Summoned said:Do you think the ASO is acting in bad faith? Do you think they believe that having Froome ride the Tour, wear the yellow on the podium, and then have to strip him of the jersey would have a negative effect on the Tour? Note that I am not saying that it would, but asking if it is reasonable to believe the ASO thinks this.Alpe73 said:spalco said:Alpe73 said:Exclusions in these circumstances do not improve the quality of the competition or the reputation of the race..
Indeed.
Rightly or wrongly .... this will open up ASO to all sorts of accusations .... from “ robbing spectators of a chance to see Froome get a legitimate thumping “ to “attempting to set it up for one of their own.”
Totally silly move by ASO.
Actually the worst case isn't even that (although the accusation will no doubt be made, especially if for example Bardet gets into yellow...).
The worst case is if Froome wins his appeal against ASO, and then wins the Tour de France. If even the race organisers explicitely say he's disreputable, then why should anyone else believe in the authenticity of his win?
That would really make the sport look like a joke, regardless of the outcome of Froome's AAF case.
Because most fans ... millions of them ... don’t know about ASO and/or don’t give a fiddler’s feck about ... what ASO thinks. Same threats around Giro. Italian fans were great and Froome probably ended up with a net gain of Italian fans.
Clinic has a problem about keeping it real. Disrepute? Gimme a break. :lol:
To be clear ... I don’t ‘know’ that ASO is acting in bad faith ... is trying to ‘stick it to’ Froome.
But ... based on the similar circumstances of disrepute fear around the Giro, based on the fact that UCI rules permit Froome to ride ... plus the perfect storm for ASO to be tempted to play the “Budd Rule ... I am therefore suspicious of ASO’s motivations. Would like to see their legitimate predictions on branding being negatively affected by allowing Froome to ride.