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Froome ignorance, he could always TT and climb

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Jul 8, 2012
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Tyler'sTwin said:
I'm guessing there are about 50 active riders who had shown more GT potential by age 25 than Froome had. Including several on his team.

Löfkvist is one and I have followed him since he became a pro. He was hailed as great talent that could be a future top 10 GC rider. He has taken smal steps year by year but has now stagnated a bit. His best GC result came in 2010 when he came 17th overall in TdF. That year he was supposed to be a domestique for Wiggo but performed better than Wiggo early on and became Skys GC man instead of Wiggo during the race.

If Löfkvist all of the sudden was to produce a top 3 GC result in one of the Grand Tours, I wouldn't believe he was clean. Not a chance. That's because I know how hard he has trained all these years, he has worked his *** off to be a top 10 GC rider and so far it has gotten him a 17th place in TdF. There is just not room for much progress in a natural way, he is already very close to his maximum as a GC rider.

Considering Froome, I don't have much knowledge about him as a rider before 2011, so I don't know if there was much room for improvement when he came to Sky - if he was a very talanted rider that just hadn't been training and focusing enough. Therefore I refrain from speculating too much about the explanation for his success. I know too little.
 
Mar 26, 2009
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www.ciclismo-espresso.com
Today at Rai there was Lampre's team manager Giuseppe Saronni as guest and he reported a little fact from last year; during the first days of the Vuelta 2011 they had reached a verbal agreement with Froom for sign a contract with them, but after his performance Sky was quick to offer them 10 times the amount of the Lampre's deal.
 
Mar 13, 2009
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Falken said:
Löfkvist is one and I have followed him since he became a pro. He was hailed as great talent that could be a future top 10 GC rider.

where did he finish in the giro?

he had a jour sans? fell outside top ten, after leading for a week. Sounds like Evans first giro
 
Mar 13, 2009
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hrotha said:
JTL is a Pecharromán.

wow

good memory.

Came
Saw
Won

we file that WON (sic) under, we file that one wonder

file that away to Baden Cooke's "custard" theory :D

However, Cooke has had a chance to talk with Petacchi after the Tour at the races. "He's just a normal bloke, he seems like a good guy," Cooke said of the 'gentleman sprinter'. "If he continues like he did this year then he'll be very hard to beat, but he's got to get himself to the finish," he said.

Even so, Cooke is a little wary of the rider's sudden arrival as a sprinter. "Before the age of 28, it's like he never did a thing, so with riders like that, where they have a really big year, it's possible they could back to where they were before. He may not be able to pull the skin off a custard."

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/riders/2003/interviews/?id=baden_cooke03-2

21ef.jpg
 
Aug 6, 2012
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element said:
He's clearly a lot leaner than he was even back in 2009. If he was capable of those results as a 22 year old in the tour, it's not inconceivable that he could be doing what he's doing now with good health, lower weight, altitude training, and a more structured race program.

2009_Chris_Froome_Sky_2.jpg
- 2009

Chris+Froome+Le+Tour+de+France+2012+Stage+eGtelVoWonvl.jpg
- 2012

That's not Froome though - isn't that Cooke? Here is Froome in his Barloworld colours:

http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=14058
 
blablabla.

Last stickman I backed was the chicken.

When I see a new stickman get Olympic TT bronze, well it's like ...

"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."
 
Jun 1, 2011
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The simple fact of the matter is, with age, any serious rider and at any level or racing will drop weight naturally....it does really say anything one way or the other. Showing pictures of someone at the age of 22 and then at 27 or 28 is not a fair comparision. If they have been racing at a high level should look much leaner with time. If the picture is into the third week of a GT or well into the year, even more so.
 

Fidolix

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Jan 16, 2012
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blackcat said:
no, Froome in 2008 Queen Stage at TDF. he was with the front group over all passes.

This is indeed a natural progression had he been gifted the favoured son status of a national, say, a Bauke Mollema.

Does anyone raise an eyebrow at Porte.

Froome is much classier than Porte.

No one cares about Porte's lack of history.

