Teams & Riders Froome Talk Only

[Parker]

Oh right... Im going with Sky tried to set him up and he was just not good today. You can believe whatever you want.

Go and look at every MTF stage that Froome has ever won at Sky. Look at the number of team mates he has with 5k to go. In how many of those does he still have three team mates, like today (and on stage 7 of the Dauphine).
There was a poster on another forum who called it at the 5k flag. Said he was vunerable and GC riders need to attack him. He later said you could tell how well Froome was going by how many team mates he had left at 5k.

 

[Benotti69]

No need to take risks anymore for Froome. He's earnt himself a nice retirement fund(I have no idea how much he earns, but I'm guessing it's not WT minimum) no need to risk it and get popped before the contract ends.

I agree with this. Riders are not being 'encouraged' to win multiple ASO events in case of testing positive.

 

[coinneach]

The first time you get to lead you.r team in a GT.......his performance was consistent with a tired rider who wasn't topping up.

You can look at his TdF performance in 13 and be suspicious, but he was still tyring towards the end and lost the mount Semzoz stage and. Mountain jersey to Q uintana.

Clinic users can seem fixed on winners = dopers.
I think it's also revealing to look at riders when they loose.
Does this make an.y sense to you?

 

[Benotti69]

The first time you get to lead you.r team in a GT.......his performance was consistent with a tired rider who wasn't topping up.

You can look at his TdF performance in 13 and be suspicious, but he was still tyring towards the end and lost the mount Semzoz stage and. Mountain jersey to Q uintana.

Clinic users can seem fixed on winners = dopers.
I think it's also revealing to look at riders when they loose.
Does this make an.y sense to you?

In case you have not been following, Froome was grupetto fodder at Barloworld and Sky till 3 years ago. What he is doing now aint consistent with clean!

Can you give an example of a winner who was not a doper in the last 20 years?

 

[coinneach]

In case you have not been following, Froome was grupetto fodder at Barloworld and Sky till 3 years ago. What he is doing now aint consistent with clean!

Can you give an example of a winner who was not a doper in the last 20 years?

I think Evans performances when winning and loosing are consistent with a clean rider.
Riders who blood doped could keep performances up when tired at the end of a gt......
Froome and Evans haven't done that.
(Of course, I accept that some riders do badly because they dope wrong!)

 

[Benotti69]

I think Evans performances when winning and loosing are consistent with a clean rider.

Evans clean? you are taking the pee....

Riders who blood doped could keep performances up when tired at the end of a gt......
Froome and Evans haven't done that.
(Of course, I accept that some riders do badly because they dope wrong!)

I dont recall Froome tiring at the end of LA Vuelta '11 or TdF 12 and 13!

I look at Evans results and no way was he clean, no way!

 

[coinneach]

Evans clean? you are taking the pee....



I dont recall Froome tiring at the end of LA Vuelta '11 or TdF 12 and 13!

!

I agree with about the first 2, but not the last one.
But, my point was, vuelta 12, when he leads the team for the first time.....knackered after long season.

 

[Granville57]

Rather striking nasal plugs being sported by Froome in the Vuelta TTT yesterday

(Photo: © Tim de Waele/TDW Sport)

He Tweeted about them here and the product page is here.

I'm just curious, how does one easily clear their nose with this ridiculous contraption shoved up their nostrils?

I use the exterior nasal strips to great effect when I have a cold or any sinus congestion. But these things?

 

[RiccoDinko]

I think Evans performances when winning and loosing are consistent with a clean rider.
Riders who blood doped could keep performances up when tired at the end of a gt......
Froome and Evans haven't done that.
(Of course, I accept that some riders do badly because they dope wrong!)

Evans fits the role of charging up to get his TDF, then charge down play it safe. At least he's been a talent since his Juniors. He gets more of a pass, always being a race horse.

 

[RiccoDinko]

Back to Froomedawg, since this is Froome Only. I wanted to believe in this guy just a little bit, but this whole get your 1 TDF, big contract, endorsements, the fanfare, THEN PLAY IT SAFE.. So Obvious.. He's too big of a head to lay low for too long though.

