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It still required a high level - much, much higher than he has shown later.
After four stages of the Coppi e Bartali our Christopher Froome is residing at 106th place in a field of 115 riders and is 1hr 8mins 28secs behind current leader Eddie Dunbar.
Do we know what Froome has to do to be considered for the TDF team? Didn't a DS for IPT say last year he was going to need some results before this year's Tour in order to be added to the team?
Furthermore, it sounds like IPT is worried about their point standings for next year. I can't imagine they would want a lot of dead weight on this year's team.
Furthermore, it sounds like IPT is worried about their point standings for next year. I can't imagine they would want a lot of dead weight on this year's team.
Mr. Froome is positively upbeat about the last 5 days, which left him 86th out of 99 finishers.
He just tweeted this :
Chris Froome
@chrisfroome
22m
First race in the bag! Wasn’t feeling my best but it was exactly what I needed #coppiebartali
He just tweeted this :
Chris Froome
@chrisfroome
22m
First race in the bag! Wasn’t feeling my best but it was exactly what I needed #coppiebartali
He has the level to finish a professional bike race (2.1 level like Coppi e Bartali), even if he's close to the bottom. Considering his age, history, form etc. this is probably his level.
I'm not joking either when I say I believe he does still have some endurance qualities in him, i.e. he finished the Tour de France last summer as well. So as an "athlete", he's probably quite fit.
He just has no real climbing strength when the road goes up & no speed either so he can't actually "race" his bike. But he can ride around for hours & finish closer to the pros than a cyclotourist could. Granted, that's probably not why Israel are paying him, but it is what it is.
I'm not joking either when I say I believe he does still have some endurance qualities in him, i.e. he finished the Tour de France last summer as well. So as an "athlete", he's probably quite fit.
He just has no real climbing strength when the road goes up & no speed either so he can't actually "race" his bike. But he can ride around for hours & finish closer to the pros than a cyclotourist could. Granted, that's probably not why Israel are paying him, but it is what it is.
I go along with this.
Remember at the TdF 2021 ISN were kind of scratching their heads regarding Froome because he was never tired after completing a stage, but did not compete in them either.
I agree he has tremendous bike-riding endurance and fitness, but has absolutely no turn of pace, does not flash at any time in any race and as we have seen in the TT's his power output has fallen off a cliff.
Froome can tootle around in the peloton (or more likely second peloton / autobus) without too much difficulty, but has shown zero evidence he can even look to compete in the most average WT races.
Froome stealing Nibali's "in the bag" before he copyrights it.
This was not written for a cycling audience, but this week The Times let their readers know what is happening with Chris Froome.
Chris Froome: Diminished, fighting at the back – but still striving to regain former powers
Nearly 37, the four-times Tour de France winner has shown no signs of losing appetite for racing, but he has made little progress, John Westerby writes
There has been no indication from Chris Froome, who turns 37 in two months, that the appetite to regain his former powers is waning. He is back in racing action this week for the first time this year, knocking off the rust with his Israel Premier-Tech team at the five-day Coppi e Bartali stage race in Italy, a delayed start to his season after he suffered a knee tendon injury.
In the first stage on Tuesday, Froome rolled in 15 minutes behind the stage winner, Mauro Schmid. On Wednesday, after more than four hours on an undulating stage, he found himself a further 21 minutes back as Ethan Hayter, of Ineos Grenadiers, claimed a stage win on a steep final climb. None of Froome’s performances come as a surprise, given the knee injury and his lack of racing time, but they are a sign that the struggles he has endured since that horrific crash in 2019 are far from over.
“[It] was a bit of a shock to the system after five months of not racing,” Froome said after the opening day. “The stages here are very much like Ardennes races, with two to three-kilometre climbs over and over again. It’s tough racing, but I think that this is a good way for me to start and hopefully for me to look ahead to the races coming up. I think I’m going to take it day by day and just see how things are going.”
When you have scaled the heights like Froome — who won the Tour de France four times, the Vuelta a España twice and the Giro d’Italia once — how much longer can you gain satisfaction from life back in the peloton? There is a balance to be struck, clearly, in the simple enjoyment of competing, of riding a bike in a team enterprise, but how long will the hunger remain to keep pushing his body in the punishing manner required of a professional road racer away from the heat of competition, when the rewards may only be to compete as a diminished performer?
Every athlete craves the opportunity to bow out on their own terms. The crash and serious injuries that he suffered during the build-up to the Critérium du Dauphiné three years ago have clearly reduced Froome’s chances of bowing out at the top, and the two seasons since his accident have given scant encouragement that he will be able to compete for grand tour victories again.
There is undoubtedly motivation for Froome to continue in the short term, not least a salary of €5.5 million (about £4.6 million) from Israel Premier-Tech, the team he joined last year from Ineos Grenadiers. In the week he returned to racing Cycling Weekly published a list of the highest earners in the sport, and Froome still sits in second place in that list. Tadej Pogacar, the Slovenian who has won the Tour de France for the past two years, is the only rider earning more, and the highest-earning Ineos riders are Geraint Thomas, on €3.5 million, and Egan Bernal, on €2.8 million, another who has suffered serious injuries in a recent crash. Thomas, a year younger than Froome but still approaching the final stages of his career, is also in action at Coppi e Bartali this week.
