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Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

Page 711 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.

Is Froome over the hill?

  • Yes.

    Votes: 38 35.2%
  • No, the GC finished 40 minutes ago but Froomie is still climbing it

    Votes: 59 54.6%
  • No he is totally winning the Vuelta

    Votes: 23 21.3%

  • Total voters
    108
I highly doubt it. This has only happened a few times for TdF Top-10 finishers between 1998 and 2004:

2000:
Heras (13, 10:38) and Botero (22, 13:17); but Botero was no designated GC rider for the Tour and Heras was co-leader with Escartin who also finished higher in the Classique des Alpes

2001:
Kivilev (8, 4:12), Botero (9, 4:12), Sevilla (22, 11:34); Kivilev only made the TdF Top-10 by gaining 35 minutes in Pontarlier, so he was no real GC rider. Sevilla was just about to ride his first TdF

2003:
Mayo (40, 16:38).

On the contrary, you have a lot of Classique des Alpes winners or podium finishers who had great results at the TdF:
2000: 2. Escartin, 3. Armstrong
2001: 2. Armstrong
2002: 1. Botero
2003: 1. Mancebo
2004: 1. Pereiro, 4. Sastre

OK, that‘s convincing…

Anyways, thanks a lot for your reply - much appreciated… :) You did some work, researching the names and numbers, which I very much appreciate…
 
Froome has put a picture at his social media where he is working pulling the peloton ahead lotto...that is important because to work and to finish 11th is s result..for sure Woods and Fuglsang didn't work anything. Reichenbark worker more and finished ahead...but he was one of the stronger of the race..Pinot was behind was worked hard at the end (he dropped Froome) but he was surely at the level of other riders who arrived before. But anyway he is no so different stillto Romandie IMO. Thinner, that's right
 
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Lotto were out of it long before TV pictures from 90km onwards. Froome was working for Fugslang & Woods before TV and then just hung on. I think best to view it as not a finish line performance, but evidence he's clearly got some longer power numbers back now if doing nearly 6w/kg up the final climb after being a domestique primarily.
 
I think one of the problems of Froome is/was his weight. Nowadays and in the past (when he did perform). Froome was extremely skinny during his best years. The combination of a big engine with a very high cadence and a very low weight ensured top performance. Uphill but also when time trialing. After serious injuries, during rehabilitation and the first competitions, it is never good to be too thin. A clear example of this is Evenepoel, who without a sufficient basis, but underweight, blew himself up in the Giro 2021. Froome did well in the first few months after his revival. He had not to perform and he wasn't skinny like before. That was fine for his health. But at some point (after a year) you have to go back to the same preparation and body weight as during your peak years. Froome did not, I don't known why. Was it a fysical question, or a mental issue ?
During Liege-Bastogne-Liege in april, we could see him ride on tv and not keep up with the extensive leading group . Seen from the back, Froome was still too broad shouldered and too heavy. I haven't seen his last race. It is possible that he will finally evolve to his former competition weight. That will no longer be enough to perform and end on the podium in the Tour. Especially after two years of underperformance and at his age. But in shape and with his former weight, he should still be able to ride top 10 or top 15. That would be an added value for the Tour
 
Good to read he is finally at a decent level. But I don't think we can say Froome can get to grand tour challenging level. Froome is 37 now and look at the competition. But if he can manage top 15 on GC at a grand tour that would be a massive result.
I don't think I'm his car his age is going to be a big problem. I don't know if he could reach his best level...likely no, but maybe similar...Valverde was world champion older than him. Nibali has finished with the best the Girlo and is older...I think Groomer can't win a gran Tour with 40 but now yes, and maybe he will be stronger next year. Hope to see him at Dauphine as a team leader and no working..that would be a way to measure his real level.
 
I don't think I'm his car his age is going to be a big problem. I don't know if he could reach his best level...likely no, but maybe similar...Valverde was world champion older than him. Nibali has finished with the best the Girlo and is older...I think Groomer can't win a gran Tour with 40 but now yes, and maybe he will be stronger next year. Hope to see him at Dauphine as a team leader and no working..that would be a way to measure his real level.

this is laughable. either trolling or insanity :tearsofjoy::tearsofjoy:
 
We tried to find out what Chris Froome's weight was before and it can take two months and three different answers to get...some sort of an idea.

As you can tell, but most of you already know, I'm no fan of his. But I don't "hate" him either. I don't hate anybody. To me, Chris Froome has one goal and one goal only. Make the many people like me (and he knows that we exist) appreciate him. I give him huge props for taking his beating and keep coming.

Chris Froome wants to win again. If only once. Leave on his terms, not forced by injury. Alex Smith comes to mind. Winning without Sky, Ineos, Sir Dave: Tom Brady comes to mind. Can he do it?

More than a GC placing, Chris Froome should go for the polka-dot, stand on the podium in Paris, and take a bow.
 
I think he's realistic about his chances against Pogi, Rogla aso atm. But I also think that if he gets somewhere up to 90% of his old self, then he's maybe somewhere current Nibali Bala level, no? Does not look rehab/recovery/rebuild mode anymore, this looks almost back in the day raceskinny..

FUHPRm5XEAcu1ZT
 
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Unlike you, I only post when I watch a race - One small pull is not pulling the peleton.
I don't know..he used to pull all these year...I just see the picture and I think he was working..how much, I don't know..but even with just an small pulling to be 11th has more merit than without that...the team worked for Jakob and Woods to have a result that they need a lot.
 
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Froome wasn't leader, he was contributing to making the race selective though and as we know nearly half the field DNF and by the time the TV pictures started, the race was already down to 25 riders or something. Obviously he's not got the peak power required at the end of the stage like Woods and Fugslang displayed, but then that wouldn't have been his objective to display it late in the race and besides FDJ took over the pulling and Pinot & Barguil were dropped, but they, like Froome were probably pulling, not leading the team earlier on. The difference between domestique and leader is primarily when in the race you burn your matches, it's impossible to determine a riders finishing strength other than when you know they've already done work earlier n the stage and still finish highly placed. Froome doing so is a big step up, because before he was neither strong-enough to do much more than pull on the flats and descents and certainly wasn't finishing near the top 10 which are all hard-fought places for points these days.
Lets see if he can string together some good workloads through Dauphine. As his team were saying just today, he's progressing because he has no more niggles preventing him from training to the workload required to be up there in GTs, if it continues they also believe there is nothing preventing Froome returning to pre-crash level. It's looking good, but all it takes is a little tendonitis or joint issue and he will then have to train less, gain weight and will go backwards again. Is the same for all riders even without a huge crash, with the crash, he has some big determination, that's all I can say, I can't think of any rider since LeMond & Armstrong with such balls really. Valverde probably the closest after his big knee injury, but that really was just a scratch compared to what Froome, LeMond & Armstrong must have gone through to get back.
 
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I don't think I'm his car his age is going to be a big problem. I don't know if he could reach his best level...likely no, but maybe similar...Valverde was world champion older than him. Nibali has finished with the best the Girlo and is older...I think Groomer can't win a gran Tour with 40 but now yes, and maybe he will be stronger next year. Hope to see him at Dauphine as a team leader and no working..that would be a way to measure his real level.
One day racing at Valverde's age is much different to grand tour raciing and Valverde was always better in the shorter races than the grand tours. Yes Nibali diid well in the Giro but he has had a lean time of it in recent years and if it wasn't for the dropouts there's no way Nibali would have finished where he did.
 
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