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Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

Page 654 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.

Is Froome over the hill?

  • Yes.

    Votes: 26 34.7%
  • No, the GC finished 40 minutes ago but Froomie is still climbing it

    Votes: 42 56.0%
  • No he is totally winning the Vuelta

    Votes: 18 24.0%

  • Total voters
    75
Yep, he needs to fix that or improve that weak leg if he can at all. Given he had a double compound fracture of the femur and they would have sliced into various muscles such as the quadracep etc when fixing the fractures presumably causing scarring and possibly nerve damage, plus any damage caused by the accident trauma itself, whether that is possible is another thing altogether.
Agree. Of note, there is no reasonable explanation that the muscle and bone trauma has not been adequately addressed yet. Given this is a professional athlete, one had who has shown remarkable recovery capacities in the past, that the rehab started quite early and has been at a high professional level, that work has definitely taken place (regardless of what the end result has been). Neurological or other contributing issues to his ongoing challenges, those are certainly possible
 
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This thread it’s turning into absolute nonsense .
I can’t believe that there are people who think that Froome will have the form to be on a GT Top10 in the future! That’s simply not possible. Just look at the guy for God sake!!


Maybe they just don't know. They are willing to wait see what happens. And by being good hearted people wish for him to have a decent finale.

Of course this social these days is based on hate otherwise you will be branded as a 'fan' and there's nothing worse than being called that.
 
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Doubt we’ll see any improvement this weekend.
I said and that is what happened, 39th you can consider is a bad result, but it is, of course, an improvement. I hope he fonish top 50 in GC and who knows, maybe top 40...that would be a step forward to know he is working in the correct way in this almost impossible target. I cpuldnt see the stage as I cant tvis weekend, but I was very happy to see that result. I cant believe that a rider that could finish Dauphine in a top 40, althouh he is not working (nor anybody working for hin) is done... He is inside a long processs of recovery... This Tour he wont be to be with the best.. But he has show today he is to start.. I can imagine 8 riders at Israel able to fibish in a top 50 or 40 in a race as Dauphine.. And for sure he will be better in Le Tour.. He has lost 2 kilos and we have this improvement, and he will be better and with less kilos in July... So, yes, ha has the righ to ride le Tour and do something interesting
 
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Not brilliant ... but better and actually fits what he was saying.
That is the important issue. He doesnt lie... Instead what people say, he has always proven saying true.. And this time again.. He came here to see some progrees on the mountains and he has show that progress. He is not now to be brilliant, but what he did today has a very big merit in his case, and for that is very brilliant. He needed to equilibrate their legs and he gained muscle this winter.. It is the first time he loses weight this year.. And we see, as logical, and improvement.. He is not explosive.. But in stages with more endurance he does quite well... We have to see him as a amateur rider making progress.. So a 39th for an amateur rider is very good... Maybe in the future he can recover his level and of course 39th will be bad. It is a lot of work still to do for that, but he will.
 
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Agree. Of note, there is no reasonable explanation that the muscle and bone trauma has not been adequately addressed yet. Given this is a professional athlete, one had who has shown remarkable recovery capacities in the past, that the rehab started quite early and has been at a high professional level, that work has definitely taken place (regardless of what the end result has been). Neurological or other contributing issues to his ongoing challenges, those are certainly possible
For sure you are not right.. With his fisic state the best he can get is what he got last year.. And now he can get better results
 
If he's good enough to work for a teammate and willing to do so, then no reason to keep him off the Tour team. Due to the injury, plus his age, plus the fact he had already starting to decline, I don't think he can ever been a GC rider again.
Age?? He startet late in cycling. He is young still... Explain that to Rebellin, pro at almost 50 years old and with decent results...
 
If he's good enough to work for a teammate and willing to do so, then no reason to keep him off the Tour team.

He's actually the second best GC rider for ISN. Why would you not pick him? There's Woods, Impey and Greipel to come in. But I'm not sure any could pull off a headline - Woods is quality A Froome breakaway though, even if unsuccessful.

But I think it's unfair to dismiss him from his age on a day that a 41 year old won at the Dauphine
 
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He's actually the second best GC rider for ISN. Why would you not pick him? There's Woods, Impey and Greipel to come in. But I'm not sure any could pull off a headline - Woods is quality A Froome breakaway though, even if unsuccessful.

But I think it's unfair to dismiss him from his age on a day that a 41 year old won at the Dauphine
Second best? How? Woods, Hermans and even Martin with the Giro in his legs are better GC options.
 
