Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[Libertine Seguros]

Froome finished near 11th in another race in the last 3 years?

Zoef was saying that his results the last couple of days were abnormally bad. But the last 3 days were more like his norm in the last 3 years and the less miserable showings before that, in the last couple of days of Romandie, in the Mercantour race, and in the first few days of the Dauphiné, are the outliers.

Therefore I was saying that actually his last couple of days' results were not abnormally bad, they were just normally bad, and the good results were the outliers.

 

[tonymikejoe]

Zoef was saying that his results the last couple of days were abnormally bad. But the last 3 days were more like his norm in the last 3 years and the less miserable showings before that, in the last couple of days of Romandie, in the Mercantour race, and in the first few days of the Dauphiné, are the outliers.

Therefore I was saying that actually his last couple of days' results were not abnormally bad, they were just normally bad, and the good results were the outliers.

Welcome back to the Chris Froome thread Libertine Seguros. Your opinions are valued.

 

[rm2021]

If this forum is an indicator for the general public (questionable assumption of course), it's amusing how much interest Froome still generates despite being quite irrevelant in the sport. Maybe he's worth his salary - whatever it is, I doubt it's as high as reported - to his team after all, or who would be talking about Israel Premier Tech without him?

Even when he does nothing in a boring as *** stage in a race only the hardest core of fans seriously care about, he gets 4 new pages in this thread.

They hate him, they say he is irrelevant for them, they say that don't care about froome, but everyday they come out here talking about him and make direspectful jokes about him. It's really sad saying things like that to a guy that almost lost his life. He's just trying his best to comeback to being competitive after what happened, there's no shame about that, and there's no reasons to make fun of him because of that. And forget about his salary. Firstable, he's not 5 millions per year, and nobody in this forum is paying is salary! so what's your problem? it's sylvan adams money, he does what he wants with his money.
And you can all keep making fun of froome when he is dropped, it will not change the fact that he will be forever a legend, and a guy with 7 grand tours.

 

[tonymikejoe]

A selection of Chris Froome's twitter fans reacting to his no-show at today's Dauphine stage :

"A great pity since you are obviously making great progress. Looking forward to seeing you back on the road again before too long. Get better soon."

"Come on Chris . I wanna see you again at 100% "

"Step by step you are coming back, this is good news. Everybody wants to see you back strong on a big tour (TD France or Spain)"

"Good form will come for you.Your will to ride and strength will keep you going forward.Cya soon in your next race."

"That 1% is still illusive but you will get there, you will!"

"Keep going, @chrisfroome. Backing you for #5!"

"You'll be back, I've no doubts! Stay strong!"

"Hopefully not anything serious Chris, looking good!"

 

[meat puppet]

Next they will start wearing yellow wristbands

 

[topcat]

Why is Froome going along with the legendary PlSSTAKE (Rackham TM)?
There was merit in trying to make a comeback. But the drivel being spouted by him about improving is making him look ridiculous.

 

[gunara]

For starters IPT could perhaps quit running the team like a retirement home and start seriously working for results. Then they could assign Froome a (realistic) role in races. Perhaps they could do that with all of their racers.

This sounds simple and obvious, but somehow the team didn't manage to do. They probably have below average squad, but that's not even the problem, everything feels heavy handed with them. Other teams that struggle with points at least look to have clear plans in races. You really have problem when your best performing cyclist is an all-purpose yet average rider like Bevin.

 

[Bonimenier]

Froome is deliberately riding bad so IPT will lose WT status. That way he can opt out of his contract and once again make Ineos great again.

 

[sir fly]

Obviously struggling to settle on the increment curve.
And none of the factors' working in his favour.

IPT Tour selection should tell us where they're gonna head.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

And forget about his salary. Firstable, he's not 5 millions per year, and nobody in this forum is paying is salary! so what's your problem? it's sylvan adams money, he does what he wants with his money.

