Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

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Is Froome over the hill?

  • Yes.

    Votes: 42 34.4%
  • No, the GC finished 40 minutes ago but Froomie is still climbing it

    Votes: 65 53.3%
  • No he is totally winning the Vuelta

    Votes: 28 23.0%

  • Total voters
    122
Mar 24, 2015
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movingtarget said:
Froome is the best GT rider in the world. Contador was the best. I would say that using Froome as the benchmark is sensible. Contador has not podiumed a Tour since 2010. Nibali has won one Tour and beat two French guys who have done nothing of note since in a GT. Quintana has not won a Tour. The Tour usually has the best field, the most pressure and is the race all GC riders want to win. Anyone who thinks the Vuelta or Giro are higher quality races is delusional. The racing itself might be more exciting and the races may end up being a better battle sometimes and the routes more interesting but that doesn't mean Froome's performance and the people he beats are overrated. He is beating the best anyway. If riders think they can win the Tour they ride the Tour, if they think the course is a not a good one for them or that they can't win the Tour they ride the other two. I guess real racing only happens when Froome is not around ? But in the first week of this year's Tour he was the only one attacking. I guess if it was another rider attacking with Sagan or riding off the front on a descent that would be great racing. Over the last five years I would say the Vuelta has been the most entertaining race of the three and Froome likes racing in it even though he hasn't won it.

Correction.

Froome is the best (current) TdF rider in the world. Fact. That's all we can say.

Btw, going for 4, 5 TdF is the most boring thing that can be conceived.
Unfortunately we all know that what counts is only money.

And just to say, unless he wins 7 Tours (which I think he will never), he's not gonna leave any real mark in cycling history.

Winning all 3 GTs has much more value in cycling historty than winning 3-4-5 Tours alone, imho.

Nibali and Contador are both better in this regard.

Personal opinion, obviously.
 
Feb 10, 2015
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Re: Re:

movingtarget said:
dacooley said:
suchlike disputes increasingly resemble confrontation of 2 fans ideologies. those who really love Bertie and Nibs are always willing to belittle sky (froome). froome suxx, froome will never ever win something, froome is a shame of cycling, unlike Bertie and Nairito he's unable to do any gt doubles (though, he has the best showing in 2 consecutive gts for the last decade), tour is massively overrated (surely because froome and sky take it), while giro and vuelta is a home of real racing, a space where fitting cycling still lives... the list of these judgements can be easily extended. it's all down to something like 'I wholeheartedly welcome any race winner if he defeats froome'. hilarious stuff and amazing reading. keep it up with great job guys. :p

Froome is the best GT rider in the world. Contador was the best. I would say that using Froome as the benchmark is sensible. Contador has not podiumed a Tour since 2010. Nibali has won one Tour and beat two French guys who have done nothing of note since in a GT. Quintana has not won a Tour. The Tour usually has the best field, the most pressure and is the race all GC riders want to win. Anyone who thinks the Vuelta or Giro are higher quality races is delusional. The racing itself might be more exciting and the races may end up being a better battle sometimes and the routes more interesting but that doesn't mean Froome's performance and the people he beats are overrated. He is beating the best anyway. If riders think they can win the Tour they ride the Tour, if they think the course is a not a good one for them or that they can't win the Tour they ride the other two. I guess real racing only happens when Froome is not around ? But in the first week of this year's Tour he was the only one attacking. I guess if it was another rider attacking with Sagan or riding off the front on a descent that would be great racing. Over the last five years I would say the Vuelta has been the most entertaining race of the three and Froome likes racing in it even though he hasn't won it.
He was the only one to make a difference between GC riders but others attacked - Henao, Martin, Mollema, Bardet, Porte somehow.
 
