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Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

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Is Froome over the hill?

  • Yes.

    Votes: 28 35.4%

  • No, the GC finished 40 minutes ago but Froomie is still climbing it

    Votes: 45 57.0%

  • No he is totally winning the Vuelta

    Votes: 18 22.8%
  • Total voters
    79
P

Parker

Mar 4, 2011
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CyclistAbi said:
Or the team could be weaker and they would need to go 1 on 1 in the last section. Then we would know for sure.

P.S. Froome is a great rider, has win a lot, hopefully will win a few more, but i must give Contador one notch more. As if i don't do that, Contador would likely stand up, out of the saddle, and would start brutally proving me wrong. BUT, when determining such things, all don't have to agree. Obviously, if you are a big fan of one or another, that one will likely be rated higher, by you. Nothing wrong with that.
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The thing that impressed me about Contador wasn't the attacking which his fans loved but his defending. He's the best defensive rider I've seen in 35 years of watching this sport. Once he got the lead in a race it didn't lose it. And a series of riders found him at times impossible to shake off their wheel. Think Rasmussen in 07, Schleck in several years and Froome in 2014 (Dauphine and Vuelta).

It's a skill he used to turn Schleck's teams to his advantage. Saxo would get rid of the other contenders for him and then he'd stick to Schleck and beat him in the TT. It's not a tactic that worked against Sky except in 2014 when he had beaten Froome in the TT.

A lot of sports fans greatly undervalue defensive work, while overpraising attack. But not me (I was a goalkeeper in another sport)
 
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SHAD0W93

SHAD0W93

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Parker said:
The thing that impressed me about Contador wasn't the attacking which his fans loved but his defending. He's the best defensive rider I've seen in 35 years of watching this sport. Once he got the lead in a race it didn't lose it. And a series of riders found him at times impossible to shake off their wheel. Think Rasmussen in 07, Schleck in several years and Froome in 2014 (Dauphine and Vuelta).

It's a skill he used to turn Schleck's teams to his advantage. Saxo would get rid of the other contenders for him and then he'd stick to Schleck and beat him in the TT. It's not a tactic that worked against Sky except in 2014 when he had beaten Froome in the TT.

A lot of sports fans greatly undervalue defensive work, while overpraising attack. But not me (I was a goalkeeper in another sport)
Click to expand...

And usually the attacking was when he was behind. Good spectacle but he could have gotten better placements.

Of the two I think Froome is the more aggressive rider when already having a lead.
 
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Summoned

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Parker said:
The thing that impressed me about Contador wasn't the attacking which his fans loved but his defending. He's the best defensive rider I've seen in 35 years of watching this sport. Once he got the lead in a race it didn't lose it. And a series of riders found him at times impossible to shake off their wheel. Think Rasmussen in 07, Schleck in several years and Froome in 2014 (Dauphine and Vuelta).

It's a skill he used to turn Schleck's teams to his advantage. Saxo would get rid of the other contenders for him and then he'd stick to Schleck and beat him in the TT. It's not a tactic that worked against Sky except in 2014 when he had beaten Froome in the TT.

A lot of sports fans greatly undervalue defensive work, while overpraising attack. But not me (I was a goalkeeper in another sport)
Click to expand...
I suppose I can see your point, but it also seems like a bit of a tautology to me. You can’t ride defensively without a lead; you don’t get a lead without being stronger than other riders over a period of time; and you can’t really ride defensively successfully without being stronger than other riders over the entire race. Isn’t saying that a rider excels at riding defensively just another way of saying that the strongest rider wins the race?
 
tobydawq

tobydawq

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Parker said:
The thing that impressed me about Contador wasn't the attacking which his fans loved but his defending. He's the best defensive rider I've seen in 35 years of watching this sport. Once he got the lead in a race it didn't lose it. And a series of riders found him at times impossible to shake off their wheel. Think Rasmussen in 07, Schleck in several years and Froome in 2014 (Dauphine and Vuelta).

It's a skill he used to turn Schleck's teams to his advantage. Saxo would get rid of the other contenders for him and then he'd stick to Schleck and beat him in the TT. It's not a tactic that worked against Sky except in 2014 when he had beaten Froome in the TT.

A lot of sports fans greatly undervalue defensive work, while overpraising attack. But not me (I was a goalkeeper in another sport)
Click to expand...