After his departure from Ineos, Froome was a signature signing for an ambitious team and his very presence in races generates plenty of attention for Israel-Premier Tech and their sponsors, even if he is primarily back in the pack. There is a grim fascination for spectators in seeing a former great attempting to recapture the form of his younger days.
The rest of his racing programme for this season is yet to be determined and will depend on his form in the coming weeks. But it must be hoped that Froome can regain some semblance of his former glories and that the final chapters of his time as a professional bear some of the hallmarks of one of the sport’s all-time greats, rather than merely being shaped by the after-effects of a career-changing crash.
Chris Froome: Diminished, fighting at the back – but still striving to regain former powers
Nearly 37, the four-times Tour de France winner has shown no signs of losing appetite for racing, but he has made little progress, John Westerby writes
There has been no indication from Chris Froome, who turns 37 in two months, that the appetite to regain his former powers is waning. He is back in racing action this week for the first time this year, knocking off the rust with his Israel Premier-Tech team at the five-day Coppi e Bartali stage race in Italy, a delayed start to his season after he suffered a knee tendon injury.
In the first stage on Tuesday, Froome rolled in 15 minutes behind the stage winner, Mauro Schmid. On Wednesday, after more than four hours on an undulating stage, he found himself a further 21 minutes back as Ethan Hayter, of Ineos Grenadiers, claimed a stage win on a steep final climb. None of Froome’s performances come as a surprise, given the knee injury and his lack of racing time, but they are a sign that the struggles he has endured since that horrific crash in 2019 are far from over.
“[It] was a bit of a shock to the system after five months of not racing,” Froome said after the opening day. “The stages here are very much like Ardennes races, with two to three-kilometre climbs over and over again. It’s tough racing, but I think that this is a good way for me to start and hopefully for me to look ahead to the races coming up. I think I’m going to take it day by day and just see how things are going.”
When you have scaled the heights like Froome — who won the Tour de France four times, the Vuelta a España twice and the Giro d’Italia once — how much longer can you gain satisfaction from life back in the peloton? There is a balance to be struck, clearly, in the simple enjoyment of competing, of riding a bike in a team enterprise, but how long will the hunger remain to keep pushing his body in the punishing manner required of a professional road racer away from the heat of competition, when the rewards may only be to compete as a diminished performer?
Every athlete craves the opportunity to bow out on their own terms. The crash and serious injuries that he suffered during the build-up to the Critérium du Dauphiné three years ago have clearly reduced Froome’s chances of bowing out at the top, and the two seasons since his accident have given scant encouragement that he will be able to compete for grand tour victories again.
There is undoubtedly motivation for Froome to continue in the short term, not least a salary of €5.5 million (about £4.6 million) from Israel Premier-Tech, the team he joined last year from Ineos Grenadiers. In the week he returned to racing Cycling Weekly published a list of the highest earners in the sport, and Froome still sits in second place in that list. Tadej Pogacar, the Slovenian who has won the Tour de France for the past two years, is the only rider earning more, and the highest-earning Ineos riders are Geraint Thomas, on €3.5 million, and Egan Bernal, on €2.8 million, another who has suffered serious injuries in a recent crash. Thomas, a year younger than Froome but still approaching the final stages of his career, is also in action at Coppi e Bartali this week.
After his departure from Ineos, Froome was a signature signing for an ambitious team and his very presence in races generates plenty of attention for Israel-Premier Tech and their sponsors, even if he is primarily back in the pack. There is a grim fascination for spectators in seeing a former great attempting to recapture the form of his younger days.
The rest of his racing programme for this season is yet to be determined and will depend on his form in the coming weeks. But it must be hoped that Froome can regain some semblance of his former glories and that the final chapters of his time as a professional bear some of the hallmarks of one of the sport’s all-time greats, rather than merely being shaped by the after-effects of a career-changing crash.
Chris Froome has just posted a video from his Gran Canaria training camp with his thoughts before his 86th place finish at the five-stage Coppi e Bartali.
Before his multiple days of training he said:
"I haven't done much intensity yet this season. I've got Coppi e Bartali coming one week after this camp so I'm gonna try and ramp up the miles here.
"I still need to get big volume in, obviously I'm a little bit behind because of the injury I had earlier on this year, so I really wanna ramp up the miles here, introduce a little bit of intensity.
"I'm still probably gonna find it difficult over at Coppi e Bartali, but that's the nature of the game, taking it one step at a time, really doing the foundation work now, making sure I'm getting the miles in, building a big base for everything that is to come this season.
"Before really turning the screws, I guess, to ramp it up with more intensity as I get closer to the bigger targets of the season."
