Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[Matteo.]

Re: Re:

I do not see who can oppose him at the vuelta. And i hope ne could achieve the double , finally he deserves it

Think Nibali will be a good bet for the best competition.

Yes, on paper. But I did not see a nibali so great to put in trouble 'froome and sky. And I do not see him reaching a second peak of better shape than the first one. Now he is on the way to the sunset

 

[SeriousSam]

Froome is the overwhelming favourite for the Vuelta according to the bookies

 

[TMP402]

PCS has Nibali, Chaves and the Yates twins, Majka and Konig, Aru and MA Lopez, TJ van Garderen and Caruso, Jungels, Bardet and Pozzovivo, Uran, Zakarin, Kelderman, Bennett and Kruijswijk, Valls, Costa, and Dani Navarro.

Of those who can realistically be a challenge? Nibali, Zakarin, Uran, Bardet?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Easy win by Froome, and he didn't even had to go super deep. Perfect for the Vuelta double.

I think he is going to smash and destroy the opposition there

 

[Rollthedice]

Froome is declining, less watts better endurance. Throw in a weak competition, a route with three half-arsed MTFs, his TT prowess and his team way better that any and you have the fourth TdF. As for Vuelta, he is the favorite but I hope Nibali will push him more than these Urans of cycling.

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

PCS has Nibali, Chaves and the Yates twins, Majka and Konig, Aru and MA Lopez, TJ van Garderen and Caruso, Jungels, Bardet and Pozzovivo, Uran, Zakarin, Kelderman, Bennett and Kruijswijk, Valls, Costa, and Dani Navarro.

Of those who can realistically be a challenge? Nibali, Zakarin, Uran, Bardet?

Surely Aru as well

Edit: Chaves and Pozzo too, especially if Ag2r decide to use their cards smartly. Although seeing how they did this Tour I doubt it.

 

[silvergrenade]

Cool Pic:

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

PCS has Nibali, Chaves and the Yates twins, Majka and Konig, Aru and MA Lopez, TJ van Garderen and Caruso, Jungels, Bardet and Pozzovivo, Uran, Zakarin, Kelderman, Bennett and Kruijswijk, Valls, Costa, and Dani Navarro.

Of those who can realistically be a challenge? Nibali, Zakarin, Uran, Bardet?

Surely Aru as well

Edit: Chaves and Pozzo too, especially if Ag2r decide to use their cards smartly. Although seeing how they did this Tour I doubt it.

Yes, sorry, Aru too. It will be interesting to see if the Sky train finally looks Tour-level at the Vuelta. Too often it's an obvious b-team who aren't cohesive with Froome and end up dropping him (2014 and also 2015(?)), or the guys who just attack with 1km to go and get a quick 20 seconds (Aru in 2014?) manage to get away without being caught up by the train.

 

[silvergrenade]

Re: Re:

PCS has Nibali, Chaves and the Yates twins, Majka and Konig, Aru and MA Lopez, TJ van Garderen and Caruso, Jungels, Bardet and Pozzovivo, Uran, Zakarin, Kelderman, Bennett and Kruijswijk, Valls, Costa, and Dani Navarro.

Of those who can realistically be a challenge? Nibali, Zakarin, Uran, Bardet?

Surely Aru as well

Edit: Chaves and Pozzo too, especially if Ag2r decide to use their cards smartly. Although seeing how they did this Tour I doubt it.

Yes, sorry, Aru too. It will be interesting to see if the Sky train finally looks Tour-level at the Vuelta. Too often it's an obvious b-team who aren't cohesive with Froome and end up dropping him (2014 and also 2015(?)), or the guys who just attack with 1km to go and get a quick 20 seconds (Aru in 2014?) manage to get away without being caught up by the train.

Think Formigal would have been a massive kick in the butt..
They have put an impressive team around Froome.

 

[Hayabusa]

I would assume that Froome would have Poels for the Vuelta and if he can get back to his shape from last year then that will be one hell of an ally (though probably not as strong as Landa). Deignan/Ellisonde would be pretty good as well for the earlier slopes.

 

[hazaran]

Wonder if Stannard can finally be back for the Vuelta, he was sorely missed in this Tour. It's only Kwiato who prevented a meltdown on the flat because Knees and Rowe are just bad.