Au contraire. I know a lot of people say Froome should just retire but as long as Sylvain Adams is paying him what he's paying him, Froome should absolutely ride out his contract. A sportsperson only has a short career, and even for one as successful as Froome has been, there's only so long you have to make your money in it. His struggles are more a monument to Sylvain Adams' hubris, signing a guy on what he once was long before we knew whether he could be that again. And the very fact Skyneos were willing to let him walk should have been enough of a red flag to say that he probably couldn't.

Now, Adams probably felt that having a guy of the name value of Froome was worth it even if he couldn't be the guy winning GTs anymore, if he could just hoover up some prominent results and be talked about, win some stages or appearing lower down the top 10 and getting attention in the manner that we now see from the likes of Nibali, Quintana, Urán and so on. The amount of conversation that Froome generates is a product of his being Chris Froome, and that will have been part of what Adams was willing to part with that salary for - but I'm sure that when he made that commitment to sign Froome for so much and for so long that it wasn't part of the plan for that to be all that he got out of it.

 

[Rackham]

Why is Froome going along with the legendary PlSSTAKE (Rackham TM)?
There was merit in trying to make a comeback. But the drivel being spouted by him about improving is making him look ridiculous.

That drivel is 99% of the reason 'why' this thread is so active (& he's still a hot topic for all the wrong reasons online).

He could end this conversation right now if he just came out & said "I'm a million miles away from my GT winning form, the sport has moved on, I try, but age & injuries add up".

Followed by something like "Obviously riding around at the back of the peloton is a different experience than my best years, but I won't quit though because I enjoy this sport too much".

Voilà, case closed, (mostly) everyone would go home & leave him in peace. People aren't stupid (contrary to stereotypes), i.e. most humans can sense B.S. when it's so obvious. I mean even today, his DNS statement issued on IPT's Twitter account mentioned "progress". Why? How? In what universe? It's just different shades of terrible, i.e. really terrible or slightly better terrible, but still terrible.

That is a p*sstake from a man who has won 7 GT's.

 

[Taxus4a]

It was quite strange his result at the ITT, top 50, ok, but 64th it wanst at the level he has reached now.

So, next stages confirmed he has some health problems. Hope he recover for Mont Ventoux and can show all his potential. Not easy, becouse it so close and I think they dont know exactly what happens

 

[kingjr]

That drivel is 99% of the reason 'why' this thread is so active (& he's still a hot topic for all the wrong reasons online).

He could end this conversation right now if he just came out & said "I'm a million miles away from my GT winning form, the sport has moved on, I try, but age & injuries add up".

Followed by something like "Obviously riding around at the back of the peloton is a different experience than my best years, but I won't quit though because I enjoy this sport too much".

Voilà, case closed, (mostly) everyone would go home & leave him in peace. People aren't stupid (contrary to stereotypes), i.e. most humans can sense B.S. when it's so obvious. I mean even today, his DNS statement issued on IPT's Twitter account mentioned "progress". Why? How? In what universe? It's just different shades of terrible, i.e. really terrible or slightly better terrible, but still terrible.

That is a p*sstake from a man who has won 7 GT's.

Or we could just ignore a rider who has been irrelevant for years now.

 

[RedheadDane]

Or we could just ignore a rider who has been irrelevant for years now.

The "Rujano can win the Giro this year, says Savio" thread still frequently pops up.
At this rate, the Rujano most likely to win the Giro is probably Jeison.

 

[Rackham]

Or we could just ignore a rider who has been irrelevant for years now.

Imagine how the Internet would light-up if Contador hadn't ever retired (he's 39) & become El Pistolero of major suckage... all whilst posting updates on Instagram, Twitter & YouTube about his process & progress towards building form.

Honestly, it would break the worldwide web. In fact in light of imagining that scenario, I think people are really, really generous with Froome & the mockery is really minimal compared to what it could be.

Point being: there's no escape for a 7 time GT winner. You don't get to go from crushing the Ventoux (on foot!) to wobbling around at the back of the peloton without anyone noticing. You also don't get to lie to everyone & expect the world to swallow the 'I'm getting better!' narrative hook, line & sinker.

 

[samhocking]

That drivel is 99% of the reason 'why' this thread is so active (& he's still a hot topic for all the wrong reasons online).

