Teams & Riders Froome Talk Only

[mrhender]

It won't stop the thread growing and growing

For the unforseeable future, no it won't...

But why not..?

Today doesn't make him any less peculiar..

In time I do think another one will overtake the "scene"

 

[DirtyWorks]

It's just like 2012, then he also started the Vuelta strongly before he faded completely.

Most Sky riders simply don't last an entire season due their ridiculous training. Actually, most of them seems burned out by June.

Are you sure? That 2012 Vuelta he was fourth. That's not quite fading.

2011 middling results starting in February then sudden podiums in September
2012 things get going in June through September.
2013 Podiums from FEBRUARY through September.
2014 Podiums from FEBRUARY through June, then injury.

http://www.procyclingstats.com/rider.php?=&id=140869&season=2011

This TT might not have suited him. 2014 Vuelta-Froome is still a miraculous transformation. Just not in range of a grand tour GC podium at this point.

 

[hrotha]

Are you sure? That 2012 Vuelta he was fourth. That's not quite fading.

He did absolutely fade, if you watched it. He was 4th but was largely a non-factor after starting off quite strong.

 

[maltiv]

Are you sure? That 2012 Vuelta he was fourth. That's not quite fading.

Of course that's fading, he went from looking like the strongest rider on the first couple of MTFs to finishing between 20th-40th in the last ones...

He lost a full 5 minutes on the Fuente De stage for example, finishing 32nd (almost 3 minutes behind Rodriguez who also cracked hard).

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Scrapheap.
There are better and more realistic riders on Sky to focus on.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Of course that's fading, he went from looking like the strongest rider on the first couple of MTFs to finishing between 20th-40th in the last ones...

He lost a full 5 minutes on the Fuente De stage for example, finishing 32nd (almost 3 minutes behind Rodriguez who also cracked hard).

Yes, it's right there in the stats. I was thinking too literally and not digging down into the stages.

I still think "burned out by June" is not accurate. Froome is on a very light schedule compared to the lower-ranked riders on the team helping at these events.

 

[coinneach]

Well, I think there is something wrong with him which his team knows about, but we are not being told, yet.
The way Brailsford spoke hinted they weren't expecting anything, the way his team rallied around him just before the last mtf, they all know summits up.
For what it's worth, and having read the. Climb, I won't be surprised to hear some sort of allergy story coming out. He thought he had hives before, and in this heat, that can come back.
And he looked so uncomfortable on this TT, and over geared for the climb.
It's not all about drugs, you know!

 

[red_flanders]

Well, I think there is something wrong with him which his team knows about, but we are not being told, yet.
The way Brailsford spoke hinted they weren't expecting anything, the way his team rallied around him just before the last mtf, they all know summits up.
For what it's worth, and having read the. Climb, I won't be surprised to hear some sort of allergy story coming out. He thought he had hives before, and in this heat, that can come back.
And he looked so uncomfortable on this TT, and over geared for the climb.
It's not all about drugs, you know!

Maybe the Badzilla has returned?

Surprisingly he's still at a much higher level than when he had it. Or not. Depending on which Badzilla account one believes...

 

[mrhender]

Scrapheap.
There are better and more realistic riders on Sky to focus on.

Hence the Brailsford phrase from july 14´:

He's one of our best riders

 

[RownhamHill]

It's just like 2012, then he also started the Vuelta strongly before he faded completely.

Most Sky riders simply don't last an entire season due their ridiculous training. Actually, most of them seems burned out by June.

Dopers fatigue.

 

[roundabout]

He lost a full 5 minutes on the Fuente De stage for example, finishing 32nd (almost 3 minutes behind Rodriguez who also cracked hard).

Or lost 10 seconds to 4th best out of the field to look at it from a different perspective.

 

[msjett]

When Cadel Evans and Samuel Sanchez beat your time in a TT, an area which you have been a dominate figure in for several years there is something wrong...As pointed out by many that they are past their prime...I'd say there is a problem, what sort of problem
Froome has is anybodies guess, he is however following a similar downward trajectory that Wiggins has.

 

[observer]

The only problem for Froome is that whatever he has been on, the others also have that information / program now.

 

[zlev11]

i think Froome was right on form until the Dauphine crash. think back to Romandie, he was insane, he could have left Spilak in the dust if he wanted to but he didn't have to, and remember Spilak targets that race 100% every year because the normally cold, wet conditions suit him perfectly. nobody else in that race had a chance. then he was right back to his insane accelerations on stage 2 of the Dauphine. the only difference was that Contador came prepared. he was the only guy he couldn't drop. on a longer/harder climb they would have put much more time into everyone else. then he crashed and was obviously hurt.

i think he came to the Vuelta 100% ready to destroy, otherwise he wouldn't have been sprinting for time bonuses in the first week. something went wrong, whether it was the crash, or he's afraid to take something, or he's missing a TUE, or all of the above. he's still vastly better than he was at any time in his career prior to the 2011 Vuelta.

or maybe Sky have finally figured out that it's easier to look a little normal rather than have to face all of the doping questions while they're doing mid-2000's times on all the climbs.