(Rowe is the lanterne rouge, he is literally the worst)

 

[rick james]

Re:

Wonder if Stannard can finally be back for the Vuelta, he was sorely missed in this Tour. It's only Kwiato who prevented a meltdown on the flat because Knees and Rowe are just bad.

(Rowe is the lanterne rouge, he is literally the worst)

See that's just lies, the fact he didn't lose time on the flat/sprint stages tell us they done their job

 

[jmdirt]

Congrats CF and SKY!

 

[Cookster15]

Yes well done again to Chris Froome and Sky. Just too good.

 

[Red Rick]

Yes, congrats to Froome, and congrats to the fans. Requires some dedication to support him here at times.

 

[dacooley]

Rowe has been doing loads of dirrrrty thankless job by controlling the breaks at an early stage of 17 (of 19) racing days. I don't get how he can be criticized.

 

[Red Rick]

Only disappointment in the team must've been Henao, surely. Nieve faded toward the end too.

 

[rick james]

Re:

Only disappointment in the team must've been Henao, surely. Nieve faded toward the end too.

yip, he was the only one that never turned up

 

[TI-Raleigh]

Re:

Arguably surpassed Contador now in results, will certainly do so if he goes on to win the Vuelta

But he's never been weaker in terms of climbing

I've been thinking of this as well. A 4th Tour puts Froome decidedly on the list as one of the great GT riders of all time. Not at the top of the list, but he is there. Comparing him to Contador is interesting...

In this decade (2010s) Froome has the best palmares of any other stage racer. 4 Tours plus several week long stage races, vuelta podiums... I think it is foolish to argue otherwise. However, I would give Contador a slight edge on the whole. If we say Contador has 9 GTs (3 tours) -as I am inclined to say- he comes out just ahead.

To truly surpass Contador, Froome needs one more Tour. Getting the Vuelta this year wouldn't do it for me personally.

 

[bigcog]

Interested to see what the team will look like next season, they are losing Landa, Nieve, Viviani, who else ? The first two won't be that easily replaced, Nieve has been a first class climbing dom for years.

 

[deValtos]

Re:

Interested to see what the team will look like next season, they are losing Landa, Nieve, Viviani, who else ? The first two won't be that easily replaced, Nieve has been a first class climbing dom for years.

8 man GT teams means they don't need to replace everyone necessarily, though that is the same with every team. It will be interesting to see if they look to pick someone up or rely on their current crew.

They still have Benat who I'm hoping gets better, before he was ill he was highly impressive.

 

[bigcog]

Re: Re:

Interested to see what the team will look like next season, they are losing Landa, Nieve, Viviani, who else ? The first two won't be that easily replaced, Nieve has been a first class climbing dom for years.

8 man GT teams means they don't need to replace everyone necessarily, though that is the same with every team. It will be interesting to see if they look to pick someone up or rely on their current crew.

They still have Benat who I'm hoping gets better, before he was ill he was highly impressive.

Yes true about Intxausti.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

Chapeau Froome. 4 tours is just absolutely incredible for a rider who was almost completely unknown this time 6 years ago. I'm curious if he'll be able to join the list of riders with 5 tour wins next year.

Interested to see what the team will look like next season, they are losing Landa, Nieve, Viviani, who else ? The first two won't be that easily replaced, Nieve has been a first class climbing dom for years.

Froome, Stannard, Rowe, Thomas, Kwiat, Poels, Henao and Kiryienka would still be more than good enough.

 

[Red Rick]

Next year should be a hard one, in terms of competition. Also depends a lot on where Quintana is headed. On top 5 rider as your domestique is a *** load more useful than having more Nieve's or Henao's, though it's obviously gonna depend a lot on the situation.

Don't think that team would be even that good. Many of them would be on their 2nd GT, Thomas would be on his 3rd, so I doubt they'll be great. On the other hand, it's the Vuelta, and the need for control is a bit less. Mountains are so steep Froome should be the among the strongest uphill though.

 

[Jagartrott]

Re:

On the other hand, it's the Vuelta, and the need for control is a bit less.

Hmmm, last year Sky lost control one stage, and they lost the Vuelta...