He could end this conversation right now if he just came out & said "I'm a million miles away from my GT winning form, the sport has moved on, I try, but age & injuries add up".

Followed by something like "Obviously riding around at the back of the peloton is a different experience than my best years, but I won't quit though because I enjoy this sport too much".

Voilà, case closed, (mostly) everyone would go home & leave him in peace. People aren't stupid (contrary to stereotypes), i.e. most humans can sense B.S. when it's so obvious. I mean even today, his DNS statement issued on IPT's Twitter account mentioned "progress". Why? How? In what universe? It's just different shades of terrible, i.e. really terrible or slightly better terrible, but still terrible.

That is a p*sstake from a man who has won 7 GT's.

Froome wins the Tour, the hate just flips to he must be d0ping again. Froome doesn't give a sh!t, he's on his path to try and improve, because 1. he's contracted and paid to do that and 2. he won't want to look back on his post-crash years looking at a void he didn't try to come back. There's nothing wrong with that, it's entirely natural and if he says in Feb, he finally started to feel there were no holdups stringing training together, we will now see how far he can get. Only after he's exhausted all signs of improvement is he going to retire, he clearly loves racing his bike. 3-4 months training after 3 years of issues to train properly, clearly isn't enough time. Every week you can't training properly is 2-3 weeks to get back, it's gonna take until Vuelta for him to even know what he's capable of, assuming no more injury or illness.

 

[Ripper]

A selection of Chris Froome's twitter fans reacting to his no-show at today's Dauphine stage :

"A great pity since you are obviously making great progress. Looking forward to seeing you back on the road again before too long. Get better soon."

"Come on Chris . I wanna see you again at 100% "

"Step by step you are coming back, this is good news. Everybody wants to see you back strong on a big tour (TD France or Spain)"

"Good form will come for you.Your will to ride and strength will keep you going forward.Cya soon in your next race."

"That 1% is still illusive but you will get there, you will!"

"Keep going, @chrisfroome. Backing you for #5!"

"You'll be back, I've no doubts! Stay strong!"

"Hopefully not anything serious Chris, looking good!"

And another one could be ... "Stop sucking"

 

[Ripper]

They hate him, they say he is irrelevant for them, they say that don't care about froome, but everyday they come out here talking about him and make direspectful jokes about him. It's really sad saying things like that to a guy that almost lost his life. He's just trying his best to comeback to being competitive after what happened, there's no shame about that, and there's no reasons to make fun of him because of that. And forget about his salary. Firstable, he's not 5 millions per year, and nobody in this forum is paying is salary! so what's your problem? it's sylvan adams money, he does what he wants with his money.
And you can all keep making fun of froome when he is dropped, it will not change the fact that he will be forever a legend, and a guy with 7 grand tours.

Hey there, I don't hate the guy.

He is sucking though.

 

[Ripper]

Au contraire. I know a lot of people say Froome should just retire but as long as Sylvain Adams is paying him what he's paying him, Froome should absolutely ride out his contract. A sportsperson only has a short career, and even for one as successful as Froome has been, there's only so long you have to make your money in it. His struggles are more a monument to Sylvain Adams' hubris, signing a guy on what he once was long before we knew whether he could be that again. And the very fact Skyneos were willing to let him walk should have been enough of a red flag to say that he probably couldn't.

Now, Adams probably felt that having a guy of the name value of Froome was worth it even if he couldn't be the guy winning GTs anymore, if he could just hoover up some prominent results and be talked about, win some stages or appearing lower down the top 10 and getting attention in the manner that we now see from the likes of Nibali, Quintana, Urán and so on. The amount of conversation that Froome generates is a product of his being Chris Froome, and that will have been part of what Adams was willing to part with that salary for - but I'm sure that when he made that commitment to sign Froome for so much and for so long that it wasn't part of the plan for that to be all that he got out of it.

And Adams could assemble a team. I mean, I assume he can and knows how given his success in other industries. But I get the sense this is a vanity pet project to build a cycling retirement home.

