Teams & Riders Chris Froome Discussion Thread.

[TMJ]

Today was a big mountain stage and to be fair to him Chris Froome did just about keep in touching distance of the main favourites on the first big climb, albeit swinging off the back.
I expected him to reintegrate himself on the downhill with his descending skills and was shocked to see by the time they reached the flat he had been dropped, never to get back to the peloton again.
Sadly, he is absolutely miles off.

 

[IndianCyclist]

The problem with Froome declining is that his closest competitors Quintana and Bardet also declined. Dumoulin was never going to challenge him in the mountains.
I for one would have loved to see him deal with the thermonuclear attacks of the Slovenians and i think he would have lost.

 

[HelloDolly]

I dont think he is done yet
...very over race weight for one
I cant see him winning a GT but he will come back and win some stages or small races. His determination is unbelievable

Kind of strange to see Richie at the front and Froome out the back
If Richie had only half the determination of Frrome all these years

 

[ppanther92]

I dont think he is done yet
...very over race weight for one

68 kg (claimed) now vs. 66 kg (biography) in top shape. Don't think thats the problem. In fact, that seems reachable till the TdF. He just is lacking the power (very apparent by his especially weak time trials).

 

[bigcog]

I dont think he is done yet
...very over race weight for one
I cant see him winning a GT but he will come back and win some stages or small races. His determination is unbelievable

Kind of strange to see Richie at the front and Froome out the back
If Richie had only half the determination of Frrome all these years

I like your optimism but unless he fixes the lack of power in his right leg he will be stuck as he is now.

 

[Parker]

He's not close to the second best GC rider.

I meant in the Dauphine. I should have made that clear.

 

[lenric]

Yeah, he was declining on stage 18 of the giro 2018, i understand the ridiculous things that you are saying. Strategy doesn't mean that you're declining! If you want to win the double tour/vuelta on the same year, you can't attack in every mountain stage, and not peaking to soon, the strategy for froome was being consistent in 2017, not dominant like 2013/2015 because it was 2 targets, tour and Vuelta. And, once again when it was needed like in the giro, he went on the attack and won the race.
Facts, i gave you numbers, that's what happened, you just make assumptions.
And don't compare what happened with contador in 2011, contador was relatively young in 2011, we all know why contador since 2011 was never the same, but we can't talk of that here.

Jesus, what a fanboy.

 

[Taxus4a]

I couldnt watch the stage. The results is bad. I dont know if he saved energy for a breakaway tomorrow or he didnt want to risk on a descent as I read and later he was in a group and no more ... But I am pretty sure his level today for the mountains is not to lose 20 minutes. Anyway he prefer longer stages.

 

[Taxus4a]

I'm not sure what you were saying?

He needed that job in the wibter thinking in the future... This season he started witv less level, but better of his body, with his 2 legs at the same power.. That is very importat.. Now he did the training, later he lost weight and he is in ghe way to inprove the level.. Yesterday he showed a level at least as hw showed last year or even better.. If he lost today contac in a descent maybe I cant take into account today result.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

So Chris lost more time today, he has saved lots of energy for his pre-Tour test. Oh man, tomorrow he will go thermonuclear right from the start line putting the rest outside the time limit.

 

[Pantanino]

I'm pretty sure Froome can be happy with his performance today. He managed the first climb more or less inside the main GC group which is encouraging. No idea tho what happened in the decent and why he dropped there already and thus I would not put any weight on the time loss as it really is a different game once your dropped.

As I said before, it takes balls from Froome to be part of the races knowing that he needs more time to find out what level he still can reach and is loosing against guys he'll used to eat for breakky. I also believe he will do the TdF and in my mind it makes total sense for him to keep his body and mind in "GT mode" and for sure nothing beats the training effect of racing.

 

[Ripper]

He needed that job in the wibter thinking in the future... This season he started witv less level, but better of his body, with his 2 legs at the same power.. That is very importat.. Now he did the training, later he lost weight and he is in ghe way to inprove the level.. Yesterday he showed a level at least as hw showed last year or even better.. If he lost today contac in a descent maybe I cant take into account today result.

You said for sure I am not right, but you have not in any way explained how I am not correct, either in your initial reply or above.

 

[Pinot's goat]

I'm pretty sure Froome can be happy with his performance today. He managed the first climb more or less inside the main GC group which is encouraging. No idea tho what happened in the decent and why he dropped there already and thus I would not put any weight on the time loss as it really is a different game once your dropped.

As I said before, it takes balls from Froome to be part of the races knowing that he needs more time to find out what level he still can reach and is loosing against guys he'll used to eat for breakky. I also believe he will do the TdF and in my mind it makes total sense for him to keep his body and mind in "GT mode" and for sure nothing beats the training effect of racing.

He was right at the back for the descent so it only takes one rider to struggle and then there is a split and Movistar were pushing so it was impossible to get back on.

 

[Pantanino]

He was right at the back for the descent so it only takes one rider to struggle and then there is a split and Movistar were pushing so it was impossible to get back on.

Yep, you can clearly also see that he is in "training mode" from the way he is positioning himself in the peloton and then these things happen when it's full gas. Overall his riding during this week has shown a clear step forward and if he can make a similar step up for the TdF he should be in position to do a decent Tour.

 

[TMJ]

Yep, you can clearly also see that he is in "training mode" from the way he is positioning himself in the peloton and then these things happen when it's full gas. Overall his riding during this week has shown a clear step forward and if he can make a similar step up for the TdF he should be in position to do a decent Tour.

