Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[memyselfandI]

The inhaler can also make you cough............

Hard efforts can make one cough typically like this. Never needed inhaler in my racing days but had this same if I really dug deep. More with high altitude.

 

[Taxus4a]

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 Nilau would have finished where he did.

Think about Horner in that case, but Valverde perform close to his best level in trhee weeks till 40- And the case of Froome is going to be similar, becouse he started late in cycling and he like to train. Everything is in the mind and he is the stronger in that

 

[Taxus4a]

Looking at the team for Dauphine and the shape showed by Froome last race, it is the first time in a long time he is not to work..and maybe, the tema could work for him...I think is a team to look for a break or a stage, and maybe a good GC with Froome. The A team will be at TofS.

It will be interesting to see how he do at the ITT...looking at his last videos he is improving his position and training hard again this discipline, because he missed it these last 2 years. Of course it is difficukt to think he will be top ten at the ITT after to be about 70-100 all this time except the last climbing ITT of Romandie...but a top 15, who knows. Out of the top 20 would mean he is still far of his best level , even if he is top ten on the mountains, wich I think will be likely.

 

[Pinot's goat]

Looking at the team for Dauphine and the shape showed by Froome last race, it is the first time in a long time he is not to work..and maybe, the tema could work for him...I think is a team to look for a break or a stage, and maybe a good GC with Froome. The A team will be at TofS.

It will be interesting to see how he do at the ITT...looking at his last videos he is improving his position and training hard again this discipline, because he missed it these last 2 years. Of course it is difficukt to think he will be top ten at the ITT after to be about 70-100 all this time except the last climbing ITT of Romandie...but a top 15, who knows. Out of the top 20 would mean he is still far of his best level , even if he is top ten on the mountains, wich I think will be likely.

I admire your optimism.

 

[gunara]

even if he is top ten on the mountains, wich I think will be likely.

I know everything is possible, but 'likely'?? Why? Based on what?

 

[FroomeWagon]

What results does Froome need to get in the Dauphine in order to be selected for this years TDF team? I thought I read somewhere a while back where a DS suggested that unlike last year, his selection for this years TDF won't happen without prior results. Certainly last weeks 11th wasn't enough? BTW ... his 13 points have him now in #1871 (not a typo) place in the UCI World Ranking

 

[SHAD0W93]

What results does Froome need to get in the Dauphine in order to be selected for this years TDF team? I thought I read somewhere a while back where a DS suggested that unlike last year, his selection for this years TDF won't happen without prior results. Certainly last weeks 11th wasn't enough? BTW ... his 13 points have him now in #1871 (not a typo) place in the UCI World Ranking

13 more points then a week ago as some would say for him. Then at least top 30 in multiple stages. Especially if he is leader like Taxus wishes.

 

[Ripper]

It's a bit of a silly situation. If he improves markedly more, it becomes completely clinical territory and just utterly ridiculous. But if he plateaus or slides backward, then he won't be going to the Tour. Does he present any useful value to the team on the road?

 

[IndianCyclist]

What results does Froome need to get in the Dauphine in order to be selected for this years TDF team? I thought I read somewhere a while back where a DS suggested that unlike last year, his selection for this years TDF won't happen without prior results. Certainly last weeks 11th wasn't enough? BTW ... his 13 points have him now in #1871 (not a typo) place in the UCI World Ranking

And #28 out of 31 of his teammates for 2022 from procyclingstats.
So still not worth the 5 million.
Woods, Fuglsang, Hermans and De Marchi are probably still better climbers than him. On performance alone, he should not be selected till he has proven himself in other 1 week stages/other GTs. But he has a chance to go due to his palmares as a publicity tour which is probably kind of humiliating when some clueless reporter asks him as to why he is not upfront and he replies with one of the lines that he has used in the past.

 

[dazaau]

It's a bit of a silly situation. If he improves markedly more, it becomes completely clinical territory and just utterly ridiculous. But if he plateaus or slides backward, then he won't be going to the Tour. Does he present any useful value to the team on the road?

By that measure his whole career was pointless. I don't think it's fair to say that if he improves it's clinical and rediculous and if not it's pointless. Obviously in your mind he is done no matter what he does - so from that standpoint I guess you can't lose. But I think it says a lot about how you view him as a rider (past and present) and nothing to do with whether he will or won't improve.

 

[gillan1969]

What results does Froome need to get in the Dauphine in order to be selected for this years TDF team? I thought I read somewhere a while back where a DS suggested that unlike last year, his selection for this years TDF won't happen without prior results. Certainly last weeks 11th wasn't enough? BTW ... his 13 points have him now in #1871 (not a typo) place in the UCI World Ranking

this was about his ranking when he 'won'* the Vuelta in '11

 

[Red Rick]

What results does Froome need to get in the Dauphine in order to be selected for this years TDF team? I thought I read somewhere a while back where a DS suggested that unlike last year, his selection for this years TDF won't happen without prior results. Certainly last weeks 11th wasn't enough? BTW ... his 13 points have him now in #1871 (not a typo) place in the UCI World Ranking

Very hard to say cause I have paid 0 attention to his team and what they're aiming for.

I'd say maybe top 25 or top 30 of the 2 hard mountain stages and he can't be too terrible.

 

[Savant12]

Froome needs to be up there on every mountain stage if he wants to go to the Tour as at least a domestique.

 

[Bolder]

Froome needs to be up there on every mountain stage if he wants to go to the Tour as at least a domestique.

Yep. Anything less and he'd be just on a brisk 3-week cyclosportif around France.

If he can, somehow, make the final cut on stage 7 or 8 of the Dauphine and fight for placing, then sure, why not, take him to the tour as a breakaway stage hunter or domestique for Woods (who would be better as a stage hunter anyway).

