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Rumor goes the Vegni payed Sky and hence Brailsford demanded Froome to start the Giro d'Italia. While the Israeli tourism office indeed received the check for his appearance in the end.
That's how I understood it as well.
That's how I understood it as well.
Thing is, he clearly had to known in what shape he was and realized he can't think of winning it at that level. Or maybe he thought the fight won't start until the 2nd half (or final week) of the race...
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I’ve seen other great champions claim to still have good form, claim that their build up in that season has worked out great, that their numbers are better than never. It seems to me like champions say these things even when they are clearly declining. I don’t think that they themselves really think they’re as good as ever. I also don’t think they’re really trying to lie… I don’t know what they’re thinking to be honest. Maybe it’s what they’re supposed to say to the media. Imagine them telling the whole world, yeah I’m not doing well this year, so you don’t have to worry about me in the grand tours where I’m supposed to shine. Let people think that even though you were slightly weaker than usual in the build up races, you’re still going to smash the competition when it really counts. The fear riders have of Froome might be the very thing causing them to be cautious and not attack him as ferociously as they would someone else.
glassmoon said:
I’ve seen other great champions claim to still have good form, claim that their build up in that season has worked out great, that their numbers are better than never. It seems to me like champions say these things even when they are clearly declining. I don’t think that they themselves really think they’re as good as ever. I also don’t think they’re really trying to lie… I don’t know what they’re thinking to be honest. Maybe it’s what they’re supposed to say to the media. Imagine them telling the whole world, yeah I’m not doing well this year, so you don’t have to worry about me in the grand tours where I’m supposed to shine. Let people think that even though you were slightly weaker than usual in the build up races, you’re still going to smash the competition when it really counts. The fear riders have of Froome might be the very thing causing them to be cautious and not attack him as ferociously as they would someone else.
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True. Although remember, during this past off season Valverde and his friends were trying to tell anyone who would listen that his numbers were just as good as before the crash and he was trying to tell everyone he was feeling the same as the previous off season with training and almost no one actually believed him and his friends.
Jspear said:
True. Although remember, during this past off season Valverde and his friends were trying to tell anyone who would listen that his numbers were just as good as before the crash and he was trying to tell everyone he was feeling the same as the previous off season with training and almost no one actually believed him and his friends.
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Next two stages will decide. If he crumbles even more he might rethink continuing. He then misses a hard final week and gets more time than usual before the delayed Tour start this year and hopes for a good outcome in his case. The odds of him winning a stage in the final week if he doesn't show improvement on the next two stages are pretty minimal as are his chances of making the podium. If the outcome of the case doesn't go his way then the year is a write off and he can only hope to have a full season next year or most of a season and enough time to prepare for another tilt at the Tour.
Red Rick said:
Next two stages will decide. If he crumbles even more he might rethink continuing. He then misses a hard final week and gets more time than usual before the delayed Tour start this year and hopes for a good outcome in his case. The odds of him winning a stage in the final week if he doesn't show improvement on the next two stages are pretty minimal as are his chances of making the podium. If the outcome of the case doesn't go his way then the year is a write off and he can only hope to have a full season next year or most of a season and enough time to prepare for another tilt at the Tour.
What a ride by Chris Froome today!
Such tenacity and an attitude to win.
Thank you Froome for today! Epic ride.
Such tenacity and an attitude to win.
Thank you Froome for today! Epic ride.
However you feel about him I think you have to take your hat off to him today. That was a big gutsy effort and even if the time differences are negligible for the overall that's a big stage to add to the palmares. Who knows, a strong time trial and a gamble that pays off elsewhere or other riders having a bad day and its not completely out of the question.
Stage 18 couldn't be more perfect for Froome, and the shallow gradient by all accounts isn't great for Dumo, who doesn't have a very strong team to support him either. Yates might start fading. And stages 19 and 20 are perfect for longer range attacks. This has real potential to end up as one of the greatest Grand Tours of modern times
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Chapeau to Froome today, gotta respect greatness altho you don't necessarily like it.
Agree, lets leave that aside. He didn't have the legs..silvergrenade said:
Chapeau to Froome today, gotta respect greatness altho you don't necessarily like it.
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+1!
I was pretty sure he was going to wheelsuck to the top, at best, but when I saw him and Poels go to the front I figured he was on a good day. That's experience right there. And, made the race much more interesting.
Eclipse said:
+1!
I was pretty sure he was going to wheelsuck to the top, at best, but when I saw him and Poels go to the front I figured he was on a good day. That's experience right there. And, made the race much more interesting.
All the comments that his opponents were stupid not to eliminate him when he was weak all of a sudden look relevant again. Will there really be two big comebacks in a giro within three years?
Still I wonder how Froome will look at this in future perspective. He took 37 seconds on Dumoulin on the toughest climb of Europe. How well does that bode for a future TDF? There is no zonc there.
I think Dumoulin will struggle with his recovery more. Already during the final stages of last year’s Giro, he was struggling, while Froome managed to maintain his form through two GT’s. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though.Dekker_Tifosi said:
Chapeau! With both him and Poels in great shape, I expect a furious pace on the climbs to come. Tomorrow, Froome will attack again, I'm sure.
Tomorrow will be very interesting. I'm not sure if this is the start or the end of Froome's GC intentions at the Giro.
Have a suspicion this was always the plan, target a trophy stage, show everyone what he's capable of so his Giro can be called a success of sorts, without taking too much out of himself by going all in for GC with the Tour the primary goal?
Have a suspicion this was always the plan, target a trophy stage, show everyone what he's capable of so his Giro can be called a success of sorts, without taking too much out of himself by going all in for GC with the Tour the primary goal?
He's here to win.brownbobby said:
Now if he finishes 3rd, 5th, 10th....doesn't matter.
Its not a computer game.
I think he just came in undercooked and slightly overweight, and is now reaching something like a peak. Probably the muscle soreness from the crashes didn't help either. If he was just doing it as a stage hunting/conditioning thing, then surely he would have lost more time. Then he would have just been let up the road at any point he felt like attacking today, instead of still being seen as something of a GC threat. Also, he looked to be digging pretty deep in some of those earlier stages - a bit too deep if he's just here for miles in the legs.brownbobby said:
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