Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[lenric]

as spotted before Coppi e Bartali today

If he rode the stage wearing a mask then it's part of his training, marginal-not-so-marginal gains on his respiratory ability. kudos!

 

[TMJ]

Here's a thought.
Maybe after years of dominance with Sky, who were, to use their own words: 'pushing grey areas,' regarding performance advantages our Chris, now he's landed a fat €5.5m a year contract is sticking strictly to 'bread and water.'
Why take the risk? Why put your body through it? He's got the bag now, so enjoy and just tootle around the back of the peloton.

 

[SHAD0W93]

I think Froome has been in a real dilemma since his bad crash in the Dauphine. On the one hand, he is kind of a living legend, and so avoids (or: has to avoid) speaking about medical details too much. You don‘t speak about weaknesses - even less so if you are Froome.

On the other hand, without knowing medical details, we (as the public) can hardly or cannot judge what his racing results from after the crash are worth.

Maybe his body is so permanently injured/damaged, that a „+21min“ stage finish in Coppi&Bartali is a bigger athletic accomplishment than winning a MTF in the TdF before the crash was…

We just don‘t know. I, however, could imagine that Froomey (after retiring) will describe to us what this crash did to his body, and what the reasons are/were that his performances deteriorated so drastically after the crash…

I don’t think anyone here thinks differently then what you said. But what he and the team are implying previously is he is getting better and better and the results will improve.

Kjell Carlström: Chris Froome still has the engine but we can’t plan on having a Tour de France leader

General manager talks about the four-time Tour winner and Israel-Premier Tech's fight to stay in the WorldTour.

www.velonews.com

 

[SHAD0W93]

He finished almost 15 minutes behind the stage winner Schmid in the first stage.
And only 5 minutes behind Schmid in the second stage.
Today he should finish 5 minutes ahead of Schmid.

Of course Schmid might finish 30 minutes down.

There’s always tomorrow

 

[TMJ]

Stage 3 of the Coppi e Bartoli today and Chris's improving "sensations" saw him finish an unsensational 22mins:36secs behind today's winner Ben Tulett of INEOS.

 

[TMJ]

I don’t think anyone here thinks differently then what you said. But what he and the team are implying previously is he is getting better and better and the results will improve.

Kjell Carlström: Chris Froome still has the engine but we can’t plan on having a Tour de France leader

General manager talks about the four-time Tour winner and Israel-Premier Tech's fight to stay in the WorldTour.

www.velonews.com

Can someone who subscribes to Velo copy and paste the article on this thread so we can all enjoy it.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Can someone who subscribes to Velo copy and paste the article on this thread so we can all enjoy it.

Oh my bad, I didn’t realize it was one of those articles. I just saw it on my news feed then that no one posted it and it was recent so I brought it over.

 

[stonerider]

Sylvan Adams must have all the team sticking to the company line so he can save face. How much young, real talent could he have bought for 5.5 million euros per year?

 

[Panda Claws]

The decision to sign Froome for that amount at that point in time and for such a long contract... I can only hope that other teams made similar offers so that they at least can blame eachother for their collective stupidity.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

I would so wet my pants if the dawg podiumed the Tour (if he goes).

 

[TourOfSardinia]

I would so wet my pants if the dawg podiumed the Tour (if he goes).

Wetting your pants - but wouldn't that be a Tour Down Under?

 

[Salvarani]

Wetting your pants - but wouldn't that be a Tour Down Under?

Maybe not a tour but a pour.

 

[TMJ]

I think Chris is feeling the criticism. He just tweeted this to nobody in particular:

Chris Froome
@chrisfroome
36m

I rode my bike today, what did you do? #CoppiBartali #CoppieBartali

 

[SHAD0W93]

I think Froome has been in a real dilemma since his bad crash in the Dauphine. On the one hand, he is kind of a living legend, and so avoids (or: has to avoid) speaking about medical details too much. You don‘t speak about weaknesses - even less so if you are Froome.

On the other hand, without knowing medical details, we (as the public) can hardly or cannot judge what his racing results from after the crash are worth.

Maybe his body is so permanently injured/damaged, that a „+21min“ stage finish in Coppi&Bartali is a bigger athletic accomplishment than winning a MTF in the TdF before the crash was…

We just don‘t know. I, however, could imagine that Froomey (after retiring) will describe to us what this crash did to his body, and what the reasons are/were that his performances deteriorated so drastically after the crash…

Racing return a ‘shock to the system’ for Chris Froome

'I think I’m going to take it day by day and just see how things are going,' says four-time Tour de France champion.

www.velonews.com

I checked and this one isn’t blocked by the membership.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

I would so wet my pants if the dawg podiumed the Tour (if he goes).

I have the exact same chance to finish on the podium of the Tour this year as Dawg, and I have a 500€ road bike from Decathlon...

 

[Savant12]

He finished almost 15 minutes behind the stage winner Schmid in the first stage.
And only 5 minutes behind Schmid in the second stage.
Today he should finish 5 minutes ahead of Schmid.

Of course Schmid might finish 30 minutes down.

To gauge Froome's performance using the "All About Schmid" scale, he finished 20 mins down on Stage 3.

He did finish in a group with Nibali (No, the other one) though.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

In retrospect, Froome’s form leading up to the 2020 Tour was actually relatively good.

 

[Bolder]

I think Chris is feeling the criticism. He just tweeted this to nobody in particular:

Chris Froome
@chrisfroome
36m

I rode my bike today, what did you do? #CoppiBartali #CoppieBartali

Would have been better if he'd "raced" rather than rode...