Oct 16, 2012
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huge said:
movingtarget said:
Froome is the best GT rider in the world. Contador was the best. I would say that using Froome as the benchmark is sensible. Contador has not podiumed a Tour since 2010. Nibali has won one Tour and beat two French guys who have done nothing of note since in a GT. Quintana has not won a Tour. The Tour usually has the best field, the most pressure and is the race all GC riders want to win. Anyone who thinks the Vuelta or Giro are higher quality races is delusional. The racing itself might be more exciting and the races may end up being a better battle sometimes and the routes more interesting but that doesn't mean Froome's performance and the people he beats are overrated. He is beating the best anyway. If riders think they can win the Tour they ride the Tour, if they think the course is a not a good one for them or that they can't win the Tour they ride the other two. I guess real racing only happens when Froome is not around ? But in the first week of this year's Tour he was the only one attacking. I guess if it was another rider attacking with Sagan or riding off the front on a descent that would be great racing. Over the last five years I would say the Vuelta has been the most entertaining race of the three and Froome likes racing in it even though he hasn't won it.

Correction.

Froome is the best (current) TdF rider in the world. Fact. That's all we can say.

Btw, going for 4, 5 TdF is the most boring thing that can be conceived.
Unfortunately we all know that what counts is only money.

And just to say, unless he wins 7 Tours (which I think he will never), he's not gonna leave any real mark in cycling history.

Winning all 3 GTs has much more value in cycling historty than winning 3-4-5 Tours alone, imho.

Nibali and Contador are both better in this regard.

Personal opinion, obviously.


Just as well you put in your opinion (twice) because by any objective definition it is wrong.
 
Mar 23, 2010
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Re: Re:

huge said:
movingtarget said:
Froome is the best GT rider in the world. Contador was the best. I would say that using Froome as the benchmark is sensible. Contador has not podiumed a Tour since 2010. Nibali has won one Tour and beat two French guys who have done nothing of note since in a GT. Quintana has not won a Tour. The Tour usually has the best field, the most pressure and is the race all GC riders want to win. Anyone who thinks the Vuelta or Giro are higher quality races is delusional. The racing itself might be more exciting and the races may end up being a better battle sometimes and the routes more interesting but that doesn't mean Froome's performance and the people he beats are overrated. He is beating the best anyway. If riders think they can win the Tour they ride the Tour, if they think the course is a not a good one for them or that they can't win the Tour they ride the other two. I guess real racing only happens when Froome is not around ? But in the first week of this year's Tour he was the only one attacking. I guess if it was another rider attacking with Sagan or riding off the front on a descent that would be great racing. Over the last five years I would say the Vuelta has been the most entertaining race of the three and Froome likes racing in it even though he hasn't won it.

Correction.

Froome is the best (current) TdF rider in the world. Fact. That's all we can say.

Btw, going for 4, 5 TdF is the most boring thing that can be conceived.
Unfortunately we all know that what counts is only money.

And just to say, unless he wins 7 Tours (which I think he will never), he's not gonna leave any real mark in cycling history.

Winning all 3 GTs has much more value in cycling historty than winning 3-4-5 Tours alone, imho.

Nibali and Contador are both better in this regard.

Personal opinion, obviously.

100% trolling there is no way anybody believe this.
 
Feb 20, 2012
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myrideissteelerthanyours said:
huge said:
movingtarget said:
Froome is the best GT rider in the world. Contador was the best. I would say that using Froome as the benchmark is sensible. Contador has not podiumed a Tour since 2010. Nibali has won one Tour and beat two French guys who have done nothing of note since in a GT. Quintana has not won a Tour. The Tour usually has the best field, the most pressure and is the race all GC riders want to win. Anyone who thinks the Vuelta or Giro are higher quality races is delusional. The racing itself might be more exciting and the races may end up being a better battle sometimes and the routes more interesting but that doesn't mean Froome's performance and the people he beats are overrated. He is beating the best anyway. If riders think they can win the Tour they ride the Tour, if they think the course is a not a good one for them or that they can't win the Tour they ride the other two. I guess real racing only happens when Froome is not around ? But in the first week of this year's Tour he was the only one attacking. I guess if it was another rider attacking with Sagan or riding off the front on a descent that would be great racing. Over the last five years I would say the Vuelta has been the most entertaining race of the three and Froome likes racing in it even though he hasn't won it.

Correction.

Froome is the best (current) TdF rider in the world. Fact. That's all we can say.