He's actually the second best GC rider for ISN. Why would you not pick him? There's Woods, Impey and Greipel to come in. But I'm not sure any could pull off a headline - Woods is quality A Froome breakaway though, even if unsuccessful.

But I think it's unfair to dismiss him from his age on a day that a 41 year old won at the Dauphine

He's not close to the second best GC rider. He's currently not close to good enough to be a GC rider. It's very fair to dismiss him as his injuries are injuries that you do not regain previous form from, plus he was already declining before the injury. People half his age have never fully recovered to previous levels from injuries similar to his. Valverde's decline was't noticeable until he was 39. Also Valverde is an outlier and you can't compare others to him for multiple reasons. Remember Froome has in the past talked about his 8 hour training sessions. The fact he needs 8 hour training session before the injury to maintain his level says his normal base level isn't very high. Valverde starts with an extremely high base level. He rarely does training rides over 3 to 4 hours and before very recently he took over a month completely off the bike at the end of the season.
 
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Whether you're a fan or hater of Froome you should not undermine the fact that he is an absolutely professional athlete with a rather analytical mindset. That said, he for sure has a clear plan on how to get back to best form* and especially today showed that he is getting there. It was a very solid result from him today and clearly showing there is in fact progress in his form and the chosen strategy of training - racing - training is the right path to finding his personal best.

*It is then a completely different topic to consider what his best form later this year and next year (I'm assuming next year the recovery process should be completed with enough solid training done) will be. Age for sure is one variable along possible long-term effects of his injury and evolution of the sport through new generations reaching peak levels.

Having been in professional sports for quite some time myself I admire the grit Froome is showing and it is somewhat sad to see all the negative comments here considering he has chosen to make his journey a very public one by attending races, sharing insights on his progress etc. very openly. From my perspective (sitting at my couch) this is great as it is one more reason to be excited about the sport and see how this story will unfold eventually. And total value for money since I'm not the one paying his salary, either - as I believe neither are you. ;)
 
He is not the second GC rider of his team... But he could be in July, and he he very good for a third week. But maybe he is now the 4th of the team for a GC, and Martin has not planed Tour. So, of course, he has the right to be in le Tour, and not just for piblicitary issues. I think Hermans is strong now...but it is possible in the hight mountains to come in Dauphine Froome is close to him. Likely we didnt see the best Froome this year, but maybe next, with a normal winter training. He did what he had to do this year... And the second part of the season he will be at least at the level he showed today.
 
I gotta admit, that's much better than I had expected.
He was 50 in the moubtains in Cstaluña. He did first stsged much beter than in cataluña.. He lost 2 kilosm. Why is a surprised tbis if yiu analize data, results and belive what he say? Anyway I had to see the result to make sure, but I said yesterday he will make a progrees in the moubtains stsges.. Not a big progress, but a progress. Some people just see the simple argument he was overpassed in a ITT.. But his ITT was better that his one in Cataluña bevouse this was harder.. And tbat is the important issue, not the mediatic Froome was overpassed... And i hope he do better thid weekend.. But of course, is not sure.. A top 50 in GC will make a progress and will be great, but he can still be top 40 if he doesnt work and dont try breaks.. Or even doing that...
 
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I think this conversation is going to be very different after tomorrow.

I think today was a very good stage to measure the levels as the pace was rather high and everyone had to "go on their own" to the finish line.

Let's be realistic re tomorrow: most likely Froome will be dropped from the GC rider group at the first mountain and from there you can't really say anything anymore. If Froome would get on top of the first climb with GC riders tomorrow that would be a big surprise and a very big step ahead. Personally I find it unlikely but rather look at tomorrow for Froome as one more very good day to build up by just riding.
 
I think today was a very good stage to measure the levels as the pace was rather high and everyone had to "go on their own" to the finish line.

Let's be realistic re tomorrow: most likely Froome will be dropped from the GC rider group at the first mountain and from there you can't really say anything anymore. If Froome would get on top of the first climb with GC riders tomorrow that would be a big surprise and a very big step ahead. Personally I find it unlikely but rather look at tomorrow for Froome as one more very good day to build up by just riding.
This is my point. And one will definitely be able to say more. He's going to get shelled the next two days, coming in minutes or 10's of minutes down. And today won't look much like progress after that. You're right, if he doesn't loose 5 mins tomorrow that would reinforce what we might have seen today, but that also depends on how they race the first two climbs. If they let the break go and go relatively easy, he's probably going to make it over the top. If they race it hard, he's gone.

As I said he looked a bit better today. He might have just had a really good day, but those were not hard climbs, and the Tour folks, it has hard climbs. La Plagne and the Joux Plane are brutal.
 

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