 

[jam pants]

Evans fits the role of charging up to get his TDF, then charge down play it safe. At least he's been a talent since his Juniors. He gets more of a pass, always being a race horse.

Wouldn't even touch a Snickers when he was a young MTB'er, according to Thomas Frischknecht. Such dedication!

 

[Archibald]

I don't think Froome's too concerned about the time lost - ITT coming up next n all...

 

[The Hitch]

The first time you get to lead you.r team in a GT.......his performance was consistent with a tired rider who wasn't topping up.

You can look at his TdF performance in 13 and be suspicious, but he was still tyring towards the end and lost the mount Semzoz stage and. Mountain jersey to Q uintana.

Clinic users can seem fixed on winners = dopers.
I think it's also revealing to look at riders when they loose.
Does this make an.y sense to you?

Froome finishing anywhere in the top 100 of a stage and being clean doesn't make sense to me and never will.

 

[The Hitch]

Oh god the Evans fanboys again. The fact is that no one who isn't so Ozzie that their face resembles a kangaroo can possible view Evans as anything other than a doper.

This is a guy who rode and won in the doping era for doping teams with doping friends and doping soigneurs, who refuses to accept lance as a cheat, and is still friends with all the doper.

Oh but he wouldn't touch a snickers. Pff. Good lord.

 

[The Hitch]

I think Evans performances when winning and loosing are consistent with a clean rider.
Riders who blood doped could keep performances up when tired at the end of a gt......
Froome and Evans haven't done that.
(Of course, I accept that some riders do badly because they dope wrong!)

Lol, are you saying that froome doesn't have energy at the end of gts?

You do realize this is the guy who after coming 2nd in the tour de France said that he was surprised how easy the whole race had been and then proceeded to beat a bunch of people who had been resting during the tdf, at the Olympics? Also happened to be the strongest rider on the final mountain stage just as he was in 2011 vuelta.

As for Evans, lol, when he won the tour he destroyed everyone on the penultimate stage of the race.

 

[msjett]

Oh god the Evans fanboys again. The fact is that no one who isn't so Ozzie that their face resembles a kangaroo can possible view Evans as anything other than a doper.

This is a guy who rode and won in the doping era for doping teams with doping friends and doping soigneurs, who refuses to accept lance as a cheat, and is still friends with all the doper.

Oh but he wouldn't touch a snickers. Pff. Good lord.

Fanboys and fangirls will not always have perspective about their object of admiration.

While some of us are willing to accept all is not kosha and there are way too many links not to at the very least, be sceptical about Evans or any other athletes perfomances in this day and age.

I for one don't believe the "only did it once" just to win a race, it's done to win every race.

As for Froome, he looked human today, so they better hook him up toot sweet ....otherwise he will be zig zagging up the climbs next week.

 

[Digger]

Evans the guy who used to boast of working with Ferrari

Evans who finished 23 seconds down on Contador in 2007 - yes he's clean alright.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

As for Froome, he looked human today, so they better hook him up toot sweet ....otherwise he will be zig zagging up the climbs next week.

I wonder if he's still up there with Contador, Nibali and Quintana, as far as GTs are concerned. He's had his share of bad luck, but I'm guessing it's more than that and that his career peak is behind him, for whatever reason - be it doping, the Sky approach to racing and training, or a combination of that.

 

[msjett]

I wonder if he's still up there with Contador, Nibali and Quintana, as far as GTs are concerned. He's had his share of bad luck, but I'm guessing it's more than that and that his career peak is behind him, for whatever reason - be it doping, the Sky approach to racing and training, or a combination of that.

IMHO...Froome should never up there with any of the top guys, but amazingly well he sort of is...

I am inclined to hazard a similar guess, what worked in the past isn't now, and from my point of view Froome isn't the only one it isn't working for, the whole team seems kind of flat. I mean 2 years ago, if someone from sky wasn't winning everything, then at least one or two of them on the podium. Maybe he isn't the only one who's career has peaked, maybe the whole team has

Still I can't see him winning anymore GT's....

