Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[lenric]

Je ne crois pas.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

Because of the Olympics, Froome trained more his TT in the beginning of the season, hence his lower dominance in the mountains.
Next year things will be different and unless his physical capacity diminishes, I believe we're going to see something similar to last year.

Nah, he will be much better in time trials than 2015. Nobody even cared for training that aspect of their game due the TdF-route. I expect him to be very close to his 2016 in time trials again, obviously depending on route, but lets assume 40-50 km of ITT.

In la Vuelta he had a mistake calculating at the star, he started above his posibilities, other way he would have been second.

 

[Oliwright]

Re:

he will not get an easier tour than 2016
i don't think he will have a better chance than this to do the double

To call it easy is a joke.
Froome was the best rider in the race. Nothing easy about it, he's just significantly better than everyone else.

 

[Oliwright]

People forget that he is still the best climber in GT's in the world.
He's been the best climber since 2012. Quintana is getting close, but Froome is still better.

 

[SeriousSam]

"I'm always open to anything. I wouldn't write (the Giro) off. But I think mostly important it's about seeing what route organisers go with and see what takes my fancy," Froome said in a statement on his Team Sky website.

Let's hope not. Winning the Giro should wait until he's declining, or if circumstances (team not being invited, coming back from a ban, etc) were to force participation.

 

[Matteo.]

seeing what he did this year, at the time like quitana, he is the only one who can run Giro-Tour at high levels.
What is certain is the weather unknown is a factor to be taken into account if he choose Giro

 

[MikeTichondrius]

"I'm always open to anything. I wouldn't write (the Giro) off. But I think mostly important it's about seeing what route organisers go with and see what takes my fancy," Froome said in a statement on his Team Sky website.

Let's hope not. Winning the Giro should wait until he's declining, or if circumstances (team not being invited, coming back from a ban, etc) were to force participation.

He'd be solidifying his status as the post-Contador GT dominating force IMO. Suppose he skips the TDF and goes for the Giro-Vuelta double, wins both and completes his GT slam. I know the TDF is the juiciest of prizes due to recognition. But he'd do well for himself to join a very, very exclusive club like that...To be mentioned alongside the likes of Hinault and Merckx.

 

[DBotero]

"I'm always open to anything. I wouldn't write (the Giro) off. But I think mostly important it's about seeing what route organisers go with and see what takes my fancy," Froome said in a statement on his Team Sky website.

Let's hope not. Winning the Giro should wait until he's declining, or if circumstances (team not being invited, coming back from a ban, etc) were to force participation.

That's PR stuff.It's all about the TDF and maybe Vuelta again.It would be a dumb idea to ride Giro now when he's still on the top of his game.Later when he's less competitive he might try it,but i doubt it.The Vuelta weather vs the Giro weather,easy choice for him.

 

[Jagartrott]

He's been the best climber since 2012. Quintana is getting close, but Froome is still better.

Quintana was the best climber of this year's Vuelta after doing the Tour & the best climber in the second half of the 2015 Tour. I fail to see why Froome would still be the better climber.

 

[JRanton]

Re:

One rider missing who could have saved Froome on Formigal or made a difference today was Kwiatkowski

Yup, he would have been the ideal rider to close the gap. Great descender and can put out enormous power in a 2-3 minute effort. Rather sums up Kwiato's first season at Sky that he was missing in action again. He'll have to at least show consistency in the early season stage races next season if he is to make the Tour squad. Froome apparently likes him, which is lucky considering he has bailed out on Froome in every race he's done with him (Romandie, Dauphine, Vuelta). He looked like arguably the biggest talent in the peloton after his 2014 season so hopefully he gets his *** together next year.

 

[dacooley]

they are pretty even or quintana is marginally better.

 

[JRanton]

Re: Re:

One rider missing who could have saved Froome on Formigal or made a difference today was Kwiatkowski

I think Landa and Roche were sorely missed to be honest.

Landa in form, yes, which he hasn't been for most of this year. Roche is normally very good at the Vuelta and is very good tactically, so he was definitely a big miss.

 

[JRanton]

Yes, second place is not good ...

