Teams & Riders Froome Talk Only

[macbindle]

Haha, you really can't help yourself can you, I'm a competitive athlete so I know all that needs to be known about VO2Max, unlike you apparently. Genetics are (normally) where it starts and that never changes and then you need to train it, so yeah if you can't train its going to go down, OK so far ? No such problem for Froome, he said it himself. There's a reason Lemond was always asking dodgy champs what their VO2Max was...

You must have missed 2015 when GSK lab released Froome's test data

But, please...carry on...

 

[SafeBet]

It is indeed hard to explain why he's become so useless, even Beloki wasn't that bad after he came back with from similar injuries.

Meh, Beloki was terrible. It's a coin toss for me.

 

[gillan1969]

My Vo2 has gone down 6 points since having covid 10 months ago.

Hope this helps you understand the nature of illness and injury in athletic performance

what? an assertion from an anonymous bloke off t'internet? lols

 

[Electress]

I've not been here for a long long time, and yet I find folks still talking about the ole Froomey.

And yep, I feel exactly the same way.

 

[MartinGT]

Dawg with a bad cough at the end. Where was his ventolin?

 

[SafeBet]

Dawg with a bad cough at the end. Where was his ventolin?

Still on Finestre maybe?

 

[Rackham]

That was close. Closer than I thought he'd get (although this is 'entertainment' & show-business, so after a while we can get desensitized when faced with miracles).

But beyond Froome's performance & climbing, there's something wrong with the peloton. There are teams & riders in this race who're totally invisible. The biggest "pas normal" of the day goes to the weakest breakaway imaginable on a 14th July Alpe D'Huez stage.

What's wrong? Did the Bahrain police raid spook loads of riders? It's not normal to have Pidcock (as much as he's improved in this Tour) versus Meintjes versus Froome for the win on Alpe D'Huez. Literally the "queen stage". Not because those riders were better than everyone but because so many teams & riders clearly didn't care.

 

[dacooley]

That was close. Closer than I thought he'd get (although this is 'entertainment' & show-business, so after a while we can get desensitized when faced with miracles).

But beyond Froome's performance & climbing, there's something wrong with the peloton. There are teams & riders in this race who're totally invisible. The biggest "pas normal" of the day goes to the weakest breakaway imaginable on a 14th July Alpe D'Huez stage.

What's wrong? Did the Bahrain police raid spook loads of riders? It's not normal to have Pidcock (as much as he's improved in this Tour) versus Meintjes versus Froome for the win on Alpe D'Huez. Literally the "queen stage". Not because those riders were better than everyone but because so many teams & riders clearly didn't care.

Alpe d'Huez stage wasn't different that dozens other queen stages given to breakaway by peloton. It was neither better not worse. The real issue is that many clinic regular posters clearly not welcoming froome finishing in top-3 on d'Huez and potential in top-25 in Paris. Froome is obviously not where he's got to be, isn't he?)

 

[Rackham]

Alpe d'Huez stage wasn't different that dozens other queen stages given to breakaway by peloton. It was neither better not worse. The real issue is that many clinic regular posters clearly not welcoming froome finishing in top-3 on d'Huez and potential in top-25 in Paris. Froome is obviously not where he's got to be, isn't he?)

July 14th used to mean something to French riders. That gave it a different meaning (hence why Prudhomme placed Alpe D'Huez on that specific date). The fact the entirety of the French peloton sat on its collective backside & said "who cares?" means that was a very strange & underwhelming breakaway considering the date.

For example one week later in some random Pyrenean stage, FDJ just sent Madouas & Storer in the break (leaving Gaudu completely isolated), so why no Pinot on July 14th? We never get an answer for this stuff.

 

[pastronef]

July 14th used to mean something to French riders. That gave it a different meaning (hence why Prudhomme placed Alpe D'Huez on that specific date). The fact the entirety of the French peloton sat on its collective backside & said "who cares?" means that was a very strange & underwhelming breakaway considering the date.

For example one week later in some random Pyrenean stage, FDJ just sent Madouas & Storer in the break (leaving Gaudu completely isolated), so why no Pinot on July 14th? We never get an answer for this stuff.

race situations are very different from day to day. tactics and randomness of attacks and chasing morph the breakaways and chases. you say they didn't care. oh I bet they cared, TDF is VITAL for French teams. but it didn't work. and calling underwhelming a break to Alpe after what Pidcok did in the Galibier downhill (joining Froome and bridging)...
it was, from my biased pov, a mega stage, Pidcock winning and Froome getting 3rd. if FDJ or others had the legs they could have chased, of Pinot tried to get Froome when he attacked alone
I thought about the Clinic when he attacked. it was great. great

 

[PhiLiz]

Alpe d'Huez stage wasn't different that dozens other queen stages given to breakaway by peloton. It was neither better not worse. The real issue is that many clinic regular posters clearly not welcoming froome finishing in top-3 on d'Huez and potential in top-25 in Paris. Froome is obviously not where he's got to be, isn't he?)