Btw, going for 4, 5 TdF is the most boring thing that can be conceived.
Unfortunately we all know that what counts is only money.

And just to say, unless he wins 7 Tours (which I think he will never), he's not gonna leave any real mark in cycling history.

Winning all 3 GTs has much more value in cycling historty than winning 3-4-5 Tours alone, imho.

Nibali and Contador are both better in this regard.

Personal opinion, obviously.

100% trolling there is no way anybody believe this.

It's an opinion. Stating your own opinion as a fact doesn't change this, and it's a matter of agreeing and disagreeing, and in fact I do agree with most of what he says, so the 'no way anyone believe this' is already incorrect.
 
Mar 31, 2015
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Re: Re:

del1962 said:
huge said:
movingtarget said:
Froome is the best GT rider in the world. Contador was the best. I would say that using Froome as the benchmark is sensible. Contador has not podiumed a Tour since 2010. Nibali has won one Tour and beat two French guys who have done nothing of note since in a GT. Quintana has not won a Tour. The Tour usually has the best field, the most pressure and is the race all GC riders want to win. Anyone who thinks the Vuelta or Giro are higher quality races is delusional. The racing itself might be more exciting and the races may end up being a better battle sometimes and the routes more interesting but that doesn't mean Froome's performance and the people he beats are overrated. He is beating the best anyway. If riders think they can win the Tour they ride the Tour, if they think the course is a not a good one for them or that they can't win the Tour they ride the other two. I guess real racing only happens when Froome is not around ? But in the first week of this year's Tour he was the only one attacking. I guess if it was another rider attacking with Sagan or riding off the front on a descent that would be great racing. Over the last five years I would say the Vuelta has been the most entertaining race of the three and Froome likes racing in it even though he hasn't won it.

Correction.

Froome is the best (current) TdF rider in the world. Fact. That's all we can say.

Btw, going for 4, 5 TdF is the most boring thing that can be conceived.
Unfortunately we all know that what counts is only money.

And just to say, unless he wins 7 Tours (which I think he will never), he's not gonna leave any real mark in cycling history.

Winning all 3 GTs has much more value in cycling historty than winning 3-4-5 Tours alone, imho.

Nibali and Contador are both better in this regard.

Personal opinion, obviously.


Just as well you put in your opinion (twice) because by any objective definition it is wrong.
Ok.
Louis Bobet or Felice Gimondi?

Even this is a bad example because Bobet achieved much more in cycling than 3 Tours.
 
Aug 5, 2009
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Re: Re:

Alexandre B. said:
movingtarget said:
dacooley said:
suchlike disputes increasingly resemble confrontation of 2 fans ideologies. those who really love Bertie and Nibs are always willing to belittle sky (froome). froome suxx, froome will never ever win something, froome is a shame of cycling, unlike Bertie and Nairito he's unable to do any gt doubles (though, he has the best showing in 2 consecutive gts for the last decade), tour is massively overrated (surely because froome and sky take it), while giro and vuelta is a home of real racing, a space where fitting cycling still lives... the list of these judgements can be easily extended. it's all down to something like 'I wholeheartedly welcome any race winner if he defeats froome'. hilarious stuff and amazing reading. keep it up with great job guys. :p

Froome is the best GT rider in the world. Contador was the best. I would say that using Froome as the benchmark is sensible. Contador has not podiumed a Tour since 2010. Nibali has won one Tour and beat two French guys who have done nothing of note since in a GT. Quintana has not won a Tour. The Tour usually has the best field, the most pressure and is the race all GC riders want to win. Anyone who thinks the Vuelta or Giro are higher quality races is delusional. The racing itself might be more exciting and the races may end up being a better battle sometimes and the routes more interesting but that doesn't mean Froome's performance and the people he beats are overrated. He is beating the best anyway. If riders think they can win the Tour they ride the Tour, if they think the course is a not a good one for them or that they can't win the Tour they ride the other two. I guess real racing only happens when Froome is not around ? But in the first week of this year's Tour he was the only one attacking. I guess if it was another rider attacking with Sagan or riding off the front on a descent that would be great racing. Over the last five years I would say the Vuelta has been the most entertaining race of the three and Froome likes racing in it even though he hasn't won it.
He was the only one to make a difference between GC riders but others attacked - Henao, Martin, Mollema, Bardet, Porte somehow.