Anyway, I don't think he's getting better. I've been supportive of his comeback just because I hate it when crashes or medical issues harm someone's career, but a little more transparency from him and the team would be nice right now.

What is wrong with saying, "I'm trying my best to get back to a high level, but it just isn't in the cards right now. My doctors say X, Y and Z are the problems, and if I can't overcome them then I've had a great career. Thanks to Sylvan Adams for believing in me"?

It's kind of ludicrous to claim that your form is improving, then you finish 20 minutes down in a minor race. My internal "how did they do" meter is: Do I recognize any of the riders who finished below Rider X? I don't think I recognized a single name below Froome's in the results this week...maybe Tony Gallopin?

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Chris still needs more time to get into the rhythm and regain top form. Pog & Rog don't have to lose their sleep over Chris...at least for now, who knows what will happen in a few months?

 

[SHAD0W93]

In retrospect, Froome’s form leading up to the 2020 Tour was actually relatively good.

Was it? The only time he finished with the peloton was on pan flat and stages that ended flat with no climbing towards the end. He would have served the team no purpose in bringing like at the Vuelta besides for news and him getting a GT in his legs for hi

UAE
115th same time pan flat
111th 3’46”
67th 10’49”
85th same time pan flat
59th 4’14”
71st overall 19’45”

La Route
73rd same time
95th same time
34th 5’11”
71st 4’07”
37th overall 9’26”

Tour de I’Ain
113th 1’46”
56th 12’17”
30th 12’16”
41st 26’45”

CdD
86th 5’23”
49th 8’32”
61st 15’52”
109th 26’54”
92nd 33’38”
71st overall 1’26’14”

then while the Tour is taking place
TA
143rd same time
138th same time
112th 15’01”
63rd 8’17”
150th 29’17”
126th 57”
73rd 4’08”
80th 1’33”
the only TT, behind Zabel, Steels, and Teunissen among others.
91st overall 1’02’52”


I will give him this, his 2020 Vuelta was definitely better then his 2021 Tour. Finished in the top 100 6 times and best finish 57th vs 4 times and best finish 72nd. Even the TT was better: finishing 86th 5’48” over 33.7 km and finishing on a climb vs 121st 4’20” over 27.7 km and 123rd 5’28” over 30.8 km. The marginal gains were still working in the TT for him compared to at Israel.






The fact he has been able to return to pro racing after that severe of an accident and his age is phenomenal. No one can take that away from him. That requires an insane amount of work with having to retrain your body on top of the physical training you need to return to racing shape. He very well and most likely is feeling stronger and stronger after each race. But that isn’t what he is saying. They keep hinting that he is getting better and something good is going to happen. That unfortunately hasn’t happened yet. He still looks the same. Struggling to hang on during the flat stages while getting dropped when the road goes up.

 

[tobydawq]

Was it? The only time he finished with the peloton was on pan flat and stages that ended flat with no climbing towards the end. He would have served the team no purpose in bringing like at the Vuelta besides for news and him getting a GT in his legs for hi

UAE
115th same time pan flat
111th 3’46”
67th 10’49”
85th same time pan flat
59th 4’14”
71st overall 19’45”

La Route
73rd same time
95th same time
34th 5’11”
71st 4’07”
37th overall 9’26”

Tour de I’Ain
113th 1’46”
56th 12’17”
30th 12’16”
41st 26’45”

CdD
86th 5’23”
49th 8’32”
61st 15’52”
109th 26’54”
92nd 33’38”
71st overall 1’26’14”

then while the Tour is taking place
TA
143rd same time
138th same time
112th 15’01”
63rd 8’17”
150th 29’17”
126th 57”
73rd 4’08”
80th 1’33”
the only TT, behind Zabel, Steels, and Teunissen among others.
91st overall 1’02’52”


I will give him this, his 2020 Vuelta was definitely better then his 2021 Tour. Finished in the top 100 6 times and best finish 57th vs 4 times and best finish 72nd. Even the TT was better: finishing 86th 5’48” over 33.7 km and finishing on a climb vs 121st 4’20” over 27.7 km and 123rd 5’28” over 30.8 km. The marginal gains were still working in the TT for him compared to at Israel.






The fact he has been able to return to pro racing after that severe of an accident and his age is phenomenal. No one can take that away from him. That requires an insane amount of work with having to retrain your body on top of the physical training you need to return to racing shape. He very well and most likely is feeling stronger and stronger after each race. But that isn’t what he is saying. They keep hinting that he is getting better and something good is going to happen. That unfortunately hasn’t happened yet. He still looks the same. Struggling to hang on during the flat stages while getting dropped when the road goes up.

But he was pulling the Ineos train and setting up Bernal's later attack in Occitanie (I think it was there) and did whittle the peloton down quite a bit.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Stage 3 of the Coppi e Bartoli today and Chris's improving "sensations" saw him finish an unsensational 22mins:36secs behind today's winner Ben Tulett of INEOS.

Marginal Minutes.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Has this become the second . thread that we never knew we needed?

 

[Savant12]

Froome posted on Instagram a clip of him cutting out the stage profile. I’m expecting him to be in the breakaway and fighting for the win. Or he just really likes cutting out and collecting stage profiles.

 

[SafeBet]

Froome posted on Instagram a clip of him cutting out the stage profile. I’m expecting him to be in the breakaway and fighting for the win. Or he just really likes cutting out and collecting stage profiles.

He's not in the break so...