Concluding his training camp, Froome revealed:
"All going really well actually, I'm feeling like the legs are turning well, certainly starting to see some progressions on last year's numbers, which is really encouraging and was what I was hoping to get out of this camp.
'Good to be here getting the work in and hopefully it pays dividends in the months to come."
Before his multiple days of training he said:
"I haven't done much intensity yet this season. I've got Coppi e Bartali coming one week after this camp so I'm gonna try and ramp up the miles here.
"I still need to get big volume in, obviously I'm a little bit behind because of the injury I had earlier on this year, so I really wanna ramp up the miles here, introduce a little bit of intensity.
"I'm still probably gonna find it difficult over at Coppi e Bartali, but that's the nature of the game, taking it one step at a time, really doing the foundation work now, making sure I'm getting the miles in, building a big base for everything that is to come this season.
"Before really turning the screws, I guess, to ramp it up with more intensity as I get closer to the bigger targets of the season."
Concluding his training camp, Froome revealed:
"All going really well actually, I'm feeling like the legs are turning well, certainly starting to see some progressions on last year's numbers, which is really encouraging and was what I was hoping to get out of this camp.
'Good to be here getting the work in and hopefully it pays dividends in the months to come."
whoever is paying him should have gone for $1m with bonuses. Wonder if there is a clawback 
.......never admit liability, or in this case, that you have doubts about coming back...last season was 'funny' as the cameras lingered on him being dropped...I don't think they are even bothering this year
.......never admit liability, or in this case, that you have doubts about coming back...last season was 'funny' as the cameras lingered on him being dropped...I don't think they are even bothering this year 
Perhaps he'll 'work' out his contract as he is
then re-sign with Sky/Ineos and win the TdF once more?
then re-sign with Sky/Ineos and win the TdF once more?
Is he just becoming the Michael Scott of the Pro peloton or what? How long will he drag his "numbers are improving" or "I'm getting where I want to be" BS and is his team or people around him really buying it?
With Pogacar doing the Dumoulin WVA reaction it would be the ultimate forum crash.
Froome Is Back, Baby!:
From the man himself yesterday.
“Obviously I was a bit delayed with the start to the season due to the setbacks that I had in December and January, but I’ve now had solid two and a half months to set up a good base.
“Now, after Coppi e Bartali it’s time for me to introduce more intensity and more race-specific work on the bike. That’ll take me towards my next goal, which will probably be the Tour of the Alps in a couple of weeks time.
“I’ve no issues now. No niggles, no pains, and nothing holding me back. I’ve got the green light so I just need to get the work in. I’m on that path now and that’s what I’m used to doing.
"The training, the sacrifice, that’s the part of the sport that I enjoy. I’m just going to get stuck into it. This is the first time since the big crash that everything is at 100 percent.
"There’s no reason why I should be held back. It’s purely about getting the racing and the training in and trying to get back up to speed again.
“I don’t know my program yet and we’re taking it race by race at the moment. So much depends on where I get to in the next month or so and if it all goes to plan.
“At the moment it’s a blank piece of paper. So much will depend on what happens in the next couple of months.
"I think that it won’t help to put expectations out there right now when I don’t know where I’m going to get to in the next couple of months. It really could go either way.
"I’d love to be back to my old self but it’s going to take a lot of work to get there. I’ve now got the green light to do that work. I’m optimistic and hope that I get there.”
From the man himself yesterday.
“Obviously I was a bit delayed with the start to the season due to the setbacks that I had in December and January, but I’ve now had solid two and a half months to set up a good base.
“Now, after Coppi e Bartali it’s time for me to introduce more intensity and more race-specific work on the bike. That’ll take me towards my next goal, which will probably be the Tour of the Alps in a couple of weeks time.
“I’ve no issues now. No niggles, no pains, and nothing holding me back. I’ve got the green light so I just need to get the work in. I’m on that path now and that’s what I’m used to doing.
"The training, the sacrifice, that’s the part of the sport that I enjoy. I’m just going to get stuck into it. This is the first time since the big crash that everything is at 100 percent.
"There’s no reason why I should be held back. It’s purely about getting the racing and the training in and trying to get back up to speed again.
“I don’t know my program yet and we’re taking it race by race at the moment. So much depends on where I get to in the next month or so and if it all goes to plan.
“At the moment it’s a blank piece of paper. So much will depend on what happens in the next couple of months.
"I think that it won’t help to put expectations out there right now when I don’t know where I’m going to get to in the next couple of months. It really could go either way.
"I’d love to be back to my old self but it’s going to take a lot of work to get there. I’ve now got the green light to do that work. I’m optimistic and hope that I get there.”
If he is getting that much rub he needs a new mechanic. Granted I don't come down mountain passes, but all of my riding is in the dirt (dust on everything). After a quick cleaning and adjustment I can usually go about 30 rides before I need another quick cleaning and adjustment. When one piston does hang up, I don't get rub, I get less breaking power. Sometimes a quick squirt from the water bottle can be enough to fix a slightly sticky piston.
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