Froome is Sky's best chance to win Le Tour

[ferryman]

So says Stephen Roche:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/froome-is-skys-best-chance-to-win-the-tour-de-france-roche-says

Surprised this hasn't cropped up yet in the forum as it seems a bit controversial to me. Is Roche simply mischief making here or is he correct with his assertion that:

1) Froome is really Sky's best chance over Wiggins;

2) Targetting the Tour on 2 fronts is not achievable.

His logic on 1) doesn't compute with me as it will be each man on his own over 100K of ITT and no way Froome will sneak in under the radar on any climb after his perfomance in the Vuelta.

I'm sure more knowledgeable posters can provide a deeper analysis

 

[Forunculo]

I guess Wiggo is nervous because he knows Froome is better than him, the excuse that he couldn't prepare well the Vuelta because his injury. Only politics can save him if they send Froome to Italy

 

[jens_attacks]

i still think wiggins is better than froomy.it is good to have two strong cards to play

 

[masking_agent]

way to early to tell. But I think its better to have two contenders for GC, versus one of them. I think this will be Sky's least biggest problem. They first have to figure out how to support the Green and Yellow jersey simultaneously.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

So says Stephen Roche:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/froome-is-skys-best-chance-to-win-the-tour-de-france-roche-says

Surprised this hasn't cropped up yet in the forum as it seems a bit controversial to me. Is Roche simply mischief making here or is he correct with his assertion that:

1) Froome is really Sky's best chance over Wiggins;

2) Targetting the Tour on 2 fronts is not achievable.

His logic on 1) doesn't compute with me as it will be each man on his own over 100K of ITT and no way Froome will sneak in under the radar on any climb after his perfomance in the Vuelta.

I'm sure more knowledgeable posters can provide a deeper analysis

general news thread .yesterday post 4387

 

[cineteq]

This is the reason he said it:
“For me, though, I think Froome is the one: he’s got a great attitude, great ability, he time-trials well, climbs well and recuperates very well and can last the three weeks. Ok, Bradley’s there, but he’s now targeted. People know Bradley, whereas Froome could benefit from the limelight being on Bradley and Cavendish.”

 

[theyoungest]

The Vuelta is such a different race to the Tour... or do we suddenly expect Cobo to win the Tour? Froomey seems the type of rider who could do well in the Tour, but we don't know until he gets there.

 

[The Hitch]

Froome is Skys best chance to win Le Tour.

But I think for 2012 Wiggins is their best chance.

Froome meanwhile could still improve a bit as he moves onto his late 20's and hes a good all round gc rider.

general news thread .yesterday post 4387

Thats what happens when you dont open a thread

Only politics can save him if they send Froome to Italy

Italy is too cold for Froome. He likes that Vuelta sun.

 

[Kvinto]

Froome had one awesome GT in career and this GT is Vuelta with its reduced field. He was well prepared to this race and performed better than Wiggins, but lets not forget that Bradley had broken his collarbone 6 weeks before it started. All these assumptions that Froome can perform better than Wiggins in the Tour is based on his Vuelta and ability to tt whereas being ahead of post-injured Wiggins, Mollema or Monfort is not the same as contention with Contador, Evans or A.Schleck. I don't put much faith in Wiggins' Tour but in the case of Froome there's no faith at all, i will be surprised if he just top-10s not talking about possible win. Probably in 1/2/3 years Froome will become a real factor in the Tour, but definitely not in 2012.

 

[ferryman]

general news thread .yesterday post 4387

You have me at an advantage

 

[Afrank]

Wiggins is there best chance for tour victory at the moment, he did break his collarbone in the tour and had to recover quickly for the vuelta so I don't think he was at his best form. Froome will definitely be a contender for future GT's.

 

[theyoungest]

Froome had one awesome GT in career and this GT is Vuelta with its reduced field. He was well prepared to this race and performed better than Wiggins, but lets not forget that Bradley had broken his collarbone 6 weeks before it started. All these assumptions that Froome can perform better than Wiggins in the Tour is based on his Vuelta and ability to tt whereas being ahead of post-injured Wiggins, Mollema or Monfort is not the same as contention with Contador, Evans or A.Schleck. I don't put much faith in Wiggins' Tour but in the case of Froome there's no faith at all, i will be surprised if he just top-10s not talking about possible win. Probably in 1/2/3 years Froome will become a real factor in the Tour, but definitely not in 2012.

Exactly. Velits was 3d in the Vuelta 2010, no one mentions him as a Tour favourite.

 

[jens_attacks]

c'mon theyoungest you know pretty well that velits barring that stratospheric time trial wasn't that impressive in the mountains,froome was something else.
and yes i think cobo in full form can get near a podium finish or even on it.remember that vuelta was hard ridden last year,most of the riders said that was the harderst grand tour of their lifes.

sky is a team to watch in next years tour.and about the green jersey...sky can win that too,it's a very strong team.

everything is possible in cycling.