Until the Ventoux stage I don't remember those guys attacking. I said in the first week. Maybe my mind is playing tricks ! Froome's were the only ones that stuck in the first week and then the Ventoux mess happened.
 
Aug 5, 2009
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huge said:
movingtarget said:
Froome is the best GT rider in the world. Contador was the best. I would say that using Froome as the benchmark is sensible. Contador has not podiumed a Tour since 2010. Nibali has won one Tour and beat two French guys who have done nothing of note since in a GT. Quintana has not won a Tour. The Tour usually has the best field, the most pressure and is the race all GC riders want to win. Anyone who thinks the Vuelta or Giro are higher quality races is delusional. The racing itself might be more exciting and the races may end up being a better battle sometimes and the routes more interesting but that doesn't mean Froome's performance and the people he beats are overrated. He is beating the best anyway. If riders think they can win the Tour they ride the Tour, if they think the course is a not a good one for them or that they can't win the Tour they ride the other two. I guess real racing only happens when Froome is not around ? But in the first week of this year's Tour he was the only one attacking. I guess if it was another rider attacking with Sagan or riding off the front on a descent that would be great racing. Over the last five years I would say the Vuelta has been the most entertaining race of the three and Froome likes racing in it even though he hasn't won it.

Correction.

Froome is the best (current) TdF rider in the world. Fact. That's all we can say.

Btw, going for 4, 5 TdF is the most boring thing that can be conceived.
Unfortunately we all know that what counts is only money.

And just to say, unless he wins 7 Tours (which I think he will never), he's not gonna leave any real mark in cycling history.

Winning all 3 GTs has much more value in cycling historty than winning 3-4-5 Tours alone, imho.

Nibali and Contador are both better in this regard.

Personal opinion, obviously.

When I say Froome is the best you can assume I mean now if I'm using the present tense. I never said of all time or any of that nonsense. No one approaches Eddy Merckx's record as the greatest road cyclist of all time across all types of races anyway. I agree that Nibali and Contador have very good records. By winning three Tours and making podiums in the Vuelta and a second in the Tour to Wiggins, Froome has already left his mark on cycling history.
 
Feb 10, 2015
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Stage 5 - Bardet attacked before the last summit and was followed by Valverde, Quintana and Pinot. Sky managed to close the gap.
Stage 8 - There were numerous attacks in the Peyresourde (Henao, Martin, Bardet, Froome himself). The latter only managed to get a gap by attacking right after the summit. There was great homogeneity between twelve-thirteen GC riders.
Stage 9 - Froome attacked with the Maillot Jaune, then Martin, Mollema and Porte all tried something. Again, great homogeneity between GC guys despite bigger - but slight - gaps.

There was footage of those stages in YouTube but ASO stupidly brought them down.
 
Aug 5, 2009
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Gigs_98 said:
dacooley said:
suchlike disputes increasingly resemble confrontation of 2 fans ideologies. those who really love Bertie and Nibs are always willing to belittle sky (froome). froome suxx, froome will never ever win something, froome is a shame of cycling, unlike Bertie and Nairito he's unable to do any gt doubles (though, he has the best showing in 2 consecutive gts for the last decade), tour is massively overrated (surely because froome and sky take it), while giro and vuelta is a home of real racing, a space where fitting cycling still lives... the list of these judgements can be easily extended. it's all down to something like 'I wholeheartedly welcome any race winner if he defeats froome'. hilarious stuff and amazing reading. keep it up with great job guys. :p
Seriously, who says all that? There were people who said that he probably can't do doubles and people who said froome doesn't attack, but froome showed that these people are wrong and since he did so nobody said anything like that.