What? This week has been pretty depressing for lovers of Chris Froome, I'd suggest.
The TT was particularly disheartening because it cruelly exposed his clear lack of power.
When you say 'decent' I assume you mean he will be pack-fill, finishing around 60th, 70th, 80th?
I think, to be fair to Chris, he's good enough to finish the TdF, which hardly anyone on Planet Earth is capable of, but surely that alone is not satisfactory to him or his fans.

 

[Pantanino]

What? This week has been pretty depressing for lovers of Chris Froome, I'd suggest.
The TT was particularly disheartening because it cruelly exposed his clear lack of power.
When you say 'decent' I assume you mean he will be pack-fill, finishing around 60th, 70th, 80th?
I think, to be fair to Chris, he's good enough to finish the TdF, which hardly anyone on Planet Earth is capable of, but surely that alone is not satisfactory to him or his fans.

I think here exactly lies the big difference to how we as spectators see things vs. how Froome himself sees things and what he has been talking about in terms of making progress. I think a lot of the comments on how bad he is at the moment are coming from people making the assumption he believed to be winning TdF this year by saying that is his main objective for the season. IMHO it makes a lot of sense for him to ride the Tour this year as the team is new for him and clearly the form is not that bad either that he could not finish - that's all there is to expect this year and as I've said earlier next year should then show what his "best form" can be given the circumstances.

 

[yaco]

I couldnt watch the stage. The results is bad. I dont know if he saved energy for a breakaway tomorrow or he didnt want to risk on a descent as I read and later he was in a group and no more ... But I am pretty sure his level today for the mountains is not to lose 20 minutes. Anyway he prefer longer stages.

I suggest that if you can't watch the stage or stages then you refrain from comment until you watch the stage.

 

[bNator]

I suggest that if you can't watch the stage or stages then you refrain from comment until you watch the stage.

I don't think one needs to necessarily watch the stage prior to commenting the result. I mean even if he did watch the stage it's not like Froome gets a lot of screen time for us to be able to evaluate his performance based on tv exposure...

 

[TMJ]

What?

When the live coverage started today as the peloton climbed the mighty All Category Col de la Colombiere I could not see Froome and assumed he had been dropped.
However, after a few minutes there he was (probably in the last third of the group) successfully staying with them as they crested.
What was even more encouraging was seeing Froome and two team mates aggressively move to the front of the peloton as it approached the All Category Col de Joux Plane, which had me thinking: 'Wow, Chris must feel really good."
However, that brief hope was quickly dashed on the slopes of the climb and Froome was jettisoned out of the back.
He did not completely blow and finished a respectable 10.24 behind the stage winner in 51st place.
I don't see much encouragement here, but I expect Froome himself to claim the week was evidence of improvement.
I wonder how much longer he will be saying that?

 

[Froome]

When the live coverage started today as the peloton climbed the mighty All Category Col de la Colombiere I could not see Froome and assumed he had been dropped.
However, after a few minutes there he was (probably in the last third of the group) successfully staying with them as they crested.
What was even more encouraging was seeing Froome and two team mates aggressively move to the front of the peloton as it approached the All Category Col de Joux Plane, which had me thinking: 'Wow, Chris must feel really good."
However, that brief hope was quickly dashed on the slopes of the climb and Froome was jettisoned out of the back.
He did not completely blow and finished a respectable 10.24 behind the stage winner in 51st place.
I don't see much encouragement here, but I expect Froome himself to claim the week was evidence of improvement.
I wonder how much longer he will be saying that?

He improved if we compare with tour of romandie. 47 on gc at dauphine, 93 on gc at tour of romandie.
And it was his best result of the season.
Of course his level continue to be very low, but there was a little bit of improvement.
I think he should do the tour and the vuelta, that's the best train that he can make to try to improve more.

 

[yaco]

I don't think one needs to necessarily watch the stage prior to commenting the result. I mean even if he did watch the stage it's not like Froome gets a lot of screen time for us to be able to evaluate his performance based on tv exposure...

It's not the first time they have stated they didn't watch the stage - These kinds of opinion have no validity - For example, Froome last chunks of time in the 2020 Vuelta, though he improved as the race went on and he was actually working for his team leader on one or two occasions -But if you failed to watch the stages then you would think he was totally hopeless.

 

[Taxus4a]

He finished 47 th overall. Not brilliat, but I think he showed some improvement. He lost contact in a descent yesterday. Other way it would have been better.

 

[Taxus4a]

You said for sure I am not right, but you have not in any way explained how I am not correct, either in your initial reply or above.

Maybe I dindt understand you, sorry

 

[IndianCyclist]

As he is not able to improve with training, i suspect he will have surgery to correct the problem

 

[TMJ]

When the live coverage started today as the peloton climbed the mighty All Category Col de la Colombiere I could not see Froome and assumed he had been dropped.
However, after a few minutes there he was (probably in the last third of the group) successfully staying with them as they crested.
What was even more encouraging was seeing Froome and two team mates aggressively move to the front of the peloton as it approached the All Category Col de Joux Plane, which had me thinking: 'Wow, Chris must feel really good."
However, that brief hope was quickly dashed on the slopes of the climb and Froome was jettisoned out of the back.
He did not completely blow and finished a respectable 10.24 behind the stage winner in 51st place.
I don't see much encouragement here, but I expect Froome himself to claim the week was evidence of improvement.
I wonder how much longer he will be saying that?

Here is Chris Froome's immediate take on his Dauphine performance. As predicted.

Chris Froome: “For me personally, it was good to get some hard racing like this in the legs. This is exactly what I was missing and exactly what I need to help push me up to the next level. I definitely felt like I was settling into the race as the race went on, and as we got into the higher mountains, I definitely felt better today as well. I’m not up there with the front guys yet but if I look back just a month, to my last race in Romandie, there has definitely been a strong progression.”