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Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

Page 647 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.

Is Froome over the hill?

  • Yes.

    Votes: 26 35.1%
  • No, the GC finished 40 minutes ago but Froomie is still climbing it

    Votes: 42 56.8%
  • No he is totally winning the Vuelta

    Votes: 17 23.0%

  • Total voters
    74
I also anticipated worse but if you see that Martin who really crashed came back and finished in the group, its not too great either.
Martin was really afected. But Martin is the leader of the team, His team worked for him and put him in a good position in the group. Froome has not anybody working for him. he is not fighting inn GC.. just to see if he has improved a litlle in this race...so it is impossible to compare. Those team mates put Martin on the Group lost more than one minute...and of course, froome is far to have now the level of Martin...but I think today he was ok considering he lost the peloton by the crash. Yesterday was a little bit dissapointing
 
Age is not his problem at all, just look at Valverde. Problem is his leg injury recovery process and how he/team can resolve that. That defines everything.
The two aren't mutually exclusive. We've seen time and time again in cycling as well as in other sports that it's much harder to get back to your best after a major injury when you're in your mid to late 30s.

I think he may get back to top 20 form, but I don't see him getting back to GT podium form again.
 
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It is very interesting day tomorrow for him.
Maybe, but He insisted he is here testing his progression on the mountains...so I dont think he put his best tomorrow. If he expect to do something in Tour de France, maybe he should concebtrate topmorrow rto do a good test...But I dont think so. To improve his ITT in Romandie looks easy,, anyway, and I hope for a top 70.
 
Maybe, but He insisted he is here testing his progression on the mountains...so I dont think he put his best tomorrow. If he expect to do something in Tour de France, maybe he should concebtrate topmorrow rto do a good test...But I dont think so. To improve his ITT in Romandie looks easy,, anyway, and I hope for a top 70.
He doesn't expect to do anything in the Tour de France. Why is that even a question at this point?

That said, why wouldn't he do his best tomorrow? Saving himself for...what? The next couple of days aren't exactly fearsome, and this is a 16.4 k TT, it's not exactly going to burn him up for the next stages.

He appears to be marginally better than he was in Romandie. The TT is the only stage on which he has any hope of a reasonable result, so I don't know why he'd not put in a full effort.
 
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He doesn't expect to do anything in the Tour de France. Why is that even a question at this point?

That said, why wouldn't he do his best tomorrow? Saving himself for...what? The next couple of days aren't exactly fearsome, and this is a 16.4 k TT, it's not exactly going to burn him up for the next stages.

He appears to be marginally better than he was in Romandie. The TT is the only stage on which he has any hope of a reasonable result, so I don't know why he'd not put in a full effort.
Exactly.

Let's be honest about how training works. This is not a cat 4 or 5 racer. There is every reason to see that drilling the TT tomorrow provides a great stimulus/primer for the weekend. It is not too long a TT, so it is really a test of capacities rather than tolerance. So if Froome wants to test himself in the climbs, he would still test himself in the TT - it is not either/or, it is both. He also has precious little time left, so he needs the optimize the training stress of this race to get the most out of it, hammer the TT, and hammer the climbs. There is no where left to hide and no excuses.

Horner already accurately noted that it is not a good sign that Froome is dangling at the back already.
 
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Unfortunately the power needed for a decent TT really shows up Chris Froome's deficiencies.
In his last one (Tour de Romandie) he finished a miserable 109th out of 120 finishers of the 16k course.
Remember, this is the rider Sir Dave Brailsford claimed he initially took a punt on because hidden in there was a "big engine" despite mixed results.
That engine is struggling to stay with the peloton at the moment and may sadly be exposed again tomorrow.
 
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He doesn't expect to do anything in the Tour de France. Why is that even a question at this point?

That said, why wouldn't he do his best tomorrow? Saving himself for...what? The next couple of days aren't exactly fearsome, and this is a 16.4 k TT, it's not exactly going to burn him up for the next stages.

He appears to be marginally better than he was in Romandie. The TT is the only stage on which he has any hope of a reasonable result, so I don't know why he'd not put in a full effort.
He was this year worse in the ITT than in the mountains. In Romandie he was quite sick...rain is not good for him...but at the begining he did not bad in the second hardest stage of the race, finishing in a second group.
53.​
FROOME Chris ISN
43"​
0​

At the moment he has no improved that, I hope he make a progression in this race anyway..Maybe he is overtrained..but maybe it must be like that thinking in his recovery for the future.
If he said here his main objetive is to see if he can put his training nubers in the mountains at the race..I thinbk tomorrow he wont have the necessary motivation for an ITT to perform well, but of course he will try to do well.
 
...
He was this year worse in the ITT than in the mountains. In Romandie he was quite sick...rain is not good for him...but at the begining he did not bad in the second hardest stage of the race, finishing in a second group.
53.​
FROOME ChrisISN
43"​
0​

At the moment he has no improved that, I hope he make a progression in this race anyway..Maybe he is overtrained..but maybe it must be like that thinking in his recovery for the future.
If he said here his main objetive is to see if he can put his training nubers in the mountains at the race..I thinbk tomorrow he wont have the necessary motivation for an ITT to perform well, but of course he will try to do well.
Sick? Maybe. Rain didn't seem to bother him when he was trouncing everyone. Overtrained? Rather he's quite undertrained, he just hasn't been able to log the miles or put in hard efforts. I can't imagine the circumstances under which he'd be overtrained.

