pantani 1998

the 2nd reason is the competition they faced. I think Pantani got a good period , with Indurain declining and Armstrong yet to appear. Froome competes in what is probably the heaviest GC field ever.

3rd reason is that Froome 2016 has more wins, has a Dauphine win and a longer period of being competitive at top level.

that's enough for me

While I agree with some of the overall sentiment, the 1998 tour had ullrich, equal to the best in history on his day in time trials, and record holder on some fierce climbs, the competition wasn't weak. The giro wasn't the best granted but tonkov was no mug

 

[movingtarget]

This loss will hurt Froome mainly for how it happened. He came out of the Tour in great shape like Quintana and had the chance to do a rare double but more importantly win a race he has finished second in twice before and a race he likes. He may not get that chance again especially if the Tour is harder next year which it probably will be. It seems that the fans that thought Froome won the Tour with something in reserve were right because his Vuelta form held up for the entire three weeks. Whatever happened to Quintana in the first half of the Tour seemed to improve late in the race as he did climb better in the final week setting him up for the Vuelta performance.

 

[MatParker117]

Re: Re:

One rider missing who could have saved Froome on Formigal or made a difference today was Kwiatkowski

I think Landa and Roche were sorely missed to be honest.

Benat was probably pencilled in as well.

 

[Amnes2015]

he will not get an easier tour than 2016
i don't think he will have a better chance than this to do the double

 

[dacooley]

Re:

he will not get an easier tour than 2016
i don't think he will have a better chance than this to do the double

Pretty much this. Though, there are too many variables in the game. he can have a better prep after the tour with no olympics and still may have a weaker field, more favourable parcours and ultimately stronger team for the vuelta. from my perspective, the 2015 vuelta favoured the double way more given how the things panned out, but froome himself made a mistake and crashed out.

 

[dastott]

Yes, 2015 did seem like a great opportunity to do the double. In hindsight, easy to think he would have beaten Aru. Makes you think it may never happen for him, which would be a shame considering how Nibali, Contador and Quintana have all won different GTs but have rarely been at Froome's GT level since his breakout.

 

[DanielSong39]

Something seemed a little off for him in this Vuelta - it's not often that you see him get out of his saddle. Usually he puts in that 1000+ watt seated acceleration while spinning at 120rpm. But in this race he was reduced to 600 watt bursts, spinning at only 100rpm while getting out of his saddle.

Maybe he's human after all?

 

[yaco]

As long as Froome continues to time trial like he did in the TDF and the Vuelta he will be unbeatable, barring unforeseen circumstances.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re:

As long as Froome continues to time trial like he did in the TDF and the Vuelta he will be unbeatable, barring unforeseen circumstances.

Simply the rain...

But yes, he is a really strong rider for GT, maybe the best I ever seen, and I have seen Hinault...)

He showed in 2008 he was very strong for ITT at the ed of a GT.. so I was amazed when people said he is not so good in the last week...if quitana is super, he can beat him after lot of mountais stages, if the stage has little flat, as it happeneds in Alp d huez.. but no in a flat ITT, or not becouse Froome is weak in the last week, i said always this.

 

[Cookster15]

Froome's TT is way too strong now - look what he did in the Vuelta. But there will be a changing of the guard within the next 2 to 3 years max. Quintana is only 26 and surely will get stronger, particularly in TTs. Yes I think Froome will be disappointed he missed the double the frustration he showed at finish of Alto de Aitana is proof of that. It was probably his best chance and obviously Sky had targeted the double which would also explain his frustration.

 

[lenric]

Because of the Olympics, Froome trained more his TT in the beginning of the season, hence his lower dominance in the mountains.
Next year things will be different and unless his physical capacity diminishes, I believe we're going to see something similar to last year.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Because of the Olympics, Froome trained more his TT in the beginning of the season, hence his lower dominance in the mountains.
Next year things will be different and unless his physical capacity diminishes, I believe we're going to see something similar to last year.

Nah, he will be much better in time trials than 2015. Nobody even cared for training that aspect of their game due the TdF-route. I expect him to be very close to his 2016 in time trials again, obviously depending on route, but lets assume 40-50 km of ITT.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Considering the long season he's had, his TT in the Vuelta was superb and means he will always have a favourite's chance for a GT in coming years if there is a decent length flat TT.

It sounds like he will try for the Tour-Vuelta again next year and follow a similar plan to this year. His race days didn't really change, but he backed off on the training side to leave him fresher. Also, having become a father it probably means he can spend a few extra days at home through the first half of the season.