Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[ray j willings]

Bertie put them all to the sword today. Brilliant. He was the strongest rider out of the GT boys. No Giro and he would have won this tour. Those attacks would have stuck.

Froome definitely on the ropes at points. Thomas had to ease up a couple of times when he could have upped the tempo.
Bertie will definitely have another go tomorrow. it could blow the race apart ...they are getting tired, Bertie looks better though.
Depending on how aggressive the racing is tomorrow Froome could lose a bit of time if they have to do a lot of chasing.

I hope Froome does not capitulate. He has rode a great tour so far. I don't want Quintana to win because Froome has one bad day.

 

[Sky'sthelimit]

Re:

I had the impression Froome was a bit in trouble on the last short climb. Always at the back of the small bunch, small gap opening on the final ramp before the top. Small signs. But definitely a different Froome than on week ago. I think he starting to loose form, while on the other hand Quintana and Nibali seem to get stronger day after day. Still, no chances. He is still strong enough to get safe and sound to Sunday. The only sure thing is that tomorrow and Sat we're gonna see fireworks!

Like the majority of the GC contenders, they had their own individual moments of difficulty. There is no discernible difference in Froome's form at this stage. Remember froome and sky do not need to force the issue. Astana, TS and Movistar do, if anything Froome is riding within himself. He only needs to mark the attacks not start them. That's the big difference now, with over 3 minutes on Quintana. There is no need to up the pace on climbs, only maintain the gap, between himself and Quintana. Nibali has been forced on the offensive and has rarely troubled any of the other GC contenders. Only making up around 45 seconds and that was on the,decent into Gap. On the climbs he has been firmly on the back foot.

Froome isn't losing form at all and fully expect him to go for a stage win up the Alpe D Huez, with Quintana being dropped with 5 km to go.

 

[rick james]

You not better taking that talk to the Contador thread??

 

[DBotero]

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

Bertie put them all to the sword today. Brilliant. He was the strongest rider out of the GT boys. No Giro and he would have won this tour. Those attacks would have stuck.

Froome definitely on the ropes at points. Thomas had to ease up a couple of times when he could have upped the tempo.
Bertie will definitely have another go tomorrow. it could blow the race apart ...they are getting tired, Bertie looks better though.
Depending on how aggressive the racing is tomorrow Froome could lose a bit of time if they have to do a lot of chasing.

I hope Froome does not capitulate. He has rode a great tour so far. I don't want Quintana to win because Froome has one bad day.

Contador has got stronger, but he has been poor for over 2 weeks shipping time on the crosswind stage, Huy, TTT, and the first MTF whereas Froome has been very consistent responding to plenty of attacks and riding a good yellow jersey defense, of course helped by Movistar. Giro is no excuse as I've said all along, he knew by going for the double he risked not being great in this Tour, he had the choice to just focus on this race but chose not too, that's Contadors fault not Froomes.

I still expect Froome to have one more nuclear attack up Alpe D'Huez to finish the Tour in style, although a few of his competitors may be strong enough to react now. When Froome looks in trouble that's usually when he attacks. I hope Contador gets a stage, but Froome doesn't even need to chase him.

 

[ray j willings]

Re: Re:

Bertie put them all to the sword today. Brilliant. He was the strongest rider out of the GT boys. No Giro and he would have won this tour. Those attacks would have stuck.

Froome definitely on the ropes at points. Thomas had to ease up a couple of times when he could have upped the tempo.
Bertie will definitely have another go tomorrow. it could blow the race apart ...they are getting tired, Bertie looks better though.
Depending on how aggressive the racing is tomorrow Froome could lose a bit of time if they have to do a lot of chasing.

I hope Froome does not capitulate. He has rode a great tour so far. I don't want Quintana to win because Froome has one bad day.