@movingtarget
Saying froome would have beaten nibali easily in 2014 because peraud was 2nd is nonsensical. It's not like peraud didn't beat any other good gc riders and like it really was a fight between peraud and Nibali. Pretty sure nibali could have won the tour by 10 minutes if he wanted to.

What I'm saying is that the two French riders have never performed against Froome. Nibali looked like he was on a training ride I agree and he had a good lead already on Froome and Contador so he would not have been easy to catch but the mountains would have changed everything and it was a shame we did not see what looked like being a classic battle between three really good riders. Nibali was certainly dominant and it's hard to say what might have happened without the crashes. Nibali would have been under severe attack in the mountains but whether he would have cracked bad enough to lose the race is hard to say. As usual a lot of what if's.I think it's also a case of three or four top level GT riders if you include Quintana now and the rest back in the pack even though Bardet has also shown improvement. It's rare to get them all together and performing well and 2014 was a miss for cycling fans but not so much for Nibali fans. It's also going to be interesting to see how the Yates brothers and Chaves progress. Chaves had a breakthrough year this year. Uran does not seem to be able to reach his previous level anymore. Not sure why after two Giro podiums. Pinot might end up being an eternal top five type rider like Gesink used to be, but he is still young and has time to improve. But in the Tour it's Froome they all have to catch.
 
Aug 5, 2009
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Re:

Alexandre B. said:
Stage 5 - Bardet attacked before the last summit and was followed by Valverde, Quintana and Pinot. Sky managed to close the gap.
Stage 8 - There were numerous attacks in the Peyresourde (Henao, Martin, Bardet, Froome himself). The latter only managed to get a gap by attacking right after the summit. There was great homogeneity between twelve-thirteen GC riders.
Stage 9 - Froome attacked with the Maillot Jaune, then Martin, Mollema and Porte all tried something. Again, great homogeneity between GC guys despite bigger - but slight - gaps.

There was footage of those stages in YouTube but ASO stupidly brought them down.

Okay I forgot about stage 5 and I remember the stage 8 attacks before the attack on the descent and of course the Ventoux which I mistakenly thought was stage 7. I notice that the ASO have been pretty strict in You Tube even with old Tours which is disappointing. The sports bodies seem to be stricter than even the movie studios ! But I guess there is a point to be made about copyright and there is too much plagiarism and copyright breaches already.
 
Aug 3, 2015
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Re:

Alexandre B. said:
Stage 5 - Bardet attacked before the last summit and was followed by Valverde, Quintana and Pinot. Sky managed to close the gap.
Stage 8 - There were numerous attacks in the Peyresourde (Henao, Martin, Bardet, Froome himself). The latter only managed to get a gap by attacking right after the summit. There was great homogeneity between twelve-thirteen GC riders.
Stage 9 - Froome attacked with the Maillot Jaune, then Martin, Mollema and Porte all tried something. Again, great homogeneity between GC guys despite bigger - but slight - gaps.

There was footage of those stages in YouTube but ASO stupidly brought them down.
I'd normally agree with you here, but the Tour 2016 honestly wasn't good exposure of the race.
 
Feb 20, 2012
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Valv.Piti said:
Alexandre B. said:
Stage 5 - Bardet attacked before the last summit and was followed by Valverde, Quintana and Pinot. Sky managed to close the gap.
Stage 8 - There were numerous attacks in the Peyresourde (Henao, Martin, Bardet, Froome himself). The latter only managed to get a gap by attacking right after the summit. There was great homogeneity between twelve-thirteen GC riders.
Stage 9 - Froome attacked with the Maillot Jaune, then Martin, Mollema and Porte all tried something. Again, great homogeneity between GC guys despite bigger - but slight - gaps.

There was footage of those stages in YouTube but ASO stupidly brought them down.
I'd normally agree with you here, but the Tour 2016 honestly wasn't good exposure of the race.
Strangely I think the 2012 Tour and the first 2 weeks of the 2011 Tour are online. I don't know what ASO are doing, but then again, it seems they don't know either
 
Mar 24, 2015
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del1962 said:
Just as well you put in your opinion (twice) because by any objective definition it is wrong.

