Teams & Riders Froome Talk Only

[IndianCyclist]

i think it is important to check the times in the other climbs for this tdf. If they give a p/w ratio of 6-6.2 then I think it may be because he was fresher on the first mountain stage and the data may be ok.

 

[H2OUUP2]

A little late to the party, after such a "miracle" stage, but I will put in my 2 cents for what it's worth..... I guess 2 cents? Anyway....


Watching that stage made me really sad. I don't even know if I want to watch anymore. To watch what Froome and Sky did reminded me of Armstrong, and reminded me of Landis on stage 14?? or whatever it was. Does no-one even see what's happening right in front of their faces? Does Phil and Paul really need a hero that badly?

As for Porte. Wow!! Time trials up half of AX 3 Domaine to hunt down Quintana, then gets blown up, and then comes back to finish second in the stage?? LOL

These guys aren't even trying to hide the fact their high. When every single cyclist who has been busted for doping, , even the ******bag Armstrong himself, says "you can't win the tour de france without doping", and Froome then does what he did on Saturday, which was basically annihilate the competition, how do people believe what they are watching?

It makes me angry to think about Saturday. What a joke!

 

[Bakhjulet]

Froome rode Ax 3 in a steady high pace. Kennaugh started the climb hard, then Porte set a brutal pace for a couple of kilometers, then Froome went solo last 4-5k, more or less mountain time trialing. His time on the climb was 23:14. Contador and Schleck rode the climb in 24:01 in 2010 and that was after the alps, not as a first mountain stage. If you watch the stage in 2010 your realize that if Contador and Schleck would have ridden the climb in the same fashion as Froome their time probably would have been up there with Froome's. You can see that Contador and Schleck rode the climb in an uneven pace, steady pace some time, other times Contador attacking followed by them watching each other - almost standing still on the climb. They let Sanchez and Menchov slipp away (S and M rode the climb in 23:47), but it was clear that Contador and Schleck were much stronger than both Sanchez and Menchov.

Conclusion, comparing times on a climb from different years is a dubious task.

Last 15 minutes of the 2010 stage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvJkDkrYx9M

Edit: The difference between Contador anno 2010 and 2013 on the climb is quiet remarkable.

 

[xrayvision]

Portes downfall reminds me so much of the Floyd ditto one, only in reverse order.

froomeys resurrection to the stars reminds me of ... -you know who...
if cycling has taught us anything the last 20 years...
That anybody today can believe we have a clean sport, or at least cleaner, is beyond me.

 

[EnacheV]

- Unfortunately stupid to have a good day. If I win a stage, I get a lot of questions if I'm clean or not. I am clean and I have worked extremely hard to get here. I find it quite disrespectful that someone asks me about doping at once I get off the bike. I should rather be asked what I had done to get there. It's sad, because it takes the focus away from the beautiful sport. Away from the tactics and execution, says Froom.

Quote:
He believes that journalists have a lot of the blame for it now talk about doping.

- We hear now that other teams have to answer the same questions. Much about the journalists creates fuss about doping to get good stories or to get clicks. There are people who damage the sport. All the headlines about drug without it being something.

Froom also came with a doping sting of Alberto Contador at the press conference. Froom said that journalists should question the riders now are not as good as before. A journalist said Alberto Contador's name, and asked if Froom was referring to the Spaniard.

- I do not know. It makes you figure it out, says Froom.

Quite elegant. Other people could answer more harsher.

As for reporters, he is right and he is nice to them. Most reporters are not smarter than the regular forum troll and they always look for superficial things that makes audience. He says "clicks" very well.

As for people that ride slower today, he is again 100% right and he's not accusing anyone of doping, in fact it's the opposite.

But hey, when you are a Barca fan CR7 can do anything, it will be bad anyway.

 

[kingjr]

On a sidenote in today's press conference Chris Froome raised it from "results not going to be stripped in 20, 30 years" to "never going to be stripped."

 

[BroDeal]

On a sidenote in today's press conference Chris Froome raised it from "results not going to be stripped in 20, 30 years" to "never going to be stripped."

Sounds like he is progressing nicely, just like Armstrong did when he started with small lies then moved on to ever more brazen ones. Once you start down that path it gets easier and easier.

 

[xrayvision]

Quite elegant. Other people could answer more harsher.

As for reporters, he is right and he is nice to them. Most reporters are not smarter than the regular forum troll and they always look for superficial things that makes audience. He says "clicks" very well.

As for people that ride slower today, he is again 100% right and he's not accusing anyone of doping, in fact it's the opposite.

But hey, when you are a Barca fan CR7 can do anything, it will be bad anyway.

"What I´m on? I´m on my bike 6 hours a day busting my *** off"... does this ring any bells?

