Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[Afrank]

I reckon Wiggins initially aimed at the Giro because the team management gently guided him down that path: "you'd really make history if you won the Giro, whereas two Tour wins is less historic" and Wiggins' ego agreed. Plus, Wiggins has said he hadn't enjoyed the Tour last year. Now the bad memories have faded, Tim K has had a look at the numbers, and the Tour is back on.

Forgot about Wiggins saying that, well, if he didn't enjoy that Tour...

 

[jens_attacks]

I feel too much honouring and admiring feelings in the words of many when speaking about Froome girlfriend.

here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Ro7yHf_pU14#t=30s

dangerous for froomey in the first place lol

 

[RownhamHill]

. . .

Wiggins was asked before the tour- do you want to win the Tour with Froome - best climber in the world, pacing you up every single climb and being your total ***** for 3 weeks, or do you want to try and win it without him.

If yes, then youll have to let him be leader for the 2013 tour.

Looked like a very attractive proposition with london 2012 around the corner and the chance to be a "hero" and to open the ceremony and all that.

Hate to be a pedant, but do you have a link for that? Is that actually a real conversation you're quoting a report of, or an imaginary one?

I hate all this team planning in any case - like Webber getting the hump in that race earlier this year cos he couldn't drive his fast car in a circle as fast as his team mate.

OK, in some cases if you're going to help the opposition you shouldn't attack someone on the road (Froome stopping at Tousiairre (sp?) last year was probably right to stop I think), but if there's no real risk other being better than the 'leader' then you should go - I think Froome should have tried to chase down Valverde in that last mountain stage last year, and I loved it when Contador just rode away into Andorra in 2009. It is, after all, a race.

So I think what Wiggins is saying at the moment is fair enough - if (best case scenario) it comes to it, he wants the road to decide. I think in that scenario Froome will beat him - but what's a better outcome for Froome and his place in history: winning with Wiggins hinting he could have won but didn't try, or winning with Wiggins having tried and failed to compete and there being no discussion about the 'strongest' rider at the tour? If he doesn't think he can actually beat Wiggins, maybe he's in the wrong job?

That all said, Alberto will beat them both!

 

[wwabbit]

I'm guessing Wiggins originally chose to ride the Giro to avoid Contador, being afraid of being spanked by Contador. Now that he has seen Contador's form this season, he wants to ride the Tour again for the bragging rights of beating Contador....

 

[RHRH19861986]

here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Ro7yHf_pU14#t=30s

dangerous for froomey in the first place lol

Can´t be opened in my country...

F*** Youtube

 

[mattghg]

I reckon Wiggins initially aimed at the Giro because the team management gently guided him down that path

I think so too.

 

[goggalor]

Gotta hand it to Wiggles, the guy knows how to stick the knife in, and twist it

Problem is, Froome can drop him like a rock. Wiggo's the Lance in this relationship, Froome Dogg is Bertie.

 

[Miburo]

I'm guessing Wiggins originally chose to ride the Giro to avoid Contador, being afraid of being spanked by Contador. Now that he has seen Contador's form this season, he wants to ride the Tour again for the bragging rights of beating Contador....

I think that's accurate.

 

[rzombie1988]

Wiggins owes it to Froome to help him win since Froome possibly lost out on two GT wins due to helping him. I don't blame Wiggins being selfish and not wanting to give the lead to Froome but I do think he owes it to Froome. Either way, the strongest is going to win out in the end. I think Froome is more likely to be the stronger one if Wiggins does the Giro, but the key word is if here as I could see Wiggins "crashing out" or "getting injured" and then doing the Tour.

If both are fresh, I still give the nod to Froome. He's better in the mountains and he won't lose much to Wiggo in this tour with less ITT's.

 

[JimPanzen]

Her mouth:
Rather a child or adolescent than a grown-up woman. The more Froome is a professional, the less she is. She doesn´t do him a faith in being so outspoken. She won´t change anything, anyways. Brailsford is the man who decides at Sky, not a semi time photographer hungry for big money, devestatedly trying to keep her Monaco lifestyle.

I have no idea considering the other things you wrote, but that is the exact impression I got of her. Especially the bold part.

Anyway...let's see how this plays out.

 

[Contadoraus Schlecks]

Just had a brief look through Michelle Cound's Twitter a/c. Quite a lot of direct tweets accusing Sky / Froome of clinic issues. She responds every time.

Quite surprised she hasn't appeared on the CN forum yet. As someone else mentioned Froome is quite popular here

She will be very entertaining during the Tour

 

[Jelantik]

I'm guessing Wiggins originally chose to ride the Giro to avoid Contador, being afraid of being spanked by Contador. Now that he has seen Contador's form this season, he wants to ride the Tour again for the bragging rights of beating Contador....