You might agree or disagree, but there is not such a thing as an "objective definition"... it's all about opinions.

As I said, that's my opinion. I rate more a rider that has won 3 different GTs than one that has won 3 times the same.
It's not about applying a math formula according to which Tdf >= any GT... it's about a rider willing to test himself on different terrains, risking it and succeeding.
 
Feb 24, 2014
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Re: Re:

huge said:
del1962 said:
Just as well you put in your opinion (twice) because by any objective definition it is wrong.

You might agree or disagree, but there is not such a thing as an "objective definition"... it's all about opinions.

As I said, that's my opinion. I rate more a rider that has won 3 different GTs than one that has won 3 times the same.
It's not about applying a math formula according to which Tdf >= any GT... it's about a rider willing to test himself on different terrains, risking it and succeeding.
Tour de France 2015 and 2016 have covered, about, every terrain modern road bicycle can be raced on.
Maybe sterrato scares Froome, 'cause I doubt he's afraid of any cyclist there.
 
Aug 5, 2009
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CTQ said:
http://tiz-cycling.racing/

you can watch all the stages of the 3 GTs , 2015 and 2016 on this website. also, a lot of stages races, classics and other races

Good one. Thanks for that.
 
Dec 30, 2009
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Oh michty me, you scratch a scab and all...my moderation was fair if boring but I stepped up when it was needed. I despise Froome and Sky and every thing they stand for and what they have done to racing. Not going go into a huge diatribe why that's the case, like some to make a point that they could make in 2 sentences, but if that is what you get off on fair do's to you., Anyone with half a brain knows 3 GTs across the board is something that will go down in history, as will Froome's single TDF wins. When you can win multi GTs across the board, including 3 TDFs that will be something to be remembered.
 
Mar 24, 2015
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sir fly said:
huge said:
del1962 said:
Just as well you put in your opinion (twice) because by any objective definition it is wrong.

You might agree or disagree, but there is not such a thing as an "objective definition"... it's all about opinions.

As I said, that's my opinion. I rate more a rider that has won 3 different GTs than one that has won 3 times the same.
It's not about applying a math formula according to which Tdf >= any GT... it's about a rider willing to test himself on different terrains, risking it and succeeding.
Tour de France 2015 and 2016 have covered, about, every terrain modern road bicycle can be raced on.
Maybe sterrato scares Froome, 'cause I doubt he's afraid of any cyclist there.

Probably I chose the wrong words. When I said different terrains I didn't mean it literally as different road surfaces :razz:

I meant different type of races. We all know that a Giro or a Vuelta are very different from a Tour. The way they are raced is different, both because the routes are often conceived in a different way and beacuse of the way teams approach the stages. That's what I meant for different terrains. Definitely not as road surfaces ;)

Speaking about racing skills, how do you think Froome would performe without a strong team backing him up such as Team Sky? Clearly any rider without a strong team to protect him would struggle at times... but how would you rank Froome? Not that we had many examples of him having to manage the race all by himself.

As an example we know that Contador is a master in that regard. Notably during his Giro win in 2015.
 
Sep 9, 2012
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Re:

ferryman said:
Not going go into a huge diatribe why that's the case, like some to make a point that they could make in 2 sentences.

This should be a forum rule.
 
Feb 24, 2014
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Re: Re:

huge said:
sir fly said:
huge said:
del1962 said:
Just as well you put in your opinion (twice) because by any objective definition it is wrong.

You might agree or disagree, but there is not such a thing as an "objective definition"... it's all about opinions.

As I said, that's my opinion. I rate more a rider that has won 3 different GTs than one that has won 3 times the same.
It's not about applying a math formula according to which Tdf >= any GT... it's about a rider willing to test himself on different terrains, risking it and succeeding.
Tour de France 2015 and 2016 have covered, about, every terrain modern road bicycle can be raced on.
Maybe sterrato scares Froome, 'cause I doubt he's afraid of any cyclist there.