Great season for the Dawg. And classy in defeat,which should earn him more fans. I hope that Quintana cured what I perceive as an inferiority complex, so we can expect a great rivalry in the years to come. Only Sky's best line up is truly dominant, it seems. Can Movistar match it? What/who would it take?

Congrats, Chris. Great '16 vintage.

Sky's Tour teams aside from 2012 and 2016 haven't been that great. Movistar have better depth than Sky in GC support but Sky's A team is probably marginally better.

 

[JRanton]

It's upsetting to think that Froome is still one behind Nibali in grand tour wins when the difference in their ability as Grand Tour riders is enormous.

 

[JRanton]

Re:

A fantastic season, he set out to stay competitive from the Tour through Rio and in to the Vuelta and he more than did that. He was one of the few GC guys that actually tried something courageous in France.

A 1st-2nd in back to back GT's is a very good achievement, even if the Tour-Vuelta is the easier double to do. Add an Olympic medal in to that and its one of the best seasons in recent history.

Also liked his mark of respect to Quintana at the end, a very nice gesture that shows he is actually a decent guy who appreciates the sport and competition.

He deserves a well earned rest now and all thoughts begin to turn to the fight for a 4th Tour win, although personally one year I'd love him to do a Giro-Vuelta season.

We already knew he was a decent guy before this gesture. In the UK he gets hate because he apparently disrespected Wiggins by daring to leave his side for 20 seconds of a three week race. Everyone forgets that Wiggins had already cost Froome a grand tour and was a complete *** to Froome on that race when they were roommates. The very least Wiggins deserved was to be shown that he wasn't the strongest climber in the race.

 

[deValtos]

It's upsetting to think that Froome is still one behind Nibali in grand tour wins when the difference in their ability as Grand Tour riders is enormous.

Menchov has won more GT's than both Ullrich and Pantani yet I think the later two have a much bigger place in the history of the sport. It's not all about the wins.

 

[silvergrenade]

It's upsetting to think that Froome is still one behind Nibali in grand tour wins when the difference in their ability as Grand Tour riders is enormous.

I dont think Nibali can add to his TdF victories, if Froome, Quintana keep riding the tour. Only thing he can do is go to the Giro and enjoy more victories since the Big 3 are gonna ride the Tour.

But I also believe that the only rider in this era who can win the Giro-Tour Double is Froome.

 

[silvergrenade]

It's upsetting to think that Froome is still one behind Nibali in grand tour wins when the difference in their ability as Grand Tour riders is enormous.

Menchov has won more GT's than both Ullrich and Pantani yet I think the later two have a much bigger place in the history of the sport. It's not all about the wins.

200 years from now I think the wins would start mattering more IMO.

 

[Poursuivant]

Re: Re:

A fantastic season, he set out to stay competitive from the Tour through Rio and in to the Vuelta and he more than did that. He was one of the few GC guys that actually tried something courageous in France.

A 1st-2nd in back to back GT's is a very good achievement, even if the Tour-Vuelta is the easier double to do. Add an Olympic medal in to that and its one of the best seasons in recent history.

Also liked his mark of respect to Quintana at the end, a very nice gesture that shows he is actually a decent guy who appreciates the sport and competition.

He deserves a well earned rest now and all thoughts begin to turn to the fight for a 4th Tour win, although personally one year I'd love him to do a Giro-Vuelta season.

We already knew he was a decent guy before this gesture. In the UK he gets hate because he apparently disrespected Wiggins by daring to leave his side for 20 seconds of a three week race. Everyone forgets that Wiggins had already cost Froome a grand tour and was a complete **** to Froome on that race when they were roommates. The very least Wiggins deserved was to be shown that he wasn't the strongest climber in the race.

I don't think he really gets any hate in the UK to be honest. He doesn't have the media spotlight someone like Wiggins has because he wasn't brought up in UK, and he has a completely different personality. Which isn't a bad thing.

 

[Poursuivant]

Re: Re:

Because of the Olympics, Froome trained more his TT in the beginning of the season, hence his lower dominance in the mountains.
Next year things will be different and unless his physical capacity diminishes, I believe we're going to see something similar to last year.

Nah, he will be much better in time trials than 2015. Nobody even cared for training that aspect of their game due the TdF-route. I expect him to be very close to his 2016 in time trials again, obviously depending on route, but lets assume 40-50 km of ITT.

