Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[Amsterhammer]

Team Sky’s Chris Froome says there is a ‘good chance’ he’ll sleep in a motorhome during the Tour de France this July to reduce risks that come with hotels.

The move would follow in the footsteps of Sky’s Giro d’Italia captain, Richie Porte, and be a first at the Tour where teams traditionally bunk in hotels provided by the organiser.

“We have to wait and see,” Froome said, “but there’s a good chance.”

Sky rented a silver and black Fleetwood Excursion motorhome for the Giro, where Porte acted as a guinea pig for the team’s new experiment.

Read more at http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/chris-froome-considering-staying-in-motorhome-during-tour-de-france-176855#R4uwblIyFQrkwjdF.99

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Deserved win for the "egg faced git wizard" But not convincing and TJ danced all over his a%% on 1 stage.
You can only beat who you are racing against.
Nibs did not come to race. Purito is going backwards. Froomes only threat was TJ and the fact he made hard work of that and was definitely spent on a couple of stages does not bode well for the tour.

Bertie had much tougher climbing competition in the Giro and he won in 2nd gear.

I doubt Froome will podium at the tour.
What's happened to Roach ,,,he looks awful.

You rate Landa and Aru ahead of Froome ? Neither Froome or TJVG would be at their peak yet. I agree about Rodriguez he should stick to classics and stage wins. Quintana is better than Aru and Landa so is Nibali. I think the four way battle at the Tour could be a classic. Roche is overrated and has been for a while now. I can't see Froome missing the podium at the Tour. A lot will depend on how Quintana is climbing and how fatigued Contador is, as the races progresses.

 

[buchanan]

It's funny to read guys here saying that Froome won't win the Tour de France because he isn't consistent enough or because of this or that. I am not even a fan of Froome but would readily admit that he is the favourite for the TDF. The bookies agree and I would think most sane, rational people realize that he has is going to be very hard to beat. I would put him a little ahead of Quintana and a long way ahead of Contador (who I am a fan of). I think the people here who don't like Froome are just hoping with all their heart that he fails next month, but I think they are in for a big dissapointment (Barring misfortune).

 

[LaFlorecita]

Froome can only win if everything goes right for him (no rain,no racing before the final 5km on the final MTF, no racing on the cobbles, no crosswinds). I think Froome is least likely to win out of the big 4. Winning a GT is not just about sheer climbing force. You need to be a good racer and Nibali, Contador and also Quintana are good racers. Froome not. He's tactically incompetent and goes into meltdown once the real racing starts.

 

[Alcanelo]

Highly debatable that Quintana is a good racer tbh. He's vulnerable as well.

 

[Dedelou]

Re:

Highly debatable that Quintana is a good racer tbh. He's vulnerable as well.

Perhaps the major difference here , is that Quintana still has time to learn to become one and on the other side , as it gets harder to teach old dogs new tricks, Froome's chances to learn the art of racing may be running out

 

[42x16ss]

Re:

Highly debatable that Quintana is a good racer tbh. He's vulnerable as well.

Huh? Quintana is a very good racer and as cold blooded as they come. He won't make rushed, headstrong mistakes like Froome and Contador are prone to. The kid's a tiny cyborg killer.

He will have a very solid, well balanced team as well.

 

[BYOP88]

Re:

Froome can only win if everything goes right for him (no rain,no racing before the final 5km on the final MTF, no racing on the cobbles, no crosswinds). I think Froome is least likely to win out of the big 4. Winning a GT is not just about sheer climbing force. You need to be a good racer and Nibali, Contador and also Quintana are good racers. Froome not. He's tactically incompetent and goes into meltdown once the real racing starts.

I don't see Nibali waiting for the last 2km of a MTF before attacking. I also expect him to send Boom in the break on the cobble stage, then he'll attack on the cobbles. Also Froome better pray there's no rain in France.

 

[buchanan]

Re:

Froome can only win if everything goes right for him (no rain,no racing before the final 5km on the final MTF, no racing on the cobbles, no crosswinds). I think Froome is least likely to win out of the big 4. Winning a GT is not just about sheer climbing force. You need to be a good racer and Nibali, Contador and also Quintana are good racers. Froome not. He's tactically incompetent and goes into meltdown once the real racing starts.

You are really deluded. He is so tactically incompetent that he destroyed everyone in the 2013 Tour? He just beat a tough field now at the Dauphine through being tactically incompetent? Do you really believe what you write or do you just say silly things for fun?

 

[dacooley]

with the exception of emotional side of the matter, thats right in a manner but the listed qualities don't make froome as weaker as the sceptically tuned public prefer it to be.in very deed bookmakers point it out as well. anyway most gts are won in a classic scheme.

