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Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

Page 52 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.

Is Froome over the hill?

  • Yes.

    Votes: 26 35.1%
  • No, the GC finished 40 minutes ago but Froomie is still climbing it

    Votes: 42 56.8%
  • No he is totally winning the Vuelta

    Votes: 17 23.0%

  • Total voters
    74
airstream said:
There are no Sky lovers. Only enthusiastic (to all riders) jens_attacks and realists wwabbit and ContadaurusSchleck. I've been observing only 2 Froome fans so far, but looks like they are wise enough not to try to prove AC fans anything.

Just in case I am not consider exactly Froome's fan. It is depend what you mean with fan.

I like him as I like a lot of riders

But anyway if Contador or others riders have his fans, Froome could have as well.
 
Mar 25, 2012
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I doubt that there would be an alliance with all the Spaniard , but it really depends what their objective is. If they all would be happy with a podium then it's very unlikely to see anybody really trying to defeat the Sky Train. However If they're more focused on winning the TDF , then they'd would all have a common objective , and that'd mean that there will be attacking. That could be problematic to the Sky Train if Rodriguez , Valverde , Contador try to attack from far (dunno if it can be said that way in English).
There is no need from an explicit alliance , but if enough riders are focused on winning the TDF , then they will have to derail the Sky Train , and we may end up seeing Froome isolated.
After all we have seen a surprising Valverde in the Dauphine , he wasn't succesful with his attacks , but he did not wait for the sprint , at least he is showing ambitions.
Sky have a very strong team , however Contador , Valverde and Purito will have strong team too , or at least some good teammates , they could put Sky under a lot of pressure.

I doubt that it would be enough to beat Froome anyway , even on his own , he seems very hard to drop.
 
Jun 12, 2010
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airstream said:
The most probable scenario is any Sky rider gives a 500-1000m pull at Ax-3 , then Froome attacks from 3 to ago and gains 20+ sec. It plunges part of the forum into shock. I'm being absolutely serious.

Evans with 2 Water bottles can descend 2 min faster than Froome from Pailheres .
 
airstream said:
Majority still believes in Contador's which automatically implies that Froome can't drop him mano to mano

I think it's more a case of hope than belief which are 2 different things. A rational person would look at Contador's performance since his return from his suspension and see that he's not at the same level as before but that does not mean that there is absolute certainty that he won't be able to hold his own come Tour time. While Froome of course has appeared the heavy favorite the race still has to be run and Froome in all of his world beating form, has yet to stand on the top step of a grand tour podium nor has he held the responsibility of team leadership for the entirety of a grand tour as of yet with the exception of the 2012 Vuelta where as everyone knows he was coming off of making the podium of the Tour. That entails significant pressure compounded by his team being so high profile and him coming into the Tour the heavy favorite. Will he be able to handle all the distractions and pressure?
 
Jun 9, 2012
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Angliru said:
I think it's more a case of hope than belief which are 2 different things. A rational person would look at Contador's performance since his return from his suspension and see that he's not at the same level as before but that does not mean that there is absolute certainty that he won't be able to hold his own come Tour time. While Froome of course has appeared the heavy favorite the race still has to be run and Froome in all of his world beating form, has yet to stand on the top step of a grand tour podium nor has he held the responsibility of team leadership for the entirety of a grand tour as of yet with the exception of the 2012 Vuelta where as everyone knows he was coming off of making the podium of the Tour. That entails significant pressure compounded by his team being so high profile and him coming into the Tour the heavy favorite. Will he be able to handle all the distractions and pressure?


This pretty much nails it. Surely Airstream, despite Froomes displayed strength, you will still be hoping that Andy comes out of nowhere and wins it?
 

airstream

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Contadoraus Schlecks said:
This pretty much nails it. Surely Airstream, despite Froomes displayed strength, you will still be hoping that Andy comes out of nowhere and wins it?

No, Andy can't win the Tour this year
 
Jun 12, 2013
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airstream said:
The most probable scenario is any Sky rider gives a 500-1000m pull at Ax-3 , then Froome attacks from 3 to ago and gains 20+ sec. It plunges part of the forum into shock. I'm being absolutely serious.

I'm expecting something similar to that, but froome won't waste team mates. He'll leave his attack a bit later until his team mates have done a bigger turn and most riders are dropped. Im not going to be surprised if he wins that stage. the other riders won't quite be up to his level by then, but it'll hopefully become more even as the race progresses :). If it comes down to a sprint and he beats riders like valverde or rodriguez then i'll be surprised. In the past ax-3 hasn't been decisive and the fact that its the first mountain stage and isn't very difficult won't allow a big amount of time to be gained anyway. That's good because it leaves the race more open and allows unfit riders like contador or schleck to find their form before the beast ventoux :D
 
Jul 19, 2010
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if Froome can't win the tour this year, it's going to be tough to win it next time. He is in his form of his life. He said it himself. He got his dominating season so far. He'd better win it with that kind of confidence and form (especially after his domestique deluxe mouth extender wrote a blog about how awesome froome and how alberto/purito should be nervous) If he can't beaten the so-so alberto with his current form now, how do you think he'll able to beat Alberto next time?

This is why TDF this year is so exciting. We got the sure favorite, on paper should be able to win it vs. sorta not convincing performance the multiple GT winner, that looks like he might just ran out his steam. This is a battle between the under dog vs the super dog.
 
Jelantik said:
if Froome can't win the tour this year, it's going to be tough to win it next time. He is in his form of his life. He said it himself. He got his dominating season so far. He'd better win it with that kind of confidence and form (especially after his domestique deluxe mouth extender wrote a blog about how awesome froome and how alberto/purito should be nervous) If he can't beaten the so-so alberto with his current form now, how do you think he'll able to beat Alberto next time?

This is why TDF this year is so exciting. We got the sure favorite, on paper should be able to win it vs. sorta not convincing performance the multiple GT winner, that looks like he might just ran out his steam. This is a battle between the under dog vs the super dog.

In a way it is very similar to last year with Wiggins. Everyone was picking Wiggins to win and he was in great form all year. To say Froome could not win in the future is a big call. He has time on his side and who knows Froome's limits. You could also say that if Contador does not win, he will never win again especially if Froome wins easily this time. Of course the other alternative is a third player if neither Contador or Froome appear at their best. That scenario seems an unpopular one but is possible especially in a three week race.
 

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