Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[CyclingDaddy55]

If Froomie gets through tomorrow's stage unscathed, perhaps even taking a bit of time on Niabli, with the ITT looming would it be fair to say he biggest obstacles to the red jersey podium win will be stages 17 and 19? What are your thoughts?

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Everyone is pretty sure that Froome will destroy everyone during Mon ITT... I'm not that sure. Quite the opposite actually... I think the margin will be way less than expected.

I think Froome will take 45-60s on Nibali, obviously a lot more to some of the weaker TT'ers. It depends if he puts in a TT like he did at the Vuelta last year, if anything I'd argue he is much stronger this year than last year.

Froome stronger than last year, based on what?

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re: Re:

Everyone is pretty sure that Froome will destroy everyone during Mon ITT... I'm not that sure. Quite the opposite actually... I think the margin will be way less than expected.

I think Froome will take 45-60s on Nibali, obviously a lot more to some of the weaker TT'ers. It depends if he puts in a TT like he did at the Vuelta last year, if anything I'd argue he is much stronger this year than last year.

Froome stronger than last year, based on what?

Perhaps just my own perception but he's always been in the main GC group ( bar the crashes) dropping everyone on more than one occasion and was much stronger in week 1 than he was last year. No yo-yo Froome as of yet, Even today he rode smart and pulled them back.

 

[Matteo.]

Re: Re:

if these are the values ​​of the field, he just have to survive tomorrow. as I said, the wounds are superficial but it does not mean that you are 100%. I'm not sure he has given everything today, seeing how he and the Team have rode . they may save energy for sierra nevada

I'm pretty sure he was giving everything when trying to keep the gap from VN and AC to a minimum and then getting back to them.

VN's move could have been potentially disastrous for him. There's nothing to keep back in a situation like that.

I don't see nothing of potentially disastrous. Nibali and contador stayed ahead for 2-3kms gaining only few meters. I don't think they were joking. They Trier with good legs but not enough to put froome in trouble ( He closed the gap quicky after all)

 

[CyclingDaddy55]

When I was a kid a bunch of us would come barreling down this dirt road, jump the train tracks at full speed and slam on our brakes to see who could make the longest tire mark. After a couple of tries I was in the mix for the lead. the next time I went down it was business as usual until the moment I slammed on my brakes and only then realizing I was sitting too far up on my banana seat and I went flying through my high handle bars smashing my face into the pavement and rolling into the ditch. The other boys came rushing over asking me if I was dead. I tore the skin off my forehead and scratched up my face but i was alive and tustled my hair down over my forehead as I headed home so my mom couldn't see the damage. I survived my near death experience and lived to tell about it. The only difference in my life was I started losing my classroom team math quizzes. Not sure if there was a connection to my crash. lol Anyhow, I am quite sure Froomie will be fine. If I survived such a horrific crash I am sure he can get past a couple of slips and slides.

 

[Brullnux]

I think those who said he'd fade into the third week have been vindicated a bit, for now. He doesn't seem as strong as he was in the first week, he isn't dropping his rivals or even following their attacks. He's gone slightly to just TT up the mountain which today worked as Nibali didn't have the strength to pull away, but may not work other days depending on the conditions. Who knows, he may pick it back up again, but I think the fight is going to be really on in the last week. He is still the massive favourite, however.

 

[bigcog]

Re:

I think those who said he'd fade into the third week have been vindicated a bit, for now. He doesn't seem as strong as he was in the first week, he isn't dropping his rivals or even following their attacks. He's gone slightly to just TT up the mountain which today worked as Nibali didn't have the strength to pull away, but may not work other days depending on the conditions. Who knows, he may pick it back up again, but I think the fight is going to be really on in the last week. He is still the massive favourite, however.

He is still recovering from two crashes two days ago, that will have some effect. If he gets through tomorrow ok I'd say he has a good chance.