 

[nomapnocompass]

For Froome, I am guessing it is adrenal fatigue. I also agree that his GT peak is past and he will never win a GT again.

For Evans, I have always had my suspicions. Particularly due him riding on a team led by Rihs and Ochowicz.

 

[Walkman]

Evans clean? you are taking the pee....



I dont recall Froome tiring at the end of LA Vuelta '11 or TdF 12 and 13!

I look at Evans results and no way was he clean, no way!

It's not like you are making a great case here…

Not saying Evans is clean but since you asked him and he said Evans might be clean, you should make a case if you don't agree. Just saying Evans is not clean is kind of subjective and you are not going to convince anyone like this.

 

[Walkman]

Froome finishing anywhere in the top 100 of a stage and being clean doesn't make sense to me and never will.

Hater much?

You do know that people can improve right? And it's not like every pro cyclist are 100% dedicated and training perfectly their entire careers. People can improve significantly even late in their careers by applying the right (non-doping) methods.

And to clarify, not saying Froome is clean, but your statement is showing a lack of understanding of the body and of the athletes. I'd say for most of the riders, the limiting factor is their dedication and will to improve. There is a huge difference, even among pro athletes, with regards to how serious they take their training and how much they dedicate to improve.

 

[Dear Wiggo]

Hater much?

You do know that people can improve right? And it's not like every pro cyclist are 100% dedicated and training perfectly their entire careers. People can improve significantly even late in their careers by applying the right (non-doping) methods.

And to clarify, not saying Froome is clean, but your statement is showing a lack of understanding of the body and of the athletes. I'd say for most of the riders, the limiting factor is their dedication and will to improve. There is a huge difference, even among pro athletes, with regards to how serious they take their training and how much they dedicate to improve.

Right.

So like. They get a pro contract and just coast and then meh one day I trained hard and BOOM came second at the Vuelta.

Sure thing.

 

[Walkman]

Right.

So like. They get a pro contract and just coast and then meh one day I trained hard and BOOM came second at the Vuelta.

Sure thing.

Not what I said. Please read it again.

 

[BigMac]

Right.

So like. They get a pro contract and just coast and then meh one day I trained hard and BOOM came second at the Vuelta.

Sure thing.

Maybe he is referring to the pre-Sky era. Sky might have been able to provide Chris with the training methods and mentality that Barloworld did not. Take Joaquim Agostinho for instance, who started cycling at the age of 25. He came 'out of nowhere' to win a few races, get a contract with Sporting Clube de Portugal, shine in the National scene by winning three times the National Championships (which did not mean much compared to what he would accomplish in the future) if I'm not mistaken, and then, once signed with Frimatic the following year, he proceeded to win two stages in Le Tour and finish eight in the General Classification, which could have been better had he the built anatomy of a climber (something Froome, though unorthodox, has) - journo Pierre Martin wrote: ''Built like a sprinter, he was no good at sprinting. He was one of the great climbers''. This was in '69. I highly doubt he was doped at least in his first year in the international scene, the thing is, he shown talent in the past, as Froome. Had Sky existed in 2008 and Froome gone there instead of Barloworld, perhaps we would not see it as a major discrepancy in results after he switched teams, but rather a rider with a gradual improvement from that same year to his second place in the Vuelta, in 2011. He would have provided results that would not make us question it. And while he didn't deliver at Barloworld, he improved as a rider enough to the point of Sky being able to turn him into a GC contender in two years. That still leaves 2010, his first year with Sky, with semewhat overall poor results, the best being his second place at the National ITT Championships. This can, perhaps, be explained by it being his first year with the team, and also the first year of Sky's cycling project. In 2011 he had some interesting GC results prior to the Vuelta, and some bad ones, which takes us to his known case of inconsistency. The fact is, there was inconsistency, which doesn't allow for an objective judgement on whether he went from crap to uber just like that. In the performances prior to the Vuelta, he was crap-good-crap-good-crap-crap-uber, which is different.