 

[BYOP88]

Re: Re:

Froome can only win if everything goes right for him (no rain,no racing before the final 5km on the final MTF, no racing on the cobbles, no crosswinds). I think Froome is least likely to win out of the big 4. Winning a GT is not just about sheer climbing force. You need to be a good racer and Nibali, Contador and also Quintana are good racers. Froome not. He's tactically incompetent and goes into meltdown once the real racing starts.

You are really deluded. He is so tactically incompetent that he destroyed everyone in the 2013 Tour? He just beat a tough field now at the Dauphine through being tactically incompetent? Do you really believe what you write or do you just say silly things for fun?

You can 'destroy' everyone without being smart. Froome has a couple of weaknesses which are:

If people make their move before the last 1-2km of the final climb.

If it's wet( see Stage 6 of the 2013 Tirreno–Adriatico, Stage 6 of this years Dauphine. There are probably a few more examples too). Froome better pray that it's a dry day on July 7th in northern France.

 

[SeriousSam]

In terms of tactics, this year's Tour might prove the most challenging for Sky yet because there's not only one major rival but 3. This makes it harder to control everything and distill the contest down to being about sustainable power, which is the characteristic Froome seems to have an edge in.

Might, because if the other teams go US Postal too, like Astana at the Giro, it will be about power.

 

[del1962]

Re: Re:

Froome can only win if everything goes right for him (no rain,no racing before the final 5km on the final MTF, no racing on the cobbles, no crosswinds). I think Froome is least likely to win out of the big 4. Winning a GT is not just about sheer climbing force. You need to be a good racer and Nibali, Contador and also Quintana are good racers. Froome not. He's tactically incompetent and goes into meltdown once the real racing starts.

I don't see Nibali waiting for the last 2km of a MTF before attacking. I also expect him to send Boom in the break on the cobble stage, then he'll attack on the cobbles. Also Froome better pray there's no rain in France.

Why would he send Boom up the road, it is not like Boom wont keep up wih Nibali on the cobbles

I actually think that Froome is far less weak that people make out, perhaps it is wishful thinking on his rival's fans, definatley seen him perform well in poor conditions in Romandie 2013

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Re:

Highly debatable that Quintana is a good racer tbh. He's vulnerable as well.

for sickness perhaps but really nothing else.

 

[MatParker117]

Re: Re:

Froome can only win if everything goes right for him (no rain,no racing before the final 5km on the final MTF, no racing on the cobbles, no crosswinds). I think Froome is least likely to win out of the big 4. Winning a GT is not just about sheer climbing force. You need to be a good racer and Nibali, Contador and also Quintana are good racers. Froome not. He's tactically incompetent and goes into meltdown once the real racing starts.

I don't see Nibali waiting for the last 2km of a MTF before attacking. I also expect him to send Boom in the break on the cobble stage, then he'll attack on the cobbles. Also Froome better pray there's no rain in France.

Why would he send Boom up the road, it is not like Boom wont keep up wih Nibali on the cobbles

I actually think that Froome is far less weak that people make out, perhaps it is wishful thinking on his rival's fans, definatley seen him perform well in poor conditions in Romandie 2013

Romandie this year as well coming off that illness, Criterium International in 2013.

 

[BYOP88]

Re: Re:

Froome can only win if everything goes right for him (no rain,no racing before the final 5km on the final MTF, no racing on the cobbles, no crosswinds). I think Froome is least likely to win out of the big 4. Winning a GT is not just about sheer climbing force. You need to be a good racer and Nibali, Contador and also Quintana are good racers. Froome not. He's tactically incompetent and goes into meltdown once the real racing starts.

I don't see Nibali waiting for the last 2km of a MTF before attacking. I also expect him to send Boom in the break on the cobble stage, then he'll attack on the cobbles. Also Froome better pray there's no rain in France.

Why would he send Boom up the road, it is not like Boom wont keep up wih Nibali on the cobbles

I actually think that Froome is far less weak that people make out, perhaps it is wishful thinking on his rival's fans, definatley seen him perform well in poor conditions in Romandie 2013

How did he do last year in the Tour when it was wet? Here's hoping for a huge rain storm between Seraing-Cambrai on July 7th. Nothing against the Dawg, just love cobble races when the weather is awful.

 

[del1962]

Re: Re:

Froome can only win if everything goes right for him (no rain,no racing before the final 5km on the final MTF, no racing on the cobbles, no crosswinds). I think Froome is least likely to win out of the big 4. Winning a GT is not just about sheer climbing force. You need to be a good racer and Nibali, Contador and also Quintana are good racers. Froome not. He's tactically incompetent and goes into meltdown once the real racing starts.