Contador has got stronger, but he has been poor for over 2 weeks shipping time on the crosswind stage, Huy, TTT, and the first MTF whereas Froome has been very consistent responding to plenty of attacks and riding a good yellow jersey defense, of course helped by Movistar. Giro is no excuse as I've said all along, he knew by going for the double he risked not being great in this Tour, he had the choice to just focus on this race but chose not too, that's Contadors fault not Froomes.

I still expect Froome to have one more nuclear attack up Alpe D'Huez to finish the Tour in style, although a few of his competitors may be strong enough to react now. When Froome looks in trouble that's usually when he attacks. I hope Contador gets a stage, but Froome doesn't even need to chase him.

I agree, if Bertie wanted to win the tour and looking how he's riding now, He would have won it. But he wanted to do the double and he knows that it was always going to be a tough job and I have no issue with Froome about that, Froome's gone for the tour and so far is looking good. " the first week or so he was super"

Bertie put Froome on the ropes today with those attacks. There was a gap on the last Climb and Movie are closing all the gaps not Froome.

Froome was tired today and struggled, Thomas had to ease up a few times.

I think he will lose time tomorrow if its a fast aggressive race like the last 2 days.

Froome would attack if could like the first week but he can't. 3 minutes to Quintana is still a wee bit worrying.

Right now I want Froome to win as he deserves his victory but if I was a Froome fan I would be a wee bit concerned about tomorrow if the attacks start early.

 

[Pricey_sky]

It's definitely not over even with a 3 minute lead, although Froome did show yesterday he is ok responding to Quintana's attacks. As long as Quintana doesn't go up the road with Alberto then Froome should be ok unless he has a very bad day. Whether Movistar let Contador go up the road is another question, Froome would let Contador go a minute up but then he knows Movistar would panic and Valverde would be on the front protecting his podium for all he's worth.

 

[Sky'sthelimit]

Re: Re:

Bertie put them all to the sword today. Brilliant. He was the strongest rider out of the GT boys. No Giro and he would have won this tour. Those attacks would have stuck.

Froome definitely on the ropes at points. Thomas had to ease up a couple of times when he could have upped the tempo.
Bertie will definitely have another go tomorrow. it could blow the race apart ...they are getting tired, Bertie looks better though.
Depending on how aggressive the racing is tomorrow Froome could lose a bit of time if they have to do a lot of chasing.

I hope Froome does not capitulate. He has rode a great tour so far. I don't want Quintana to win because Froome has one bad day.

Contador has got stronger, but he has been poor for over 2 weeks shipping time on the crosswind stage, Huy, TTT, and the first MTF whereas Froome has been very consistent responding to plenty of attacks and riding a good yellow jersey defense, of course helped by Movistar. Giro is no excuse as I've said all along, he knew by going for the double he risked not being great in this Tour, he had the choice to just focus on this race but chose not too, that's Contadors fault not Froomes.

I still expect Froome to have one more nuclear attack up Alpe D'Huez to finish the Tour in style, although a few of his competitors may be strong enough to react now. When Froome looks in trouble that's usually when he attacks. I hope Contador gets a stage, but Froome doesn't even need to chase him.

I agree, if Bertie wanted to win the tour and looking how he's riding now, He would have won it. But he wanted to do the double and he knows that it was always going to be a tough job and I have no issue with Froome about that, Froome's gone for the tour and so far is looking good. " the first week or so he was super"

Bertie put Froome on the ropes today with those attacks. There was a gap on the last Climb and Movie are closing all the gaps not Froome.

Froome was tired today and struggled, Thomas had to ease up a few times.

I think he will lose time tomorrow if its a fast aggressive race like the last 2 days.

Froome would attack if could like the first week but he can't. 3 minutes to Quintana is still a wee bit worrying.

Right now I want Froome to win as he deserves his victory but if I was a Froome fan I would be a wee bit concerned about tomorrow if the attacks start early.