I think you're making the mistake of taking anything he says at face value. He says whatever he thinks he needs to in order to create whatever narrative he thinks makes sense. Rarely does it comport with reality, though it does happen occasionally. The trick is to ask yourself "why" when he says anything. Does it match what I'm seeing on the road? Why would he say his main objective is to see if he can put training numbers in the mountains up in a race? That would seem to indicate someone who is wondering if they can replicate wattage after a long day, successive days, or after being put under pressure early in a stage. Sounds entirely reasonable. If true, it would seem to indicate someone trying to see where their endurance is. Really not a factor in a 16.4 km TT.

His numbers in the TT should be like his numbers in training. Going full gas should have little effect on his effort in the mountains, and should help him assess his real form. But I'll grant you that if he doesn't do well, he'll come up with some narrative which "explains" it. Trick is to see if it makes sense with his previous comments or what you're seeing on the road.
 
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I don't think Froome says anything to mislead people or create narratives.

I just think that in his quest to return he can't afford to really believe anything other than that he will progress back to something competitive and as a result he is trying to constantly project positivity about the situation, even through all the setbacks and failures.

I am pretty convinced that unfortunately he's done as a competitive pro, but it's much easier to persevere through hardship if you condition yourself to believe you can come out of the other side.
 
I don't think Froome says anything to mislead people or create narratives.

I just think that in his quest to return he can't afford to really believe anything other than that he will progress back to something competitive and as a result he is trying to constantly project positivity about the situation.

I am pretty convinced that unfortunately he's done as a competitive pro, but it's much easier to persevere through hardship if you condition yourself to believe you can come out of the other side.

Hmmm. How about everything he ever said about Bilharzia. All his declarations of form since his return. When he was and wasn't sick. Many other things which can't be discussed in this forum. I've not seen a more disingenuous cyclist since Armstrong. His default mode is anything but straightforward or transparent.

Of course one is free to believe him, but after all of the lies coming from him and his handlers over the years, I don't take anything he says at face value. The video he posted at/after Romandie was the latest PR salvo, containing little truth and a lot of narrative.

 
I tried to search the site wouldn't let me so forgive me if this question has been answered in the previous 600 or so pages. Why has Chris Froome chosen now at this stage in his career to launch and post videos on his youtube channel ? I think maybe he wants to stay "relevant" and this is his only way to do so ?
 
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“The form is good, I feel that things are going in the right direction. This week will see much more when we get to the great mountains. I'm not worried about the time I wasted these days. My objective? I would like to see a progression of the races that I have done so far and see that a lot of the work that I have done in practice is translated into the road, "commented Chris Froome after finishing the third stage of the Criterium Du Dauphiné.
 
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Hmmm. How about everything he ever said about Bilharzia. All his declarations of form since his return. When he was and wasn't sick. Many other things which can't be discussed in this forum. I've not seen a more disingenuous cyclist since Armstrong. His default mode is anything but straightforward or transparent.

Of course one is free to believe him, but after all of the lies coming from him and his handlers over the years, I don't take anything he says at face value. The video he posted at/after Romandie was the latest PR salvo, containing little truth and a lot of narrative.

I have never heard a lie from him.
 
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He does have a nice power pose

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As a result I would contend that Evans at Lotto was actually physically superior to his BMC self but tactically too cautious, whereas the BMC Evans was much more able and willing to maximise his abilities and extract results from his form.

Agree. BMC was the environment that Evans personality prospered in too bad he didn't find that a few years earlier. I think Cadel was in peak physical form around 2007 at the age of 30. But also a reminder about his huge stage 9 crash in 2008 TdF. Thanks for the reply.
 
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Hmmm. How about everything he ever said about Bilharzia. All his declarations of form since his return. When he was and wasn't sick. Many other things which can't be discussed in this forum. I've not seen a more disingenuous cyclist since Armstrong. His default mode is anything but straightforward or transparent.

Of course one is free to believe him, but after all of the lies coming from him and his handlers over the years, I don't take anything he says at face value. The video he posted at/after Romandie was the latest PR salvo, containing little truth and a lot of narrative.

Are you really comparing froome with Armstrong? Are you really comparing the biggest jerk in the history of cycling that bullyed so many people with froome? Are you really serious? If you don't like froome, that's fine, but stop comparing froome with a jerk like armstrong.
Now, talking about froome's shape, obviously he isn't good, if you saw in the last video on youtube, you can see that reto hollenstein were better than him on climbing that wall of 2 km at 17% that they were talking about as "the most steepest climb in the world. So if reto hollenstein is faster than you, of course you are in a bad shape.
Like i said, froome should retire in the end of the season (la Vuelta) if there no improvements until then but comparing froome with armstrong....it's too much.
 
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