Who gives a flying f... what he says, history speaks for it self, and this is like having a deja vu!

 

[H2OUUP2]

"What I´m on? I´m on my bike 6 hours a day busting my *** off"... does this ring any bells?

Who gives a flying f... what he says, history speaks for it self, and this is like having a deja vu!

I don't know whether to laugh, or get mad.

Does Froome have any "Charities" we should know about as well?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Quite elegant. Other people could answer more harsher.

As for reporters, he is right and he is nice to them. Most reporters are not smarter than the regular forum troll and they always look for superficial things that makes audience. He says "clicks" very well.

As for people that ride slower today, he is again 100% right and he's not accusing anyone of doping, in fact it's the opposite.

But hey, when you are a Barca fan CR7 can do anything, it will be bad anyway.

He is accusing people in the current peloton of doping in the past.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Froome rode Ax 3 in a steady high pace. Kennaugh started the climb hard, then Porte set a brutal pace for a couple of kilometers, then Froome went solo last 4-5k, more or less mountain time trialing. His time on the climb was 23:14. Contador and Schleck rode the climb in 24:01 in 2010 and that was after the alps, not as a first mountain stage. If you watch the stage in 2010 your realize that if Contador and Schleck would have ridden the climb in the same fashion as Froome their time probably would have been up there with Froome's. You can see that Contador and Schleck rode the climb in an uneven pace, steady pace some time, other times Contador attacking followed by them watching each other - almost standing still on the climb. They let Sanchez and Menchov slipp away (S and M rode the climb in 23:47), but it was clear that Contador and Schleck were much stronger than both Sanchez and Menchov.

Conclusion, comparing times on a climb from different years is a dubious task.

Last 15 minutes of the 2010 stage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvJkDkrYx9M

Edit: The difference between Contador anno 2010 and 2013 on the climb is quiet remarkable.

So Froome can match a doped up Contador. Sounds legit.

 

[xrayvision]

I don't know whether to laugh, or get mad.

Does Froome have any "Charities" we should know about as well?

All in good time, the guy just started, but he´s on his way, he just got the blue stamp from ASO, next is UCI and the ball is rolling, so yes, it´s just a matter of time.

It should become you well, as a fanboy you must be pleased.

 

[Bakhjulet]

So Froome can match a doped up Contador. Sounds legit.

Or a clean Schleck?

 

[H2OUUP2]

All in good time, the guy just started, but he´s on his way, he just got the blue stamp from ASO, next is UCI and the ball is rolling, so yes, it´s just a matter of time.

It should become you well, as a fanboy you must be pleased.

Huh? Fanboy???

What gave you that idea? Furthest thing from it, actually.

 

[hrotha]

Sounds like he is progressing nicely, just like Armstrong did when he started with small lies then moved on to ever more brazen ones. Once you start down that path it gets easier and easier.

I think he overdid it, though. He still has "never ever", but once he says that, what then? "Infinite plus one"?

 

[pmcg76]

Or a clean Schleck?

Don't think you will have many here who buy that.

The question here is not to do with when the stage occurred, it was also the first stage for all the other guys as well but they are all well down the list on the top 100, Contador who was 7th is 69th or something on a stage finish that has been ridden 5 times. If he had finished 7th on the other races to Aix-les-Domaine, he would be around 35th fastest, instead we have the guy who finished 3rd in that position when he should be top 15. Why does the first day in the mountains adage only apply to Froome???

I understand the concept of different stages, different situations etc but it is the fact that Froome is sooo far ahead of everyone else that makes it weird.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Or a clean Schleck?

The one with the dodgy brother?

 

[The Hitch]

That is the first time, as far as i remember, a Tour favorit has indirectly accused a competitor of doping.

Wiggins - Sastre - "Cadel Evans is the first Tour de France champion in a long time that we can believe in"

Also Wiggins before being a Tour favourite said he didnt know if Contador or others were doping but it was healthy to be sceptical of him and anyone who wins the Tour de France.

In 2012 he changed his opinion however to - "try saying it to my face".

Of course its ok for Wiggins to accuse people with no proof, just not the other way around.

 

[Netserk]

They write that he is close to above Mutant. Beyond 450 Watt is "miraculous and beyond Mutant" while Froomes 446 is well within mutant-categori. He is in fact just 4 watts lesser then an above-Mutant category.

He is just another type of breed.

I heard the next category is called 'Alien'

 

[the sceptic]

On the 8 km 8% gradient ascent, Froome climbed in 21'30", 30" faster than Armstrong (2005) and 10" faster than the Contador - Andy Schleck duo (2010), with a VAM = 1786 m/h = 6.37w/kg.
An extrapolated performance, of course, that does not take account of the drafting and the wind, but that is in line with the efforts expressed in training from Froome and Porte on the climb of the Col de la Madone, a week before the start of the Tour: a reported time of "under 31min", with 6.6 w/kg.