Froome has been put on ice for a while because of woes at Barloworld then injuries. Otherwise, everyone would talk of this putative yet specious natural progression like Dan Martin and Tony Martin and anyone with a surname named Martin.

you do know a gran tour is 20 - 21 stages right?
I always raised my eyebrows about Porte, he got a gift of 14 minutes or so in the giro and hanged on to it. Well done, since then he showed nothing in the mountains other being dropped course he was to lazy to work.
And now he´s a mountain goat pulling everybody in when it gets tough?
Makes sence.

Im to lazy to go check the gap between number 1 and 31, but I think you got my drift.
The only revelation regarding Froome is he´s somewhat unreal and remarkable progress.
 
BillytheKid said:
The simple fact of the matter is, with age, any serious rider and at any level or racing will drop weight naturally....it does really say anything one way or the other. Showing pictures of someone at the age of 22 and then at 27 or 28 is not a fair comparision. If they have been racing at a high level should look much leaner with time. If the picture is into the third week of a GT or well into the year, even more so.

Are you sure about this? As you age your body's metabolism slows. I'm not sure but I think this process starts when you stop growing, so from say early 20's. That means if you do the same training you'll need to eat less to maintain the same weight. By my reckoning all things being equal you're more likely to gain weight not lose it. In case of pro riders they would be expected to maintain weight despite encroaching age through being careful what and how much they eat.
 
Mar 13, 2009
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Fidolix said:
you do know a gran tour is 20 - 21 stages right?
I always raised my eyebrows about Porte, he got a gift of 14 minutes or so in the giro and hanged on to it. Well done, since then he showed nothing in the mountains other being dropped course he was to lazy to work.
And now he´s a mountain goat pulling everybody in when it gets tough?
Makes sence.

Im to lazy to go check the gap between number 1 and 31, but I think you got my drift.
The only revelation regarding Froome is he´s somewhat unreal and remarkable progress.
no doubt froome is doping, much like wigans and the rest in the top 10 of the classement in the Tour.

How many have not worked out, that Froome always had the talent, just not the oportunity or race schedule, and the preparation. Heck, put preperation in inverted commas "perparation". Fact is, until Andy can show the potential (re:chrono) he showed earlier in his career, more than Basso, in finishing in the top3 in the timetrials at the Tour. Andy had some innate talent for GT chronos. He could limit his losses, or even gain over a Basso type.

Fact is... Froome is the most talented GT rider in the current peloton.
 
Jul 27, 2009
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blackcat said:
no doubt froome is doping, much like wigans and the rest in the top 10 of the classement in the Tour.

How many have not worked out, that Froome always had the talent, just not the oportunity or race schedule, and the preparation. Heck, put preperation in inverted commas "perparation". Fact is, until Andy can show the potential (re:chrono) he showed earlier in his career, more than Basso, in finishing in the top3 in the timetrials at the Tour. Andy had some innate talent for GT chronos. He could limit his losses, or even gain over a Basso type.

Fact is... Froome is the most talented GT rider in the current peloton.

3pm7ue.jpg


How do you figure? He has zero GT's vs. a few guys who have multiple. One is even in his prime or close to it.
 
Apr 20, 2012
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El Pistolero said:
Funny how Baden Cooke calls 27 wins including 3 Vuelta stages nothing.
That indeed was quite funny. Perhaps Cooke thought Petacchi's wins were the same as his great crit wins in Australia, South Africa and the States...

On topic: Froome is an amazing rider. I am gonna enjoy watching the Vuelta. Wonder what Cooke thinks of his former teammate at Barloworld.
 
To be honest, i dont really mind the fact that some people suspect him using unfair methods...

I just love the idea that we might get a agressive contender to the GT's now when Contador is back. I was sick and tired of watching the Sky train especially during this years tour. We need some aggressive riders like Froome has proven to be in the past.

That being said, im quite sure Contador will come out on top after this years vuelta.
 
Fidolix said:
you do know a gran tour is 20 - 21 stages right?
I always raised my eyebrows about Porte, he got a gift of 14 minutes or so in the giro and hanged on to it. Well done, since then he showed nothing in the mountains other being dropped course he was to lazy to work.
And now he´s a mountain goat pulling everybody in when it gets tough?
Makes sence..
If you take away the time Porte (and everyone else) gained from the big breakaway, Porte would still have been in the top 10 overall. He was also very impressive in San Sebastian in 2010.

Having a good year, then a bad year, then a good year again, isn't particularly suspicious to me. Happens to just about anyone. Particularly that early in one's career.
 

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