 

[theyoungest]

c'mon theyoungest you know pretty well that velits barring that stratospheric time trial wasn't that impressive in the mountains,froome was something else.
and yes i think cobo in full form can get near a podium finish or even on it.remember that vuelta was hard ridden last year,most of the riders said that was the harderst grand tour of their lifes.

sky is a team to watch in next years tour.and about the green jersey...sky can win that too,it's a very strong team.

Froome was something else... but against what opposition? His teammate and Mollema?

 

[jens_attacks]

Froome was something else... but against what opposition? His teammate and Mollema?

i don't care about the opposition i care about how hard they ride it,about how fast they go uphill.it's not froomy's fault that mollema or even sergey lagutin,wouter peols made some high class,tour de france worthed ascents.

 

[Kvinto]

huh, i wonder why considering Tour chances of Giro top-3 guys like Scarponi, Nibali or Basso we often say 'no way', but yet someone like Froome or Cobo suddenly becomes a Tour favourite after good Vuelta

 

[maltiv]

Froome was something else... but against what opposition? His teammate and Mollema?

Wasn't Froome considerably faster up the final climb in st 17 than Rodriguez was in 2010? Anyway, the numbers were pretty insane, which suggests that apart from Contador I doubt many could have followed Froome and Cobo.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Froome was something else... but against what opposition? His teammate and Mollema?

Against the 2nd & 3rd riders at the Giro, and Menchov.

There were plenty of names there - they're just conveniently forgotten as they performanced poorly.

 

[Richeypen]

Against the 2nd & 3rd riders at the Giro, and Menchov.

There were plenty of names there - they're just conveniently forgotten as they performanced poorly.

Not forgetting that if it was run with Tour rules Froome would have won

 

[maltiv]

huh, i wonder why considering Tour chances of Giro top-3 guys like Scarponi, Nibali or Basso we often say 'no way', but yet someone like Froome or Cobo suddenly becomes a Tour favourite after good Vuelta

Probably because the Vuelta and the Tour are traditionally more alike. Scarponi seems to excel in cold weather which you'd get plenty of in the Giro. Basso on the other hand needs a really steep climb to get away, something that unfortunately doesn't feature in TDF. Considering his horrific TT it looks almost impossible unless he finds his 2006 Giro shape (in which case he will win by 30 minutes).

Those who claim that Nibali can't podium are just being irrational

 

[jens_attacks]

Wasn't Froome considerably faster up the final climb in st 17 than Rodriguez was in 2010? Anyway, the numbers were pretty insane, which suggests that apart from Contador I doubt many could have followed Froome and Cobo.

purito was faster back in 2010 but yeah the top riders from last year's vuelta were as fit as in tour de france 2009

 

[Kvinto]

Probably because the Vuelta and the Tour are traditionally more alike. Scarponi seems to excel in cold weather which you'd get plenty of in the Giro. Basso on the other hand needs a really steep climb to get away, something that unfortunately doesn't feature in TDF. Considering his horrific TT it looks almost impossible unless he finds his 2006 Giro shape (in which case he will win by 30 minutes).

Those who claim that Nibali can't podium are just being irrational

I would rather say with ASO influence Vuelta became the Tour second league, and tbh i don't consider someone who wins the second league an automatic contender for the first Tour.

 

[maltiv]

purito was faster back in 2010 but yeah the top riders from last year's vuelta were as fit as in tour de france 2009

Oh, but I think Froome was faster in the last kilometer at least, but I'm not really sure. Either way, with the same form in TDF he would probably be top 5 I think.

 

[theyoungest]

Wasn't Froome considerably faster up the final climb in st 17 than Rodriguez was in 2010? Anyway, the numbers were pretty insane, which suggests that apart from Contador I doubt many could have followed Froome and Cobo.

Mollema finished 20 secs back, and he had almost come to a halt because of spectators blocking the road. I don't rate him equally to Contador either

That Pena Cabarga climb is interesting though. Wiggo struggled a bit there, and I think you could compare it to the Planche des Belles Filles in the Tour this year. Froomey could certainly be ahead of Wiggo after one week. Polemica coming up...

 

[greenedge]

We would not be arguing about who should be leader at the TDF if Froome was allowed to ride for the GC at the Vuelta instead of having to ride for Wiggins. That performance would have guaranteed him leadership.

I think he is a strong rider who is also good on the climbs and he can time-trial well ( maybe not as well as Wiggins on peak form but he could improve even more ). I think if Sky found themselves with the opportunity for him to attack they should let him ( the two cards ). If he gets the lead after an ITT they should ride for him ( as he and Wiggins would presumably have been on the same time beforehand ) and he is a more dogged climber ( who can attack ).
I'm sure Sky will sort it out.

They have riders who are in the same mould as Wiggins in Rogers/ Porte who can ride for Wiggins in the mountains yet who can maybe help Cav. EBH and Uran can probably do the same ( though poor Eddy will be chasing stage wins, leading Cav out, going for sprints where Cav is dropped and maybe helping Wiggins. )