+1
can't agree more. You can't win the tour and claim the best stage racer of all time without beating the best. That is contador and schleck. Then NO ONE will say that he won TDF last year because the field was weak or the time trial. To think that wiggin is the best stage racer in the world beating the likes of contador, schleck and froome are scary . So yeah. he wants the bragging rights. Should be lots of fireworks in July then.

 

[Jelantik]

If all that matters is a number of won GT, yes, Contador is and will be the best GT rider at least during 5 future years regardless his results. However if we talk about actual today's strength (the things we've seen for the last and this season) it is Wiggins and Froome no doubt.

Hmmm 5th in catalunya, 5th in del trentino compare to contador 2th in Oman, 3th in TA, 3th klasica primavera, 5th in Pais Vasco and wiggin is still better than Contador???? not to mention contador doesn't aim for Giro. With so called 'contador's form', he still manages podium.. and still wiggin actual today's strength is better than contador?

 

[The Hitch]

Hmmm 5th in catalunya, 5th in del trentino compare to contador 2th in Oman, 3th in TA, 3th klasica primavera, 5th in Pais Vasco and wiggin is still better than Contador???? not to mention contador doesn't aim for Giro. With so called 'contador's form', he still manages podium.. and still wiggin actual today's strength is better than contador?

You forgot San Luis where he won a stage, and came 4th (and no shame coming 4th to the mighty Daniel Diaz)

 

[Jelantik]

You forgot San Luis where he won a stage, and came 4th (and no shame coming 4th to the mighty Daniel Diaz)

yup that one too. forgot that he started that early.

 

[TANK91]

Wiggins won last year so he should be the leader if he wants to go for yellow.
And based on what are people assuming that Froome is stronger than Wiggins?Because of these short accellerations last year?

Are you watching same sport that we watch go watch stage 7, Froome paced Wiggins, Evans and Nibali and still won the stage so course he was stronger, Froome could have caused chaos in the mountains. Froome would never have had a better chance last year I agree if Wiggo said straight after the TDF that he will defend yellow, but he did not say that.

 

[TANK91]

It does sound like a Wiggins has some good numbers going for him and is saying that he's climbing better this year, especially when it's very steep. If he shows that in the Giro and isn't exhausted when it's done, Froome's showboating in the press isn't going to help. They will be coleaders, the least a reigning champion can be, and the road will decide. Sky and Wiggins haven't forgotten 2011 when they lost everything in an instant. With a second leader they would have survived. And when Froome lost 1' last year even though Porte helped him?

Froome trying to edge out Wiggo from the team is ridiculous and insulting to everyone's intelligence, it makes no sense for Sky to pass on Wiggo if he's up for it. Besides he's not asking for full leadership...for now ;-)

Answer me this- who his more valuable to Sky for the next 5 years?, its certainly not Wiggo.

 

[TANK91]

And they've collectively won.....one GT. Who's your third, Gesink? Porte?

Froome as shown more dominance when coming second than the likes of Hesjedal, Nibali and Wiggo have when they've won he destroyed Nibali with the handbrake completely on, he even lost time on a flat stage aswell lol.

 

[offbyone]

Wiggins owes it to Froome to help him win since Froome possibly lost out on two GT wins due to helping him. I don't blame Wiggins being selfish and not wanting to give the lead to Froome but I do think he owes it to Froome. Either way, the strongest is going to win out in the end. I think Froome is more likely to be the stronger one if Wiggins does the Giro, but the key word is if here as I could see Wiggins "crashing out" or "getting injured" and then doing the Tour.

If both are fresh, I still give the nod to Froome. He's better in the mountains and he won't lose much to Wiggo in this tour with less ITT's.

Agreed although I don't have as much empathy for wiggins being selfish especially considering that he is the kind of rider who can't win a GT without a team train every day.

Mostly I think Wiggins is making an *** out of himself. Performing a double GT win is historically near impossible. The Giro|Vuelta double is more likely, but to win the Giro and then Tour directly after is extremely unlikely. To do it when the TdF course doesn't even suit his skill set makes it a pipe dream. I don't care how much the Giro suits him, it is still going to tire him. He should remember all the years of epic fail he had at the Tour and check his confidence.

If Wiggins really harbors dreams of a double, then he should stop talking and win the Giro, go to the TdF in support of froome and take the jersey on the first time trial and then see what happens. All this talk is not helping anyone at Sky.