What are you talking about regarding Rasmussen in 2007? Contador wasn't in the lead back than nor riding defensively nor able to keep to Rasmussen's wheel.
 
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Summoned

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Red Rick said:
Looks at ICA team

I'm sure it's for the next 4 Tour wins
Click to expand...
I do think it is worth remembering what Rasmussen said regarding Froome’s solo in the Giro. He is a multiple-GT winner, and the possibilities for such a rider are different than those of most any other GT rider. I don’t know what his recovery is like, but if he has recovered and is back to the type of shape he had before the crash in 2019, I would not rule him out at all for winning any GT he enters in the next couple of years.
 
Red Rick

Red Rick

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Summoned said:
I do think it is worth remembering what Rasmussen said regarding Froome’s solo in the Giro. He is a multiple-GT winner, and the possibilities for such a rider are different than those of most any other GT rider. I don’t know what his recovery is like, but if he has recovered and is back to the type of shape he had before the crash in 2019, I would not rule him out at all for winning any GT he enters in the next couple of years.
Click to expand...
Well that scenario sounds rather unrealistic.
 
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pink_jersey

pink_jersey

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SHAD0W93 said:
And usually the attacking was when he was behind. Good spectacle but he could have gotten better placements.

Of the two I think Froome is the more aggressive rider when already having a lead.
Click to expand...

With Froome style of racing he always knew if he will beat the others or not. Yeah, he attacks when having a lead but he's doing this because he knows that others will not stand a chance.
 
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Oldermanish

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Red Rick said:
The everesting recors is simply not a super high level achievement for an active WT level climber
Click to expand...
You're right, but it could be. It's an individual test on a course of the individual's choosing and timing so not close to a race. A head to head version for decent money with say, four climbers; might be interesting to see. It could also be totally boring.
Considering broadcasters need something to promote...?
 
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Red Rick

Red Rick

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Oldermanish said:
You're right, but it could be. It's an individual test on a course of the individual's choosing and timing so not close to a race. A head to head version for decent money with say, four climbers; might be interesting to see. It could also be totally boring.
Considering broadcasters need something to promote...?
Click to expand...
Would be great to see like multiple guys going at it simultaneously in different places at once.
 
Poursuivant

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Red Rick said:
Nothingburger tbh.

Ineos are only gonna leave him out of the TdF if he's legit not good enough to be part of the 8 man squad, in which case they must be laughing themselves silly that Froome got an insane contract elsewhere.
Click to expand...


I know you shouldn’t read too much into Strava but it looks like Sivakov is in amazing shape right now, he’s faster than Froome on most climbs - yes we don’t even know if Froome is doing efforts but we all know he is on a comeback so it’s not unrealistic that he isn’t as good as usual. Of course Froome might not upload his good days but G Thomas said the other day Sivakov was flying on Teide.

If the situation in a month sees Froome barely stronger than Sivakov, say during the Dauphine, Ineos will feel justified to swerve Froome for someone like Amador. Their team looks a little bit light on climbing domestiques If they take three leaders, that leaves something like Rowe, Castro, DVB, Kwiato and Sivakov. Sivakov could be asked to do A lot of work on the high climbs.

Who knows, I’d never write off Froome and if anyone knows how to time their form right it is him, but if I was him I’d be wary that Brailsford can be very ruthless and will do what he thinks is best for the team getting yellow.
 
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RinTinTin

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Yesterday I had a thought regarding Froome, being left off the team, for whatever reason.
Three leaders, not enough domestiques, fitness or even poltics.
It may well benefit him as he will have another whole year to get stronger after the injury.
This may be a clever play by him.
 
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Merckx index

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Poursuivant said:
Their team looks a little bit light on climbing domestiques
Click to expand...

I don't know how a team with the past three winners can be light on climbing domestiques. Unless you think Bernal, Thomas and Froome are going to be within seconds of each other for most of the race, one or two of them are going to end up working for the leader.

RinTinTin said:
he will have another whole year to get stronger after the injury.
Click to expand...

He's running out of time, can't really afford to let another year go by without a Tour start. And given the long injury recovery, and the fact that he couldn't race most of this season, I don't see how riding the Tour, however it turns out for him, can not help him for next year. Shutting down for the season really isn't going to serve him well.
 
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gregrowlerson

gregrowlerson

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