Probably I chose the wrong words. When I said different terrains I didn't mean it literally as different road surfaces :razz:

I meant different type of races. We all know that a Giro or a Vuelta are very different from a Tour. The way they are raced is different, both because the routes are often conceived in a different way and beacuse of the way teams approach the stages. That's what I meant for different terrains. Definitely not as road surfaces ;)

Speaking about racing skills, how do you think Froome would performe without a strong team backing him up such as Team Sky? Clearly any rider without a strong team to protect him would struggle at times... but how would you rank Froome? Not that we had many examples of him having to manage the race all by himself.

As an example we know that Contador is a master in that regard. Notably during his Giro win in 2015.
He's the best time trialist among GT contenders.
Flat, rolling, uphill, short, mid-length, long...
 
Aug 5, 2009
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Re: Re:

sir fly said:
huge said:
sir fly said:
huge said:
del1962 said:
Just as well you put in your opinion (twice) because by any objective definition it is wrong.

You might agree or disagree, but there is not such a thing as an "objective definition"... it's all about opinions.

As I said, that's my opinion. I rate more a rider that has won 3 different GTs than one that has won 3 times the same.
It's not about applying a math formula according to which Tdf >= any GT... it's about a rider willing to test himself on different terrains, risking it and succeeding.
Tour de France 2015 and 2016 have covered, about, every terrain modern road bicycle can be raced on.
Maybe sterrato scares Froome, 'cause I doubt he's afraid of any cyclist there.

Probably I chose the wrong words. When I said different terrains I didn't mean it literally as different road surfaces :razz:

I meant different type of races. We all know that a Giro or a Vuelta are very different from a Tour. The way they are raced is different, both because the routes are often conceived in a different way and beacuse of the way teams approach the stages. That's what I meant for different terrains. Definitely not as road surfaces ;)

Speaking about racing skills, how do you think Froome would performe without a strong team backing him up such as Team Sky? Clearly any rider without a strong team to protect him would struggle at times... but how would you rank Froome? Not that we had many examples of him having to manage the race all by himself.

As an example we know that Contador is a master in that regard. Notably during his Giro win in 2015.
He's the best time trialist among GT contenders.
Flat, rolling, uphill, short, mid-length, long...

Contador even now is the more aggressive but these days the attacks don't work as much as before or he pays for them later. Most of Froome's attacks are on stages where he is expected to attack but then in the 2016 Tour he did attack a few times where it wasn't expected. Contador has always taken risks to win races while Froome has a more controlled type of aggression and makes full use of his team. Contador's team in the Tour was a shambles but in previous teams he was definitely helped by the team even if on some stages he went off script as he tends to do. Nibali's team tend to work more in the direction of Sky and sometimes will try and break up or put pressure on the GC riders before the final climb is reached. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Not as controlled as Sky who remind me more of US Postal. Use up everyone in the the team and let the leader loose on the final climb. It's not easy to do over three weeks but luckily those teams were loaded with talent and if one rider has an off day someone else will fill the gap. Most of the time when Froome is in trouble he will have a Sky rider with him.
 
Jun 13, 2016
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movingtarget said:
Contador even now is the more aggressive but these days the attacks don't work as much as before or he pays for them later. Most of Froome's attacks are on stages where he is expected to attack but then in the 2016 Tour he did attack a few times where it wasn't expected. Contador has always taken risks to win races while Froome has a more controlled type of aggression and makes full use of his team. Contador's team in the Tour was a shambles but in previous teams he was definitely helped by the team even if on some stages he went off script as he tends to do. Nibali's team tend to work more in the direction of Sky and sometimes will try and break up or put pressure on the GC riders before the final climb is reached. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Not as controlled as Sky who remind me more of US Postal. Use up everyone in the the team and let the leader loose on the final climb. It's not easy to do over three weeks but luckily those teams were loaded with talent and if one rider has an off day someone else will fill the gap. Most of the time when Froome is in trouble he will have a Sky rider with him.
I only saw an "aggressive" Contador when he was absolutely outclassed by his rivals. It rarely worked.
Froome, on the other hand, was fantastic, this Tour. He attacked more and provided more spectacle than Alberto ever did, at least when he was even a threat for the GC.