I don't see Nibali waiting for the last 2km of a MTF before attacking. I also expect him to send Boom in the break on the cobble stage, then he'll attack on the cobbles. Also Froome better pray there's no rain in France.

Why would he send Boom up the road, it is not like Boom wont keep up wih Nibali on the cobbles

I actually think that Froome is far less weak that people make out, perhaps it is wishful thinking on his rival's fans, definatley seen him perform well in poor conditions in Romandie 2013

How did he do last year in the Tour when it was wet? Here's hoping for a huge rain storm between Seraing-Cambrai on July 7th. Nothing against the Dawg, just love cobble races when the weather is awful.

He had broken his wrist on the previous stage

 

[Metabolol]

Froome will probably be the best climber but I doubt Sky will be able to control the race to the degree that he needs. He might very well drop everyone on a couple of stages but overall I'm not sure it will be enough. I think all of the top GC contenders will have ups and downs (mirroring the season so far) but in the end Nibali will win. I predict a brutal race with no single team being able to control the race from day to day. The more the race opens up the more it favours Nibali. Contador will be up there but I don't think he will be strong enough to win.

 

[damian13ster]

Re: Re:

Highly debatable that Quintana is a good racer tbh. He's vulnerable as well.

for sickness perhaps but really nothing else.

Or for taking a turn on a dry, paved road, with noone around him (see Vuelta 2014)

 

[vedrafjord]

Re:

Froome can only win if everything goes right for him (no rain,no racing before the final 5km on the final MTF, no racing on the cobbles, no crosswinds). I think Froome is least likely to win out of the big 4. Winning a GT is not just about sheer climbing force. You need to be a good racer and Nibali, Contador and also Quintana are good racers. Froome not. He's tactically incompetent and goes into meltdown once the real racing starts.

I think you're muddling in a load of stuff about Wiggins, Brailsford, Sky etc., rather than being objective about Froome. I can't think of any terrible performances by him in the rain. His 2014 Dauphiné and Tour crashes both happened in the dry. We don't really know anything about how good he is on cobbles - as far as I know the only time he raced on them was Fléche Wallonne this year where he fell but still finished ok. Crosswinds? If you mean the 2013 Tour stage he finished in the same group as Quintana.

I think you have to put the blame for tactical incompetence at the foot of the DS rather than Froome - for example when he was hanging off the back of the main group during the Vuelta last year any other team would have waited for him but Sky put Deignan and Cataldo at the front and wound the pace up.

When did he "go into meltdown when the real racing started"? He seems a lot mentally tougher than, say, Wiggins, and repeatedly fought his way back after being dropped during last year's Vuelta. Froome's mountain train has never been as dominant as Wiggin's 2012 one - they've gone missing in action quite a few times and he's generally handled it ok.

He's not a great bike handler although he descends ok, his style on the bike looks ridiculous although I dunno if he can help it given his body shape (Hesjedal is another tall rider with long arms and long legs who has no grace on a bike), but he's got a Tour win, 3 more GT podiums, and 6 week long stage race victories. Maybe what annoys people is that he shows that the stuff they hold dear - beautiful pedalling style, demon descending, jumping kerbs, floating along cobbled sections - doesn't really matter most of the time.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Froome can only win if everything goes right for him (no rain,no racing before the final 5km on the final MTF, no racing on the cobbles, no crosswinds). I think Froome is least likely to win out of the big 4. Winning a GT is not just about sheer climbing force. You need to be a good racer and Nibali, Contador and also Quintana are good racers. Froome not. He's tactically incompetent and goes into meltdown once the real racing starts.

Funny how Froome's non racing ability has won him a Tour and three podiums. Stick to the Contador thread where the one note hysteria is more predictable. He is the best TT rider of the four, a strong climber and has a strong team.

 

[pastronef]

Re: Re:

Froome can only win if everything goes right for him (no rain,no racing before the final 5km on the final MTF, no racing on the cobbles, no crosswinds). I think Froome is least likely to win out of the big 4. Winning a GT is not just about sheer climbing force. You need to be a good racer and Nibali, Contador and also Quintana are good racers. Froome not. He's tactically incompetent and goes into meltdown once the real racing starts.

I think you're muddling in a load of stuff about Wiggins, Brailsford, Sky etc., rather than being objective about Froome. I can't think of any terrible performances by him in the rain. His 2014 Dauphiné and Tour crashes both happened in the dry. We don't really know anything about how good he is on cobbles - as far as I know the only time he raced on them was Fléche Wallonne this year where he fell but still finished ok. Crosswinds? If you mean the 2013 Tour stage he finished in the same group as Quintana.

I think you have to put the blame for tactical incompetence at the foot of the DS rather than Froome - for example when he was hanging off the back of the main group during the Vuelta last year any other team would have waited for him but Sky put Deignan and Cataldo at the front and wound the pace up.

