kingjr said:
He attacked Contador 3 times, 2 times directly in a row, one small and one big attack, to try and get rid of him, realized he couldn't drop him, resorted to keeping the group together and then attack one last time for the stage win. I fail to see why this is so bad tactically. I mean there is only so much you can do, when you can't drop a rider who also won't work together with you.
Just watched the finale. To say it was bad tactically is to assume a rider within some reasonable proximity form-wise to the other riders. Because that's how say...the last 35 years of bike racing that I've watched have been raced.
Froome attacked. Then waved Contador through. That in itself was idiotic–why on earth would Contador come through in that situation? Can't get over how dumb that looked. But never mind. Then Froome went to the front and pulled for a couple of k's, almost never coming off the front, while in the leader's jersey mind you. Why? Why would the leader pull on the front while not attacking?
In case you haven't watched the last 100 years or so of bike racing, race leaders generally wait for their rivals to attack them. In rare cases they try and put down the hammer at some point and win, but they don't do it by pacing the leading group for a few k. Further, what people typically do when they attack is move to the back or side and try to swing by, getting an extra couple of seconds before those being attacked have time to react. Attacking from the front is that rarest of things, done only when you're sure you're much stronger than the rest. Froome did it over and over, when it was clear he was not much stronger than Contador at all. It's so dumb tactically I can't even believe I was watching it. But if you're sure you're so strong it doesn't matter...
That after all that buffoonery he won the stage is incredible. He's just ridiculously strong. By all accounts from all types of fans, people generally see Contador as on the full program this year. Has looked that way since the early season, and Froome has seen it as well. But he still believes he's that much stronger and is probably right.
Great to see a clean champion after all these years...