Sky may be stacked with riders, but I still contend that the main reason they are so successful is their focus and unification. Having a team completely on the same page and that focused top to bottom is hard to find. Wiggins is ruining that and none of their typical tactics will work if the team is even slightly divided or are without a clear leader.

 

[Cimber]

If all that matters is a number of won GT, yes, Contador is and will be the best GT rider at least during 5 future years regardless his results. However if we talk about actual today's strength (the things we've seen for the last and this season) it is Wiggins and Froome no doubt.

At the moment Froome does indeed seem to be better than Bertie. Wiggins is and has never been better than Contador.

 

[Orvieto]

Wiggins owes it to Froome to help him win since Froome possibly lost out on two GT wins due to helping him. I don't blame Wiggins being selfish and not wanting to give the lead to Froome but I do think he owes it to Froome. Either way, the strongest is going to win out in the end. I think Froome is more likely to be the stronger one if Wiggins does the Giro, but the key word is if here as I could see Wiggins "crashing out" or "getting injured" and then doing the Tour.

If both are fresh, I still give the nod to Froome. He's better in the mountains and he won't lose much to Wiggo in this tour with less ITT's.

I don't know that Wiggins automatically owes it to Froome to work for him in France. It's not unusual for a team to have an undisputed leader for multiple GTs and everyone is obliged to support him. I don't blame Wiggins for being greedy. I blame him for being duplicitous. Wiggins owes Froome because there appears to have been an agreement to do so from the beginning of the season. If he's changing his mind now, that's a problem. Froome will have based his training schedules on peaking in July with the expectation of team support. If Wiggins can't agree to ride the TDF in support, he shouldn't ride at all.

It seems with Wiggins, if there's a quid pro quo, you better get your end of the bargain before you give him yours. Garmin criticized him for bailing on their sprint train after they worked for his 4th in GC. Cavendish's Sky exit was also related to uneven allocation of resources, as he was led to believe he'd be better supported. Porte is smart to get his wins in before the Giro. If Henao and Uran are hoping to get their rewards later in the season, they may find Wiggins has gone missing or wants those wins for himself.

Sky owes Froome a clear statement that he's the leader and that Wiggins is riding in support.

 

[Angliru]

I don't know that Wiggins automatically owes it to Froome to work for him in France. It's not unusual for a team to have an undisputed leader for multiple GTs and everyone is obliged to support him. I don't blame Wiggins for being greedy. I blame him for being duplicitous. Wiggins owes Froome because there appears to have been an agreement to do so from the beginning of the season. If he's changing his mind now, that's a problem. Froome will have based his training schedules on peaking in July with the expectation of team support. If Wiggins can't agree to ride the TDF in support, he shouldn't ride at all.

It seems with Wiggins, if there's a quid pro quo, you better get your end of the bargain before you give him yours. Garmin criticized him for bailing on their sprint train after they worked for his 4th in GC. Cavendish's Sky exit was also related to uneven allocation of resources, as he was led to believe he'd be better supported. Porte is smart to get his wins in before the Giro. If Henao and Uran are hoping to get their rewards later in the season, they may find Wiggins has gone missing or wants those wins for himself.

Sky owes Froome a clear statement that he's the leader and that Wiggins is riding in support.

Best post of the thread. Wiggins at some point after his Tour win announced that he would ride for Froome at the Tour in the future. I added the last part myself because this is likely how Wiggins interprets that promise. Since that promise Wiggins has been all over the place in terms of his intentions for the season such that he should be wearing a kit that includes squiggly line across the chest quite like a certain well known cartoon character, one with a tendency towards wishy-washy behaviour.

 

[zigmeister]

I seem to remember a Wiggins leading the Sky train the final stage of the TDF so Cav could win the sprint. Seems like he is not adverse to helping Froome. But why? If you have a chance to win multiple times...why not try it?

The first week will lay a lot of groundwork as to who the leader might be.

 

[Franklin]

However if we talk about actual today's strength (the things we've seen for the last and this season) it is Wiggins and Froome no doubt.

Are you actually for real? Do you realize what happened last year when AC rode his only GT? He won... You know who he kept behind him???? And current form is an absolutely fantastic metric considering we aren't near the TdF.

You are picking Wiggins (who form wise is behind AC) and Froome wore a jersey one day, let alone win a GT. In fact AC trounced them every time he met them in a GT, the last time being more recent than Wiggo's TDF!

That you have no doubt shows that you are beyond reason.

 

[Catwhoorg]

Minor Point Froome has worn the jersey in the Vuelta.
For one stage in 2011.