 

[The Hitch]

Before the Vuelta I said I didn't believe Froome cared about the Vuelta enough to go full... for it, and I think thats what happened.

Guess walshie will be able to, like in 2012 cry about how vuelta allows doping which is why clean froome cant win,

 

[thehog]

Before the Vuelta I said I didn't believe Froome cared about the Vuelta enough to go full... for it, and I think thats what happened.

Guess walshie will be able to, like in 2012 cry about how vuelta allows doping which is why clean froome cant win,

I said it as well. I agree. I think he's head is not right. It's funny with all the criticisms he made of Wiggins and he's basically become a headcase himself.

Maybe that's the toll of doping? I don't know. The Sky riders certainly all appear to have mentally fallen apart, Wiggins, Porte and now Froome.

I agree with most if not all of what you wrote.

Brailsford does have €2.5m euros of Dawg poo on his hands that he now has to find a way to offload. In saying that he was happy to pay Wiggins €3m to do not a lot.

I think the Dawg was advised to go away for a while. Try and let that book disappear without another mention. What a mess that was.

My view is Froome won't win the Vuelta. I don't think he'll even podium.

 

[RiccoDinko]

One and done, the wonder years are over.

 

[Escarabajo]

I don't want to believe it was the TUE, but surely it coincided with its timing.

Maybe that's not it but it certainly was related to the topic because he is not the same.

 

[thehog]

I don't want to believe it was the TUE, but surely it coincided with its timing.

Maybe that's not it but it certainly was related to the topic because he is not the same.

Appears things have changed on the anti-doping front. Maybe, perhaps, almost, maybe a little.

Richie out the back, Dawg off the boil. Maybe the Vuelta had their own rest day unannounced test?

“Once again the collaboration with the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) was excellent," Rossi said. "The anti-doping target testing strategy was discussed daily, taking into account the performances of the riders and other data. We also had a valuable contribution from UK Anti-Doping before the start and during all stages in England.

“This year’s Tour was also the first time, in addition to the pre-competition testing, that we organised a second large-scale unannounced mission where all the riders were simultaneously tested for the Athlete Biological Passport during a rest day in Carcassonne. This was made possible thanks to the logistical support of the AFLD,” Rossi said..

 

[Kicker661]

i think Froome was right on form until the Dauphine crash. then he crashed and was obviously hurt.

i think he came to the Vuelta 100% ready to destroy, otherwise he wouldn't have been sprinting for time bonuses in the first week. something went wrong

Froome crashed early enough in the TDF to still keep the energy and peak for the Vuelta.

Look at Contador. Busted far worse than Froome yet he has managed great form for this race. Arguably, Froome should be in better form than Contador.

I agree that Froome came into it at 100% mentally. I don't buy the excuse of Froome not wanting to put his heart and sole into the Vuelta. The guy prepares to win the TDF and crashes out early. If anything that would make him more determined, angry, motivated to salvage the past 8 months of hard work and win.

Froome vanished from social media the past month because he wanted absolute focus and concentration to train for the Vuelta.

I reckon they simply stuffed up his prep for the race. During his time off they probably had him going to hard for to long when he should have eased up then tried to peak again.

Is there evidence out there that shows SKY able to have a rider crash out early then bring him back later in the season in winning form?

 

[zlev11]

Is there evidence out there that shows SKY able to have a rider crash out early then bring him back later in the season in winning form?

Wiggins in 2011? didn't win, but rode his best GT ever at the time.

there's also the...incredibly cynical theory that certain Tour de France protagonists "crashed" out early on purpose to avoid testing positive on a new unannounced test they became aware of too late. it went through my mind, but the way Contador has been riding at the Vuelta kills that theory completely. i never really bought it, anyway, because it was Froomes first crash that did the most damage and it certainly wasn't intentional.

 

[No_Balls]

I dont believe that he wouldnt take this 100% either. If anything, that would be true for his participation in 2012 were he came off an 8 month peak including a stellar Tour de France and a great Olympics. Surely, he needed that Vuelta to look more believable.

But this is 2014 - a season were the setbacks are coming high and low: TUE-gate, Kimmage interview, his autobiography, Dauphine and Tour crashes. Surely, he needs this race to prove to himself and Brailsford that he's still the man to beat and the top Dawg. A sort of mini-revenge and excellent launch pad for 2015. He doesnt strike me as the kind of rider who gets into another humiliation willingly with this kind of season under his belt.

There is something else at work here.

 

[Bannockburn]

Froome obviously should have taken more coffee breaks while out on training rides.

 

[DucSti]

Or maybe this is the real reason for the decline..
Still better than August 2011 though

https://www.wada-ama.org/en/node/4500#.VAasoPl_t8E

 

[Franklin]

there's also the...incredibly cynical theory that certain Tour de France protagonists "crashed" out early on purpose to avoid testing positive on a new unannounced test they became aware of too late.

It's not cynical... it's idiotic.

Abandoning a race is not exactly rare. No need to break your hand or even your leg. Even if they want an excuse (which is not needed) claim a flue

Heck, Froome can claim Badzilla