When did he "go into meltdown when the real racing started"? He seems a lot mentally tougher than, say, Wiggins, and repeatedly fought his way back after being dropped during last year's Vuelta. Froome's mountain train has never been as dominant as Wiggin's 2012 one - they've gone missing in action quite a few times and he's generally handled it ok.

He's not a great bike handler although he descends ok, his style on the bike looks ridiculous although I dunno if he can help it given his body shape (Hesjedal is another tall rider with long arms and long legs who has no grace on a bike), but he's got a Tour win, 3 more GT podiums, and 6 week long stage race victories. Maybe what annoys people is that he shows that the stuff they hold dear - beautiful pedalling style, demon descending, jumping kerbs, floating along cobbled sections - doesn't really matter most of the time.

another + for him is there's no more Wiggins in the team, the Tour's not starting in UK (less pressure from fans-public-top brass at BSkyB), he won the Dauphinè and had no accidents, crashes, sore bones.

the underlined: people blame him for not being tactically wise, and add to that, Sky DS made a few mistake during the years.

ps. I hope for dry cobbles

 

[BYOP88]

Re: Re:

Froome can only win if everything goes right for him (no rain,no racing before the final 5km on the final MTF, no racing on the cobbles, no crosswinds). I think Froome is least likely to win out of the big 4. Winning a GT is not just about sheer climbing force. You need to be a good racer and Nibali, Contador and also Quintana are good racers. Froome not. He's tactically incompetent and goes into meltdown once the real racing starts.

I think you're muddling in a load of stuff about Wiggins, Brailsford, Sky etc., rather than being objective about Froome. I can't think of any terrible performances by him in the rain. His 2014 Dauphiné and Tour crashes both happened in the dry. We don't really know anything about how good he is on cobbles - as far as I know the only time he raced on them was Fléche Wallonne this year where he fell but still finished ok. Crosswinds? If you mean the 2013 Tour stage he finished in the same group as Quintana.

I think you have to put the blame for tactical incompetence at the foot of the DS rather than Froome - for example when he was hanging off the back of the main group during the Vuelta last year any other team would have waited for him but Sky put Deignan and Cataldo at the front and wound the pace up.

When did he "go into meltdown when the real racing started"? He seems a lot mentally tougher than, say, Wiggins, and repeatedly fought his way back after being dropped during last year's Vuelta. Froome's mountain train has never been as dominant as Wiggin's 2012 one - they've gone missing in action quite a few times and he's generally handled it ok.

He's not a great bike handler although he descends ok, his style on the bike looks ridiculous although I dunno if he can help it given his body shape (Hesjedal is another tall rider with long arms and long legs who has no grace on a bike), but he's got a Tour win, 3 more GT podiums, and 6 week long stage race victories. Maybe what annoys people is that he shows that the stuff they hold dear - beautiful pedalling style, demon descending, jumping kerbs, floating along cobbled sections - doesn't really matter most of the time.

Didn't he crash in the wet a few kilometers before the cobbles last year? Yes he crashed the day before in the dry too.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Froome can only win if everything goes right for him (no rain,no racing before the final 5km on the final MTF, no racing on the cobbles, no crosswinds). I think Froome is least likely to win out of the big 4. Winning a GT is not just about sheer climbing force. You need to be a good racer and Nibali, Contador and also Quintana are good racers. Froome not. He's tactically incompetent and goes into meltdown once the real racing starts.

Funny how Froome's non racing ability has won him a Tour and three podiums. Stick to the Contador thread where the one note hysteria is more predictable. He is the best TT rider of the four, a strong climber and has a strong team.

Where did I state otherwise?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Froome can only win if everything goes right for him (no rain,no racing before the final 5km on the final MTF, no racing on the cobbles, no crosswinds). I think Froome is least likely to win out of the big 4. Winning a GT is not just about sheer climbing force. You need to be a good racer and Nibali, Contador and also Quintana are good racers. Froome not. He's tactically incompetent and goes into meltdown once the real racing starts.

You are really deluded. He is so tactically incompetent that he destroyed everyone in the 2013 Tour? He just beat a tough field now at the Dauphine through being tactically incompetent? Do you really believe what you write or do you just say silly things for fun?

You can 'destroy' everyone without being smart. Froome has a couple of weaknesses which are:

If people make their move before the last 1-2km of the final climb.

If it's wet( see Stage 6 of the 2013 Tirreno–Adriatico, Stage 6 of this years Dauphine. There are probably a few more examples too). Froome better pray that it's a dry day on July 7th in northern France.

No Bob, riding away from everyone with 5km to go on a MTF is the greatest show of tactical savvy possible!