Contador did not put any of the GC rider on the ropes, they controlled the race and the Spanaird well. Froome countered when he needed too he was if anything riding within himself today. He will not lose any significant time over the next two days. Froome fans actually need not to be concerned moreover Quintana supporters are the ones with the real headache.

 

[Ludwig's Olaf]

What is it that they can't rival Nibbels or Bertie in popularity?

 

[huge]

Quintana attacking Froome on a turbo trainer... Froome laughing him off upping his cadence to 400 rpm.

 

[gazr99]

Anyone else seen that the UCI & ASO have decided to put out a joint statement asking fans to respect the yellow jersey. Why did it take them this long to put it out?

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

Anyone else seen that the UCI & ASO have decided to put out a joint statement asking fans to respect the yellow jersey. Why did it take them this long to put it out?

Probably worried about some of idiots up Alpe D'huez on Saturday whne they've had a day on the sauce.

 

[willbick]

Re: Re:

Anyone else seen that the UCI & ASO have decided to put out a joint statement asking fans to respect the yellow jersey. Why did it take them this long to put it out?

Probably worried about some of idiots up Alpe D'huez on Saturday whne they've had a day on the sauce.

In all seriousness i bet the uci and aso are sh1tting themselves about possible fan behaviour on alp duez

 

[Vasilis]

I don't think Froome looked particularly good today, but I also saw him reaching for his back pocket, so maybe he had a bit of a hunger knock. Still, if this was his bad day, it wasn't so bad for him at all.

 

[Jelantik]

Re: Re:

Bertie put them all to the sword today. Brilliant. He was the strongest rider out of the GT boys. No Giro and he would have won this tour. Those attacks would have stuck.

Froome definitely on the ropes at points. Thomas had to ease up a couple of times when he could have upped the tempo.
Bertie will definitely have another go tomorrow. it could blow the race apart ...they are getting tired, Bertie looks better though.
Depending on how aggressive the racing is tomorrow Froome could lose a bit of time if they have to do a lot of chasing.

I hope Froome does not capitulate. He has rode a great tour so far. I don't want Quintana to win because Froome has one bad day.

Contador has got stronger, but he has been poor for over 2 weeks shipping time on the crosswind stage, Huy, TTT, and the first MTF whereas Froome has been very consistent responding to plenty of attacks and riding a good yellow jersey defense, of course helped by Movistar. Giro is no excuse as I've said all along, he knew by going for the double he risked not being great in this Tour, he had the choice to just focus on this race but chose not too, that's Contadors fault not Froomes.

I still expect Froome to have one more nuclear attack up Alpe D'Huez to finish the Tour in style, although a few of his competitors may be strong enough to react now. When Froome looks in trouble that's usually when he attacks. I hope Contador gets a stage, but Froome doesn't even need to chase him.

I agree, if Bertie wanted to win the tour and looking how he's riding now, He would have won it. But he wanted to do the double and he knows that it was always going to be a tough job and I have no issue with Froome about that, Froome's gone for the tour and so far is looking good. " the first week or so he was super"

Bertie put Froome on the ropes today with those attacks. There was a gap on the last Climb and Movie are closing all the gaps not Froome.

Froome was tired today and struggled, Thomas had to ease up a few times.

I think he will lose time tomorrow if its a fast aggressive race like the last 2 days.

Froome would attack if could like the first week but he can't. 3 minutes to Quintana is still a wee bit worrying.

Right now I want Froome to win as he deserves his victory but if I was a Froome fan I would be a wee bit concerned about tomorrow if the attacks start early.

Froome doesn't need to attack unless he wants to win a stage. Quintana.. even if he is 200%, he can't drop froome, let alone getting back 3 minutes. (unless froome get a bad day). that's the only tactic that Quintana has, waiting for froome to have a bad day.

 

[Afrank]

Re:

Anyone else seen that the UCI & ASO have decided to put out a joint statement asking fans to respect the yellow jersey. Why did it take them this long to put it out?

The video on their social media? It's been posted a couple times I believe.