 

[Ripper]

It was quite strange his result at the ITT, top 50, ok, but 64th it wanst at the level he has reached now.

So, next stages confirmed he has some health problems. Hope he recover for Mont Ventoux and can show all his potential. Not easy, becouse it so close and I think they dont know exactly what happens

If IPT were serious about racing there would be no discussion. He would not be on the Tour team.

#vanityproject
#cyclingretirementhome

 

[Rackham]

Froome wins the Tour, the hate just flips to he must be d0ping again. Froome doesn't give a sh!t, he's on his path to try and improve, because 1. he's contracted and paid to do that and 2. he won't want to look back on his post-crash years looking at a void he didn't try to come back. There's nothing wrong with that, it's entirely natural and if he says in Feb, he finally started to feel there were no holdups stringing training together, we will now see how far he can get. Only after he's exhausted all signs of improvement is he going to retire, he clearly loves racing his bike. 3-4 months training after 3 years of issues to train properly, clearly isn't enough time. Every week you can't training properly is 2-3 weeks to get back, it's gonna take until Vuelta for him to even know what he's capable of, assuming no more injury or illness.

This is simply an example of selectively believing Froome's current narrative whilst disregarding prior contradictory statements made in previous years.

He already recovered from the crash in 2020: Cycling news - Chris Froome: 'I can win the Tour de France. People writing me off is an advantage' - Eurosport

Or was it 2021? How Chris Froome recovered & got back to his best (redbull.com)

People can read all this (& the rest of the still available articles online) & reach their own conclusions.

 

[Taxus4a]

Zoef was saying that his results the last couple of days were abnormally bad. But the last 3 days were more like his norm in the last 3 years and the less miserable showings before that, in the last couple of days of Romandie, in the Mercantour race, and in the first few days of the Dauphiné, are the outliers.

Therefore I was saying that actually his last couple of days' results were not abnormally bad, they were just normally bad, and the good results were the outliers.

Totally disagree...He was no working here and with worse result than when he worked..He was just at this level some days at the past spintg..so, of course it was no normal, he is abviously sick or something similar.

He did his current level at Alps Maritimes and 3 first days of Dauphiné., and he was to be one of the strongers today.

Hope he recover these days and stay with the best at Ventoux

 

[tonymikejoe]

Chris Froome April, 2023:

"I had an injury at the start of last season that pushed my recovery and training schedule back.
"I was improving at the Dauphine and then just got sick. That happens in pro cycling unfortunately.
"I did not go into the Tour with the preparation I needed and was not in the rhythm of the racing, but it was great to get a three-week GT into my legs, despite the results.
"For the remainder of the season it felt like I was always playing catch-up, not quite able to get to the level I wanted to.
"I have had a great off-season and even had a training block back in South Africa and some altitude stuff in Tenerife.
"I feel like I am building back to my old form. I am just that final step away, that final few percent from where I want to be.
"We are not there quite yet, but the signs are encouraging........."

 

[red_flanders]

Totally disagree...He was no working here and with worse result than when he worked..He was just at this level some days at the past spintg..so, of course it was no normal, he is abviously sick or something similar.

He did his current level at Alps Maritimes and 3 first days of Dauphiné., and he was to be one of the strongers today.

Hope he recover these days and stay with the best at Ventoux

Still waiting on that dinner.

 

[Ricco']

A selection of Chris Froome's twitter fans reacting to his no-show at today's Dauphine stage :

"A great pity since you are obviously making great progress. Looking forward to seeing you back on the road again before too long. Get better soon."

"Come on Chris . I wanna see you again at 100% "

"Step by step you are coming back, this is good news. Everybody wants to see you back strong on a big tour (TD France or Spain)"

"Good form will come for you.Your will to ride and strength will keep you going forward.Cya soon in your next race."

"That 1% is still illusive but you will get there, you will!"

"Keep going, @chrisfroome. Backing you for #5!"

"You'll be back, I've no doubts! Stay strong!"

"Hopefully not anything serious Chris, looking good!"

That's not strange, as after the Cound purges, the Froome's account followers are heavily skewed towards his biggest fans.