From a doping point of view, what do you expect Froom in the vuelta?

[SafeBet]

From a doping point of view this was a juicy day.

 

[Franklin]

It was as expected. Froome is absolutely spanking them.

Just wait for the TT when he puts minutes into Purito, AC and Valverde.

 

[SafeBet]

It was as expected. Froome is absolutely spanking them.

Just wait for the TT when he puts minutes into Purito, AC and Valverde.

Just wait when he puts minutes into Tony Martin.

 

[Fergoose]

So far, so predictable with Froome being in pole position (when you consider an ITT still to come). Only Valverde appears to have had the preparation required to compete with Froome.

Valverde's had an amazing first week so far given the effort he had to put in after his crash and I think he'll beat Contador & Rodriguez as Movistar showed at the last Vuelta they are able to keep their leading contender extremely competitive for three weeks.

Great race layout. Shame about the riders.

 

[Benotti69]

So far, so predictable with Froome being in pole position (when you consider an ITT still to come). Only Valverde appears to have had the preparation required to compete with Froome.

Valverde's had an amazing first week so far given the effort he had to put in after his crash and I think he'll beat Contador & Rodriguez as Movistar showed at the last Vuelta they are able to keep their leading contender extremely competitive for three weeks.

Great race layout. Shame about the riders.

Cobo last year rode for GeoxTMC. Movistar had no one in the top 10 by the end of the Vuelta.

 

[BroDeal]

The farce continues. If McQuaid had a brain he would be telling Sky to give it a rest. Instead he seems intent on creating another monster, just like what the UCI did with Armstrong.

 

[Benotti69]

The farce continues. If McQuaid had a brain he would be telling Sky to give it a rest. Instead he seems intent on creating another monster, just like what the UCI did with Armstrong.

Maybe he is hoping to buy the TdF with Jimmy Murdoch

 

[the big ring]

Interesting to consider what happens if UCI goes down in any capacity thanks to LA vs USADA - while an agreement is in place with Sky.

ASO are still in play and running the show (TdF + Vuelta), but unless they control the new UCI, things could get kinda weird no?

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

The farce continues. If McQuaid had a brain he would be telling Sky to give it a rest. Instead he seems intent on creating another monster, just like what the UCI did with Armstrong.

The next thing is a Chinese winner of a GT. All continents should be able to win, or not?

 

[the big ring]

The next thing is a Chinese winner of a GT. All continents should be able to win, or not?

Japanese keirin rider who generates a larger than average percentage of his keirin power aerobically. Come on, they're already paying $3M / year to UCI.

You know it makes sense.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

We can see it from an ugly USPS standpoint or just from any other standpoint.
Let me do it as neutral observer (since the "Sky dopes better than the rest" was/is discussed at length already):

Sky is no more suspicious than all the other (big) teams.
Sky is doing the same as LIQ did at the Giro, only with more success since they have the better riders.

Wiggins, tough very suspicious had his transformation at "GAR the clean team". Not at Sky. BTW, for me Wiggins is the most doubtful on this squad.

Froome is no more suspicious with his performance jumps (given the age and progression) than the likes of Sastre, Evans, De Gendt or AC, to name a few (for further details, see my "Froome talk only" thread comments).

Henao was talked a lot about being the next big thing.

Uran was already very good before.

Rogers:
(Evans the "good guy" as comparison)
at age 23; 42nd GT (----)
24; 22nd (----)
25; 41st (14th)
26; 10th (----)
27; ----- (60th)
28; ----- (8th)
29; 8th (5th)
30; 37th (2nd)
31; ----- (2nd)
32; 23rd (3rd)
So if anything, Rogers soon should start to win GT´s. Same injury problems, same shady teams before, same shady DSes before, same TT-Talent as Cadel Evans.

Knees had his GT talent shown before (29th-2008, 20th-2009 at the TdF). The same is true w/Sivtsov.

B-Hagen is one of the best all around talents out there. Showed great ITT and sprint talent very early.

Porte was GT-Top-10 before, then missused by Rijs for one year and now back again. Yes, yes, i hear you. If not in the big break, no T-10. But i guess a T-20 was highly possible. He could go every tempo in that giro outside of the LIQ guys in all stages after the break.

Conclusion: It´s not that Sky invested big money in some obscure also-ran´s, but in guys who actually could do the train up the mountains like we see now.

Sky (outside of Wiggins*) is no more suspicious than any other team, if seen from a neutral standpoint.

* you guys may can write a PM to JV and ask how the transformation of Wiggins was done. I don´t care, since Froome will take over from now on.

 

[Cavalier]

Yea, all of those riders you compared Froome to went from doing averagely at continental level races with only a single win to their name to suddenly sitting on the podium in a grand tour, with only their own team preventing them winning it

Oh, they didn't? Same level of suspicion indeed.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

OK, show me the "all so good results" of this riders before they went to the big teams. I will take that fight.

 

[Cavalier]

http://www.cyclingbase.com/

Start there. And then show me an improvement like Froome's. Nothing to do with "big team". Show us the individual improvement that's anything like his.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

What has your link to do with Froome?

 

[Cavalier]

It houses every rider's results. Look them up, compare them. To give you an idea: Evans (who you said was more suspicious) had stood on a podium or won 8 times - including major races against high level pros since joining T-Mobile - before he stood on the podium in a Grand Tour. Froome? A hell of a lot less.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Can i ask kindly when Evans stood on a GT podium before being 30 years old?
All i know is that Froome did it twice at age 26...

 

[Cavalier]

And yet that's irrelevant to your claim. You said, and I quote:

Froome looks like LLS & Sastre. Evans looks even more doubious than Froome...

So, on what basis is Evans' progression more dubious than Froome's? How does Froome's career progression match Sastre's or Luis Leon Sanchez's (probably the most laughable comparison btw.)

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

First of all, you took it out of context. I said this when comparing the CQ points. Anyway, i see zero wins for Sastre when Froome already had some....

 

[Cavalier]

First of all, you took it out of context. I said this when comparing the CQ points. Anyway, i see zero wins for Sastre when Froome already had some....

Yea, both those Cat 2.5 races (1 in Italy and one in South Africa ffs) really stand up to scrutiny as evidence of the ability of someone whose next achievement would be 2nd in a Grand Tour.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

At least it was wins. Sastre still comes up empty.

 

[Cavalier]

Except he doesn't? He's got a demonstrated ability level in major races prior to winning the TdF. If that's what you call "coming up empty", I'm baffled by how you can remotely claim Froome's demonstrating something similar.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Are we still talking of Sastre until age 26, when Froome already had two GT podiums*?
There is nothing but emptiness...

* Before he had no chance to show results, b/c he rode for Minolta or doing mountain biking in Nairobi. I was there ten times. I can assure you, you go unnoticed there.

 

[sittingbison]

Foxxy I really don't understand your dogmatic approach to Froome, especially trying to compare him to Sastre, and Evans.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

It started a few days ago when i realized that double standards are applied.
I found out that many pipo here and especially in the RR-Thread hailed proven dopers like AC, Vino and Valv, and on the same time spilled their hate towards Froome who has yet to be linked to any scandal.
He is no more suspicious than late bloomers like Sastre or Evans, who also weren´t linked so far, but had suspicious performance jumps as well.
That´s basically all.
And finally i came to like Froome´s riding style. No clowning or look-hard-at-each-other or cry baby behaviours...