 

[wwabbit]

Re: Re:

That would be bad news. He should 100% focus on the Tour to ensure no one who isn't a better climber and time trialler than him can win it.

I agree he should swerve Giro, but is there any news on next years Tour? With regards to TT's?

Well, there's no way it will be less suited to Froome than this year's edition, given the lack of ITTs and the presence of a couple of dangerous descents as well as cobbles.

Froome has been pretty *** at ITTs this year. I suspect he has modified his training for this year to be a better climber, sacrificing his ITT capability, because of the way the Tour is

 

[Springveldt]

Re: Re:

I agree, if Bertie wanted to win the tour and looking how he's riding now, He would have won it. But he wanted to do the double and he knows that it was always going to be a tough job and I have no issue with Froome about that, Froome's gone for the tour and so far is looking good. " the first week or so he was super"

Bertie put Froome on the ropes today with those attacks. There was a gap on the last Climb and Movie are closing all the gaps not Froome.

Froome was tired today and struggled, Thomas had to ease up a few times.

I think he will lose time tomorrow if its a fast aggressive race like the last 2 days.

Froome would attack if could like the first week but he can't. 3 minutes to Quintana is still a wee bit worrying.

Right now I want Froome to win as he deserves his victory but if I was a Froome fan I would be a wee bit concerned about tomorrow if the attacks start early.

I'm not sure we are even watching the same race.

Contador didn't put anyone in trouble, when he attacked Quintana was going to follow, had a look at Froome and then let him go. Then when the the attacks started happening, all the main GC guys pulled Contador's group back within a couple of K's.

It's actually in Froome's interest to let Contador go up the road, that way he forces Movistar to do the chasing. If Contandor was in 2nd place I'd bet Froome would have closed him down instantly.

On the last climb it was Nibali that attacked and stretched them all out and Froome did let a bike length appear right at the top but I don't think he was in trouble, he was too busy stem gazing to notice the gap, then accelerated when he looked up.

 

[rick james]

So Bertie has one day with rubbish attacks that come to nothing and now again he is in the best form ever

 

[Kwibus]

Obviously Contador is not in form and he's struggling to tag along.

Unfortunately. I hope he will rest after the TdF and focus on the TdF next year. He's done too much leading up to the TdF. Anyways this is the Froome thread and he's been dominant and smart this tour so far.
Today is his final test. If he survives he bagged it. Tomorrow won't break him for sure.

 

[rick james]

Yip today is mega tough, will be hard for him if we get crazy attacks from the start

 

[Walkman]

Re: Re:

That would be bad news. He should 100% focus on the Tour to ensure no one who isn't a better climber and time trialler than him can win it.

I agree he should swerve Giro, but is there any news on next years Tour? With regards to TT's?

Well, there's no way it will be less suited to Froome than this year's edition, given the lack of ITTs and the presence of a couple of dangerous descents as well as cobbles.

Froome has been pretty *** at ITTs this year. I suspect he has modified his training for this year to be a better climber, sacrificing his ITT capability, because of the way the Tour is

Yet he drove the TTT like a freaking maglev train! I think it's more a case of him not being in that good form earlier in the season. He wanted to come in fresh and peak in the third week and thus took a slower approach this year. My tow cents at least.

 

[pastronef]

very nice
that´s a picture the Clinic and twitter will not like.

 

[SeriousSam]

There seems to be a newfound respect between the two best climbers in the world:

I think we’ve got mutual respect. In particular I respect the way he approaches races and tries to attack at the hardest point, that’s similar to myself and I respect that. He’s young. I’d like to think he’s doing everything right and that he’s got a bright future ahead of him.”

Perhaps this encouraging friendship can be developed into an Anglo-Saxo/Latin alliance, in the unlikely event Nibali or Contador happen to be leading a GT they both contest in the future? Only time will tell.

 

[LaFlorecita]

very nice
that´s a picture the Clinic and twitter will not like.

Why?