 

[70kmph]

Lost time again to Nibali

 

[hazaran]

Re:

Lost time again to Nibali

You mean "for the first time ever on a climb", and only bonus seconds in a sprint to the line. Convincing performance :lol:

 

[Põhja Konn]

Re: Re:

I think those who said he'd fade into the third week have been vindicated a bit, for now. He doesn't seem as strong as he was in the first week, he isn't dropping his rivals or even following their attacks. He's gone slightly to just TT up the mountain which today worked as Nibali didn't have the strength to pull away, but may not work other days depending on the conditions. Who knows, he may pick it back up again, but I think the fight is going to be really on in the last week. He is still the massive favourite, however.

He is still recovering from two crashes two days ago, that will have some effect. If he gets through tomorrow ok I'd say he has a good chance.

Climbing times indicate he was already slowing down on Calar Alto, before those crashes happened. His form seems follow the pattern of 2012, the difference being that he isn't facing a similar level of opposition now and thus is still in control.

 

[bigcog]

Re: Re:

I think those who said he'd fade into the third week have been vindicated a bit, for now. He doesn't seem as strong as he was in the first week, he isn't dropping his rivals or even following their attacks. He's gone slightly to just TT up the mountain which today worked as Nibali didn't have the strength to pull away, but may not work other days depending on the conditions. Who knows, he may pick it back up again, but I think the fight is going to be really on in the last week. He is still the massive favourite, however.

He is still recovering from two crashes two days ago, that will have some effect. If he gets through tomorrow ok I'd say he has a good chance.

Climbing times indicate he was already slowing down on Calar Alto, before those crashes happened. His form seems follow the pattern of 2012, the difference being that he isn't facing a similar level of opposition now and thus is still in control.

Don't see how you can compare 2012 with 2017, he has had a totally different season up to the Vuelta and prepared for it as such. The crash is more of a factor than anything else.

 

[Vasilis]

He said that he didn't go all out today to save himself for tomorrow. Now maybe that isn't true, but even so he did well after those crashes. We'll know Tuesday how much he can lose in the final week.

 

[Põhja Konn]

Re: Re:

I think those who said he'd fade into the third week have been vindicated a bit, for now. He doesn't seem as strong as he was in the first week, he isn't dropping his rivals or even following their attacks. He's gone slightly to just TT up the mountain which today worked as Nibali didn't have the strength to pull away, but may not work other days depending on the conditions. Who knows, he may pick it back up again, but I think the fight is going to be really on in the last week. He is still the massive favourite, however.

He is still recovering from two crashes two days ago, that will have some effect. If he gets through tomorrow ok I'd say he has a good chance.

Climbing times indicate he was already slowing down on Calar Alto, before those crashes happened. His form seems follow the pattern of 2012, the difference being that he isn't facing a similar level of opposition now and thus is still in control.

Don't see how you can compare 2012 with 2017, he has had a totally different season up to the Vuelta and prepared for it as such. The crash is more of a factor than anything else.

Those two seasons are actually very similar. Very light spring season, followed by a period of intensive racing from Dauphine to Vuelta. The biggest difference is the lack of Olympics this season.

His performance today was consistent with what he has shown in mountain stages throughout this week - which is one of slow decline - rather than being a negative outlier caused by the aftereffects of the crashes. But this being Froome we are talking about, my theory might well be in pieces this time tomorrow. :razz:

 

[wouterkaas]

Re: Re:

I think those who said he'd fade into the third week have been vindicated a bit, for now. He doesn't seem as strong as he was in the first week, he isn't dropping his rivals or even following their attacks. He's gone slightly to just TT up the mountain which today worked as Nibali didn't have the strength to pull away, but may not work other days depending on the conditions. Who knows, he may pick it back up again, but I think the fight is going to be really on in the last week. He is still the massive favourite, however.

He is still recovering from two crashes two days ago, that will have some effect. If he gets through tomorrow ok I'd say he has a good chance.

Climbing times indicate he was already slowing down on Calar Alto, before those crashes happened. His form seems follow the pattern of 2012, the difference being that he isn't facing a similar level of opposition now and thus is still in control.

Don't see how you can compare 2012 with 2017, he has had a totally different season up to the Vuelta and prepared for it as such. The crash is more of a factor than anything else.

Those two seasons are actually very similar. Very light spring season, followed by a period of intensive racing from Dauphine to Vuelta. The biggest difference is the lack of Olympics this season.

