Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yates did show weakness in the final of PN. And that was 1 week of hard racing. It's hard to say I think.

 

[deValtos]

Considering how he looked in the previous couple of stages I'd say this was a solid day for him.

Obviously he still needs to step it up in the 2nd and 3rd weeks since his current level won't get him the win.

 

[movingtarget]

I have to admit, after his performances so far I expected him to be worse. He is still one of the biggest favorites for the win since I now expect him to have a super peak in the third week. If he just keeps riding like this it's definitely not gonna be enough, but I'd be surprised if that is the case.

Froome has really never been his best in the 3rd week of a GT and with the crashes he's had and the energy that that wastes I find it really hard to believe that that would start now. I think Yates is the favorite for the win right now.

I just cannot believe that Simon freakin Yates can keep this shape for three weeks. He has never shown climbing as incredible as this and he has never been close to a gt win and all that despite already being a top cyclist a few years now. How often do we see massive improvements like that from one year to another. My brain tells me that this performance must make him the favorite but something tells me we shouldn't make early conclusions

I think the third week will test him. Chaves has no TT and even Yates can have his off days as well. I still think Froome can't be written off but his team looks pretty shoddy especially compared to last year. Dumoulin is well placed. Pinot looked good today but can he avoid a bad day ?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Much better now. Still can't go with the accelerations but can recover.

Ominously the team doesn't look good though. DLC was weak. Henao couldn't do much after he lost from the break. Poels dropped early. Basically only Kenny passed the test.
This start/stop riding doesn't really suit Froome that much anymore. He'll need the train..

 

[yaco]

Froome's biggest issue will be the strength of his team - It's tough to have a super strong team for both the Giro and the TDF.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Froome's biggest issue will be the strength of his team - It's tough to have a super strong team for both the Giro and the TDF.

Most observers knew that coming in I think - Elissonde is decent enough, De la Cruz hasn't climbed well so far this year, Henao has dropped a level from a few years ago and Poels just came back from an injury. Yet experts and commentators claim this is a very strong Sky team. Heck no, its obvious Astana and Scott were the stronger teams before the Giro began and even more so now. Just wait till Nieve gets going.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Froome's biggest issue will be the strength of his team - It's tough to have a super strong team for both the Giro and the TDF.

Most observers knew that coming in I think - Elissonde is decent enough, De la Cruz hasn't climbed well so far this year, Henao has dropped a level from a few years ago and Poels just came back from an injury. Yet experts and commentators claim this is a very strong Sky team. Heck no, its obvious Astana and Scott were the stronger teams before the Giro began and even more so now. Just wait till Nieve gets going.

If there's any sight I thought I'd never see it would be Froome attacking and being caught by a train of 5 riders riding tempo from another team.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

Froome's biggest issue will be the strength of his team - It's tough to have a super strong team for both the Giro and the TDF.

Froome's biggest issue is that he's one minute down and he can't gain significant time in the mountains since 2015.

 

[dacooley]

he can't gain much going solo after 2015. dropping dimoulin and working together with yates, chavez and pinot wouldnt be much of a miracle.

 

[Poursuivant]

Poels usually comes good in the final week too.

 

[myrideissteelerthanyours]

Re: Re:

Froome's biggest issue will be the strength of his team - It's tough to have a super strong team for both the Giro and the TDF.

Froome's biggest issue is that he's one minute down and he can't gain significant time in the mountains since 2015.

This is the Giro where breakaways can have 40+ riders, sometimes the top rider will just fall off his bike and gift your minutes, and the worlds very best may literally sh*t themselves and get off the bike. Its not like the tour where everything is precision so I think he still has a chance.

 

[red zone]

Re:

Froome's biggest issue will be the strength of his team - It's tough to have a super strong team for both the Giro and the TDF.

Froome's biggest issue is that he needs a super strong team .

if he's as good as his fan club has insisted he should easily be able to win a GT without the need for an uber dominating team to snuff out all the competition

 

[hazaran]

Looks like the dawgs form is ramping up nicely. The Pinots and Pozzovivos of this world will soon enough fall away

 

[dacooley]

Re: Re:

Froome's biggest issue will be the strength of his team - It's tough to have a super strong team for both the Giro and the TDF.

Froome's biggest issue is that he needs a super strong team .

if he's as good as his fan club has insisted he should easily be able to win a GT without the need for an uber dominating team to snuff out all the competition

it's not quite correct. only unattentiveness didn't enable froome to grab the 2016 vuelta. physically he was ready even having a mediocre team. froome not being able to gain big chunks of time in the mountains without a strong team is what i'd easily agree with.

 

[Kwibus]

Re:

Looks like the dawgs form is ramping up nicely. The Pinots and Pozzovivos of this world will soon enough fall away

He looked ok today, he will only gain form he certainly isnt out yet.

 

[alexix7]

Zoncolan will decide if he can challenge for the overall. I expect him to be really strong in the 3rd week.