Where does he get under 31 minutes from? Maybe he was the one running the test.

Makes sense though, if Dawg can almost beat Lance on Ax3 he should be able to get close on Madone too

 

[Bakhjulet]

Don't think you will have many here who buy that.

The question here is not to do with when the stage occurred, it was also the first stage for all the other guys as well but they are all well down the list on the top 100, Contador who was 7th is 69th or something on a stage finish that has been ridden 5 times. If he had finished 7th on the other races to Aix-les-Domaine, he would be around 35th fastest, instead we have the guy who finished 3rd in that position when he should be top 15. Why does the first day in the mountains adage only apply to Froome???

I understand the concept of different stages, different situations etc but it is the fact that Froome is sooo far ahead of everyone else that makes it weird.

I agree. This is the main reason imo to suspect Froome, he opened up a huge gap in just 4-5k.

Your criticism of my first mountain stage reasoning is partly valid, but I believe the performances this saturday was very uneven among the best riders. We have Ten Dam and Mollema claiming a top 40 time on the climb, a Kreuziger that probably would have ended up higher if he didn't have to wait for Contador. These riders aren't usually considered to be among the absolute best riders in the world, still the did very well on the climb if you compare them to wellknown climbers other years. Also, Contador was clearly not his usual self (even without the dope.), Evans and Purito underperformed as well, climbers that usually should be ahead of riders like Ten Dam, Mollema and Kreuziger.

 

[The Hitch]

I agree. This is the main reason imo to suspect Froome, he opened up a huge gap in just 4-5k.

Your criticism of my first mountain stage reasoning is partly valid, but I believe the performances this saturday was very uneven among the best riders. We have Ten Dam and Mollema claiming a top 40 time on the climb, a Kreuziger that probably would have ended up higher if he didn't have to wait for Contador. These riders aren't usually considered to be among the absolute best riders in the world, still the did very well on the climb if you compare them to wellknown climbers other years. Also, Contador was clearly not his usual self (even without the dope.), Evans and Purito underperformed as well, climbers that usually should be ahead of riders like Ten Dam, Mollema and Kreuziger.

Mollema is about the same age as Froome was when he turned from nobody into Indurain. Moreover he started cycling very late (later than Froome who apparently peaked late because he didnt cycle as long)

So if Froome's transformation is legit or even half legit then there is nothing strange about Mollema improving a bit more as a climber.


As for Kreuziger, he is a (former) Ferrari client.

 

[Franklin]

We have Ten Dam and Mollema claiming a top 40 time on the climb, a Kreuziger that probably would have ended up higher if he didn't have to wait for Contador. These riders aren't usually considered to be among the absolute best riders in the world, still the did very well on the climb if you compare them to wellknown climbers other years.

You are severely shortselling TGBM. His career progression blows Froome's out of the water... untill Froome went POW andf broke all the expectations.

But seriously, a guy with 12th spot on his first GT, and 4th+ a jersey on his second is a HUGE talent. His second spot in Switzerzland is another reason not to be surprised. Anyone who doesn't think TGBM isn't among the elite has been sleeping the last years. He isn't Contador, but he's clearly a podium candidate in any GT he enters (candidate=not a certainty).

So we are left with Ten Dam. Now if he stays top 5 I will be utterly shocked, but nobody denies he can climb and certainly can be among the best on his special days.

And no, I don't say they are clean (could be), nor do I say Froome is definitely doping. Just saying it's not nearly as strange as you make this out to be. It's the wattages that are more shocking than the placings.

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

So, it looks like the Froomster has cracked a little under pressure, pointing fingers. That will fall well in the peloton.

 

[pmcg76]

You are severely shortselling TGBM. His career progression blows Froome's out of the water... untill Froome went POW andf broke all the expectations.

But seriously, a guy with 12th spot on his first GT, and 4th+ a jersey on his second is a HUGE talent. His second spot in Switzerzland is another reason not to be surprised. Anyone who doesn't think TGBM isn't among the elite has been sleeping the last years. He isn't Contador, but he's clearly a podium candidate in any GT he enters (candidate=not a certainty).

So we are left with Ten Dam. Now if he stays top 5 I will be utterly shocked, but nobody denies he can climb and certainly can be among the best on his special days.

And no, I don't say they are clean (could be), nor do I say Froome is definitely doping. Just saying it's not nearly as strange as you make this out to be. It's the wattages that are more shocking than the placings.

Yes, Mollema is not a huge shock though he is riding very well but nothing amazing. Ten Dam however is a shock to me, I always thought of him as a good rider but not at this level. His surprise result got lost in the Froome hysteria.