His performance today was consistent with what he has shown in mountain stages throughout this week - which is one of slow decline - rather than being a negative outlier caused by the aftereffects of the crashes. But this being Froome we are talking about, my theory might well be in pieces this time tomorrow. :razz:

Your theory may just as well be right, but an often ignored factor is that his rivals might fade just as well.

 

[cineteq]

Re:

Sooner or later, the TdF effort will catch up with him. For the sake of cycling, I hope it's tomorrow

I think those who said he'd fade into the third week have been vindicated a bit, for now. He doesn't seem as strong as he was in the first week, he isn't dropping his rivals or even following their attacks. He's gone slightly to just TT up the mountain which today worked as Nibali didn't have the strength to pull away, but may not work other days depending on the conditions. Who knows, he may pick it back up again, but I think the fight is going to be really on in the last week. He is still the massive favourite, however.

 

[arvc40]

Re: Re:

Sooner or later, the TdF effort will catch up with him. For the sake of cycling, I hope it's tomorrow

I think those who said he'd fade into the third week have been vindicated a bit, for now. He doesn't seem as strong as he was in the first week, he isn't dropping his rivals or even following their attacks. He's gone slightly to just TT up the mountain which today worked as Nibali didn't have the strength to pull away, but may not work other days depending on the conditions. Who knows, he may pick it back up again, but I think the fight is going to be really on in the last week. He is still the massive favourite, however.

More likely he will be very strong and lose nothing.

 

[jmdirt]

So is he telling his competitors that he didn't have to go too hard to today just to get into their heads? Will they think "oh sh*t I was 100% and couldn't put time on him", or will they call BS?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/chris-froome-i-was-keeping-some-energy-back-for-sunday/

 

[cantpedal]

Re: Re:

Sooner or later, the TdF effort will catch up with him. For the sake of cycling, I hope it's tomorrow

I think those who said he'd fade into the third week have been vindicated a bit, for now. He doesn't seem as strong as he was in the first week, he isn't dropping his rivals or even following their attacks. He's gone slightly to just TT up the mountain which today worked as Nibali didn't have the strength to pull away, but may not work other days depending on the conditions. Who knows, he may pick it back up again, but I think the fight is going to be really on in the last week. He is still the massive favourite, however.

He didn't have to drag an anchor up all the climbs in the tour this year. :lol:

 

[TMP402]

Re:

So is he telling his competitors that he didn't have to go too hard to today just to get into their heads? Will they think "oh sh*t I was 100% and couldn't put time on him", or will they call BS?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/chris-froome-i-was-keeping-some-energy-back-for-sunday/

They're 90% that it's BS but will have the 10% of doubt. Which can be enough sometimes.

 

[Singer01]

The last time nibali did the giro/vuelta double he lost time in the last week to a grandad in the last 3 gc relevant stages. And that nibali was a lot younger.
Not sure why everyone is so sure he is going to be so strong all the way to the end.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

The last time nibali did the giro/vuelta double he lost time in the last week to a grandad in the last 3 gc relevant stages. And that nibali was a lot younger.
Not sure why everyone is so sure he is going to be so strong all the way to the end.

That grandad was climbing faster than Contador, Tonkov and Laiseka.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

So is he telling his competitors that he didn't have to go too hard to today just to get into their heads? Will they think "oh sh*t I was 100% and couldn't put time on him", or will they call BS?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/chris-froome-i-was-keeping-some-energy-back-for-sunday/

That interview is a bad sign for Froome fans I think. Riders are usually pretty quiet and coy when they are genuinely feeling good. This kind of bravado is nearly always a bluff.

 

[Matteo.]

He's getting weaker weaker weaker...dead dead dead....
but unfortunately this is not so

It's all under control good peace of detractors

 

[portugal11]

Re:

He's getting weaker weaker weaker...dead dead dead....
but unfortunately this is not so

It's all under control good peace of detractors

He is getting weaker but he still is able to follow the sky train

 

[Matteo.]

Re: Re:

He's getting weaker weaker weaker...dead dead dead....
but unfortunately this is not so

It's all under control good peace of detractors

He is getting weaker but he still is able to follow the sky train

When you are getting weaker but your opponents are weaker than you....what's the difference?