I'm pretty sure that if all he ever done was placing third in a mountain stage and top-25 at a Tour this thread would probably not exist and there would be no regular posters for you to think about whilst watching the race.

 

[red_flanders]

Alpe d'Huez stage wasn't different that dozens other queen stages given to breakaway by peloton. It was neither better not worse. The real issue is that many clinic regular posters clearly not welcoming froome finishing in top-3 on d'Huez and potential in top-25 in Paris. Froome is obviously not where he's got to be, isn't he?)

You don't really imagine there are posters (or humans, generally) who care about a "top-25" placing in the Tour or a top 3 placing on a mountain stage, do you? I mean, of all the many, many things one could object to about Froome, those don't even get a sniff, do they?

 

[Scarponi]

Is he going to try a Sammy Sanzhez final year bonanza next year now his level is atleast competitive?

 

[cnort]

Is he going to try a Sammy Sanzhez final year bonanza next year now his level is atleast competitive?

If COVID turns out to be the new bilharzia, then the fishmonger and the coal miner better be ready for some high cadence capers next year.

 

[SHAD0W93]

thanks for sharing man i love it

It was a good one at the time. Surprising it took a bit so long to realize that.

 

[Extinction]

View: https://youtu.be/9g6sz0LqbXU

 

[webvan]

Which reminds me I had this strange dream (nightmare) the other day where Dawg was back in the fight for victory!

 

[FroomeWagon]

Is it time for a motor? It's pretty clear no amount of dope is going to make him competitive again.

 

[red_flanders]

Is it time for a motor? It's pretty clear no amount of dope is going to make him competitive again.

He's not doping, no way he risks all his ill-gotten fame and fortune to turn a positive at this point. This is Froome.

 

[Extinction]

View: https://youtu.be/i36pAI-dmvo

 

[Krzysztof_O]

He's not doping, no way he risks all his ill-gotten fame and fortune to turn a positive at this point. This is Froome.

Nowadays he may be riding paniagua indeed. Marginal gains are needed!

 

[Bolder]

He's not doping, no way he risks all his ill-gotten fame and fortune to turn a positive at this point. This is Froome.

I would say that if there was any point in his career to get (back?) on the juice, now's the time. But that's a fair point. He's got a legacy that he can parlay into a sustainable lifestyle, as the say...so he's got to be clean.

 

[cnort]

> Chris Froome: It would be massive to

win a race in 2023, any race

As an opening gambit for negotiating the price to buy a race, he comes across a little desperate. If he came across a Kolobnev he'd be taken to the cleaners.

 

[red_flanders]

Good (old) article on Froome's Salbutamol nonsense: https://citsb.com/2017/12/16/the-truth-behind-chris-froomes-doping/

In particular I liked the attack on the twisted logic in the arguments.

"In other words, the fact that Salbutamol as an inhalant can alleviate asthma does not controvert the fact that it also enhances weight loss and muscle retention in large doses when injected or taken orally. In fact, it does both, and the fact that Chris Froome’s Salbutamol level was double the allowed amount should prove to any reasonable person that he was injecting it or taking it orally in order to benefit from its performance-enhancing qualities of weight loss and muscle retention."

The author also gets into the nonsense around Froome's claims of being asthmatic, but that's all been covered here quite well. But this is good again:

"Again, to sum up:

1. Road racers go faster when they lose weight and maintain muscle.
2. Salbutamol in large doses lets you lose weight and maintain muscle, and is legal in small doses.
3. Chris Froome has suddenly tested positive for a large dose of Salbutamol.
4. Chris Froome claims he uses Salbutamol because he’s an asthmatic.

Did you catch that? No. 4 is entirely compatible with No. 2, it just sounds somehow like a denial that he was doping.

The misdirection is quite effective because it takes our eyes off the performance enhancing effects of Salbutamol when taken intravenously or orally, and focuses instead on its legitimate and non-performance-enhancing effect as an inhalant for asthmatics. And by the way, we’re reminded, Chris Froome has always been an asthmatic; suffered terribly all his life from it, in fact.

Before we pick up on the hard-to-swallow story about Froome’s asthma, though, let’s remember that large doses of Salbutamol help you lose weight and keep muscle and therefore go faster."

 

[Scarponi]

Just on his current form, even if he went full 90s program for argument sake do you think he would still struggle ? Or back to the top of the pack ?