 

[movingtarget]

The fact that he has showed some improvement is good but its still a type of marginal gain for a previous grand tour champion and one of the riders of his generation.

 

[Taxus4a]

He is one of the best 3 Weeks racer of the world in active. He has been recovering of a hard crash. He could not improve anymore, but normal situation would be he come back to a similar level he had in the past and of course he would be the stronger of the team in that case. He said three month before he has no longer more problems because his crash...He showed a good level last autumn..not in terms of results, because he was working..but in term of some moments of quality..and this year, free of that problems, he should be better...At the moment the team protect him from the begining of the stages as a leader, the result is going to be for sure much better..it is very different to work , than not to work, than people working for you, in terms of results...And without any sprinter nor Fuglsang, Woods..he should be a protected rider...the bad thing is that the stages are short...but anyway at le Tour is the same....He is better in longer stages, but I hope he continues making steps ahead...he could be there even this year already fighting for his 5th Tour IMO despite of the odd things I read here... if he pass the cobbles stage safe..but anyway Pogacar and Jumbo are more favourites and the task is really difficult, almost impossible.but a top ten would be more likely, and very meritable..he is the rider training more in the world and he deserve to be in the fight . But for sure if something if that is happens someone will come here to writte nobody except him expect a top ten...as I read this week

 

[Taxus4a]

I know everything is possible, but 'likely'?? Why? Based on what?

Based on he has won 4 T d France, 1 Vuelta and 1 Giro, and he is free of the problems he had this last 2 years. He is step by step inproving a little every race from Coppi Bartali this year. Of course I could be wrong, but I think are strongs arguments. the same that Cavendish became to win stages of le Tour again after some problems..the quality is there. And don't tell me the speed to sprint improve with the years...because is maybe the opposite.

 

[Rackham]

With the Dauphiné having a different sort of meaning for many in the peloton who won't be going full gas every day for the win (race preparation for the Tour), it should be fertile ground for Froome to push harder & aim higher.

"If" he's really getting better, he must show it next week (the TT in particular should be a target).

 

[tonymikejoe]

In his latest fitness video Chris Froome just revealed he had no thigh muscle in his right leg, due to post-crash atrophy.
He claims the muscle is now finally developed and matches his left leg.
This only finally occurred in January 2022, according to Froome.
Why didn't he say this throughout 2020 and 2021?
I don't remember him saying: "I'm riding the Tour de France on one leg."
In fact, what we were told was that his "training numbers" proved he was potentially as good as ever.
We were consistently asking on this forum for honesty from Israel and Froome and I do not think we have had it.

 

[Red Rick]

Nothing really makes sense, unless Froome is under some pretty strong pressure from within the team to act like he's mighty fine/getting there at any point, and he's been forced to train suboptimally as a result which might have massively delayed his recovery.

Not that I don't think he's finished as a GT rider, but it's hard to fathom him being as bad as he's been in 2021 after doing a few decent pulls in the 2020 Vuelta.

 

[Taxus4a]

In his latest fitness video Chris Froome just revealed he had no thigh muscle in his right leg, due to post-crash atrophy.
He claims the muscle is now finally developed and matches his left leg.
This only finally occurred in January 2022, according to Froome.
Why didn't he say this throughout 2020 and 2021?
I don't remember him saying: "I'm riding the Tour de France on one leg."
In fact, what we were told was that his "training numbers" proved he was potentially as good as ever.
We were consistently asking on this forum for honesty from Israel and Froome and I do not think we have had it.

He always said he had problems to resolve. I think at the begining he understimate those problems, or just didnt want to show that too much. But he was out of Ineos, so they watched something was wrong.

 

[Davesta]

Call me cynical, but (assuming it’s true) I suspect he never mentioned it because saying “I don’t have any muscle in my right thigh” probably doesn’t get you a very big paycheck…

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

Whatever the problems in the last three years have been: Chris is getting close to his best, now, and that‘s the important thing. This week, he already showed that he‘s (almost) world class, again. Dauphine and TdF will show an improved Chris, again.

I expect Chris to reach a level by which he can fight for the podium of the TdF podium, again (final GC podium). I however don‘t know if this will be in 2022, 2023, or rather in 2024.

We better stay patient, and celebrate surprising results as the one from few days ago…

 

[Rackham]

Take everything Froome says about his health, injury & form with one giant pinch of salt.

It's not normal for the conversation to be now centered around "Froome has finally rebuilt his muscle + whatever" when his results in 2020 were better than 2021 & early 2022.

Froome 'only' lost 12 minutes on the Grand Colombier stage of the 2020 Tour de l'Ain (which featured 2 first category climbs & the final hors catégorie).

This isn't a linear improvement from crash 2019 >spring 2022.

 

[Taxus4a]

Take everything Froome says about his health, injury & form with one giant pinch of salt.

It's not normal for the conversation to be now centered around "Froome has finally rebuilt his muscle + whatever" when his results in 2020 were better than 2021 & early 2022.

Froome 'only' lost 12 minutes on the Grand Colombier stage of the 2020 Tour de l'Ain (which featured 2 first category climbs & the final hors catégorie).

This isn't a linear improvement from crash 2019 >spring 2022.

It is not so unlinear anyway. That could have some explanation although you think no.

Some of them is that he did a past winter , 2020.2021 traying to rehab his leg... that way he started quite bad the season, he crashed at le Tour and he was better lat the end of the season, and now stronger.. I think is no so unlinear or ilogical. When he lost 12 minutes in Ain he was not a domestique..he was treated as a leader for the team..it is not the same when you work.. To lose 12 minutes no working is not a good result. To be 22th at Slovakia working for the team is a good result.