 

[jfazendeiro]

Froome physical condition

I excepted a similar management of his physical condition to that which he made for the Tour/Vuelta of last year. Apparently I was wrong. In format, the try he made to win the Tour and Vuelta in 2016 should be a better comparation.
If that is the case, he should be in his best physical condition in the Tour and only in slightly better condition that at the end of May in the year in which he only targeted the Tour, if it wasn't the impact of aging.
I have doubts that he will progress during the Giro but his results might improve due to his superior recovery in comparation to Yates, Dumoulin or Pinot.
I predict he will contend for 3rd with Pinot.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

Froome's biggest issue will be the strength of his team - It's tough to have a super strong team for both the Giro and the TDF.

Froome's biggest issue is that he's one minute down and he can't gain significant time in the mountains since 2015.

This is the Giro where breakaways can have 40+ riders, sometimes the top rider will just fall off his bike and gift your minutes, and the worlds very best may literally sh*t themselves and get off the bike. Its not like the tour where everything is precision so I think he still has a chance.

That was one too many. That break had such an impact on the stage that teams won't make that mistake twice. Breaks like that are fairly rare especially to include someone like Chaves.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

Froome's biggest issue will be the strength of his team - It's tough to have a super strong team for both the Giro and the TDF.

Froome's biggest issue is that he's one minute down and he can't gain significant time in the mountains since 2015.

And his rivals bar Dumoulin and Dennis have to contend with a 34.2 km TT. Dumoulin still not in pink, could not have worked out better for him. Froome rode well in the final week of the Tour and I expect the same here. I think the race is looking very interesting as of now. I'm sure that Matt White and Michelton have more tricks up their sleeve. But now the pressure goes off BMC which Dennis won't mind. Let's see how Michelton copes with it.

 

[Tonton]

This.

And it makes you want to a no ear piece world...awareness. DS being DS. Team management. Instincts. What makes a rider really great, not a robot.

 

[PremierAndrew]

All these posts writing Froome off... will be interesting to read these during the third week

 

[yetiyeti]

Personally I've cheered against Froome for a while because he was such a strong favourite - it's going to be fun to see if he can do it as an underdog for a change, and I won't mind a bit if he does.

 

[42x16ss]

Re: Re:

Froome's biggest issue will be the strength of his team - It's tough to have a super strong team for both the Giro and the TDF.

Froome's biggest issue is that he's one minute down and he can't gain significant time in the mountains since 2015.

And his rivals bar Dumoulin and Dennis have to contend with a 34.2 km TT. Dumoulin still not in pink, could not have worked out better for him. Froome rode well in the final week of the Tour and I expect the same here. I think the race is looking very interesting as of now. I'm sure that Matt White and Michelton have more tricks up their sleeve. But now the pressure goes off BMC which Dennis won't mind. Let's see how Michelton copes with it.

Mitchelton should be fine, at least short term, as QS will be working for Viviani to win stages. White might not be the DS Stephens is, but he’s still pretty good and has picked a well balanced, experienced team. Nieve and Kreuziger will make sure Yates and Chaves keep a level head.

 

[Salvarani]

I just don't like the scenario in which he will be so and so and a background figure for most of the race but still be able to stay in contention. Then suddenly in the final week find form and drop everybody to win the Giro. Because that seems to be the narrative right now going around. Both on here and what I see is being in said the interviews from him and the team. Like it is some sort of scheme. That he is on his way or on the way up etc. He will come good in the last week.

I don't like that and that would really give me a sour taste. That just how I feel. Sorry. Just my thoughts on it. I am not a Froome fan though, so no need quoting this and start a debate from this post. Just wanted to express my thoughts somewhere and this is the discussion thread about him so.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

Froome's biggest issue will be the strength of his team - It's tough to have a super strong team for both the Giro and the TDF.

Froome's biggest issue is that he's one minute down and he can't gain significant time in the mountains since 2015.

And his rivals bar Dumoulin and Dennis have to contend with a 34.2 km TT. Dumoulin still not in pink, could not have worked out better for him. Froome rode well in the final week of the Tour and I expect the same here. I think the race is looking very interesting as of now. I'm sure that Matt White and Michelton have more tricks up their sleeve. But now the pressure goes off BMC which Dennis won't mind. Let's see how Michelton copes with it.

Mitchelton should be fine, at least short term, as QS will be working for Viviani to win stages. White might not be the DS Stephens is, but he’s still pretty good and has picked a well balanced, experienced team. Nieve and Kreuziger will make sure Yates and Chaves keep a level head.

I don't have doubts about White or the team which on paper is very strong but there is a lot more pressure with the pink jersey. Dumoulin will be glad to be sitting on GC where he is. I can't believe that some people have already written off Dumoulin and Froome. The advantage for Michelton is having two riders high on GC and both can climb well. Sometimes it's the transitional stages that cause the problems. Froome knows about those ones.......