Well the first stage is 13km of ITT, and apparently flat, but after that I just can't see ASO putting that much flat TT in. I think there will be 1 rolling/climbing TT, set for Quintana to limit his losses. The ironic thing is: if there was a flat TT, it would ensure Quintana attacked more and not wait for a specific stage as we have seen he tends to do sometimes.

 

[Angliru]

Re:

re: Froome 2016 = Pantani 1998

for start, nobody takes serious the 5 consecutive Champions Cup Real Madrid won 50 years ago. Imagine today someone winning 5 consecutive Champions League. Impossible.

so in the past winning was much much easier. no global competition , no money, no media.

this is the first reason i think Froome 2016 = Pantani 1998

the 2nd reason is the competition they faced. I think Pantani got a good period , with Indurain declining and Armstrong yet to appear. Froome competes in what is probably the heaviest GC field ever.

3rd reason is that Froome 2016 has more wins, has a Dauphine win and a longer period of being competitive at top level.

that's enough for me

Just no. 2 victories tops a victory, a distant 3rd and a 2nd place in my book. Additionally cycling has a very long history so to say that Froome is facing "probably the heaviest GC field ever" is IMO a statement made in haste without the slightest bit of research to see if it has any validity.

 

[PremierAndrew]

If Froome had got 2nd at the Giro and 1st at the Tour instead along with his ITT bronze, maybe there would be an argument to say CF 2016 = Pantani 98. But he did it at Tour-Vuelta. Alternatively, you could argue it if Formigal hadn't happened, but again, it did.

 

[deValtos]

It's upsetting to think that Froome is still one behind Nibali in grand tour wins when the difference in their ability as Grand Tour riders is enormous.

Menchov has won more GT's than both Ullrich and Pantani yet I think the later two have a much bigger place in the history of the sport. It's not all about the wins.

200 years from now I think the wins would start mattering more IMO.

I think the opposite is more likely to happen. Unless you are the guy who has the won the most GT's or the most Tours or most Giros etc no one 200 years from now will be interested in a random person who has won a few GT's. Only thing that will get remember are stories or events. I never saw any race before 2000 or so but I know about Lemond and Fignon because of the really close finish and the tri bars. I know also the 1994 fleche wallone story because of how the race was ridden. Pantani the pirate and his fast climbs and subsequent death and scandal means he has an interesting story. The story about the guy who had to weld his bike together on the tourmalet gets told pretty much every TDF on eurosport.

Froome is doing ok so far by running up a mountain and practicing yoyos and his interesting style on the bike.

But I'm sure it's stories and events that get remembered in the long run because those are things you can talk about. There's nothing to say about a faceless name who won 4GT's in a generation you never grew up in. It's just a statistic really.

 

[lartiste]

It's upsetting to think that Froome is still one behind Nibali in grand tour wins when the difference in their ability as Grand Tour riders is enormous.

Menchov has won more GT's than both Ullrich and Pantani yet I think the later two have a much bigger place in the history of the sport. It's not all about the wins.

200 years from now I think the wins would start mattering more IMO.

I think the opposite is more likely to happen. Unless you are the guy who has the won the most GT's or the most Tours or most Giros etc no one 200 years from now will be interested in a random person who has won a few GT's. Only thing that will get remember are stories or events. I never saw any race before 2000 or so but I know about Lemond and Fignon because of the really close finish and the tri bars. I know also the 1994 fleche wallone story because of how the race was ridden. Pantani the pirate and his fast climbs and subsequent death and scandal means he has an interesting story. The story about the guy who had to weld his bike together on the tourmalet gets told pretty much every TDF on eurosport.

Froome is doing ok so far by running up a mountain and practicing yoyos and his interesting style on the bike.

But I'm sure it's stories and events that get remembered in the long run because those are things you can talk about. There's nothing to say about a faceless name who won 4GT's in a generation you never grew up in. It's just a statistic really.

There is a story, the first guy in yellow running up Mount Ventoux :lol: .

 

[rick james]

Well just back from a months holiday from on here...very good season for the Dawg...it would be fun if the Giro does throw him a bone