Teams & Riders Froome Talk Only

[S2Sturges]

Re: Re:

Folk jumping in feet first just because it's Froome, he was on holiday with his wife, I'm not sure what more Froome can do, surely the hotel is to blame for this? They are the ones who wouldn't let them phone the room or give them access to Froome

I don't like the fact he has waited months to tell the public this as it makes the whole event rather fishy.

However from my own experience if you stay in a very reputable hotel where there are VIP guest the hotel staff are under strict instructions to not let any visitor disturb the guests that includes even a simple phone call, especially early in the morning. However Froome should have told the staff that there was a very minor possibility that drug testers could be on site. He was probably too busy making babies to tell them though!

More marginal gains through horizontal interval training.....

 

[rick james]

Re: Re:

Folk jumping in feet first just because it's Froome, he was on holiday with his wife, I'm not sure what more Froome can do, surely the hotel is to blame for this? They are the ones who wouldn't let them phone the room or give them access to Froome

I don't like the fact he has waited months to tell the public this as it makes the whole event rather fishy.

However from my own experience if you stay in a very reputable hotel where there are VIP guest the hotel staff are under strict instructions to not let any visitor disturb the guests that includes even a simple phone call, especially early in the morning. However Froome should have told the staff that there was a very minor possibility that drug testers could be on site. He was probably too busy making babies to tell them though!

No, that's not the case. You don't instruct the reception desk to restrict all and any access to your room. You make sure you are only contacted on a force majeure basis, but not restrict ALL access. Chris knows that. WADA knows that.

Chris had his phone with him (he was instructed to have a line of communication open at all times,) his wife probably had her phone with her, et cetera.

This all sounds as though he intended to miss the test. Whether he did it because he was glowing big time or just wanted to have a quiet time with the wife is inconsequential. He was FULLY AWARE of the importance of the whereabouts rule.

Back in the day, Oscar Pereiro bitched and moaned on the media about the WADA people showing up during communions, birthday parties and multitude of other private events. If my memory serves me right... he never missed a test. He bitched and moaned about it, but never missed getting tested. He would cuss at the WADA testers, but allowed for the testing to get done.

Fast forward to today... Froome, one of the favorites of the TdF "forgets," (more like playing stupid) to tell the reception desk that they are to let the WADA personnel come up to the room if they decide to show up... and people believe him?

H. U. H.??

Why didn't the tester ring him then? If they had his phone number then call him.

why would they call? they know that the clinic needs something to *** about..

 

[Benotti69]

Re: Re:

Folk jumping in feet first just because it's Froome, he was on holiday with his wife, I'm not sure what more Froome can do, surely the hotel is to blame for this? They are the ones who wouldn't let them phone the room or give them access to Froome

I don't like the fact he has waited months to tell the public this as it makes the whole event rather fishy.

However from my own experience if you stay in a very reputable hotel where there are VIP guest the hotel staff are under strict instructions to not let any visitor disturb the guests that includes even a simple phone call, especially early in the morning. However Froome should have told the staff that there was a very minor possibility that drug testers could be on site. He was probably too busy making babies to tell them though!

No, that's not the case. You don't instruct the reception desk to restrict all and any access to your room. You make sure you are only contacted on a force majeure basis, but not restrict ALL access. Chris knows that. WADA knows that.

Chris had his phone with him (he was instructed to have a line of communication open at all times,) his wife probably had her phone with her, et cetera.

This all sounds as though he intended to miss the test. Whether he did it because he was glowing big time or just wanted to have a quiet time with the wife is inconsequential. He was FULLY AWARE of the importance of the whereabouts rule.

Back in the day, Oscar Pereiro bitched and moaned on the media about the WADA people showing up during communions, birthday parties and multitude of other private events. If my memory serves me right... he never missed a test. He bitched and moaned about it, but never missed getting tested. He would cuss at the WADA testers, but allowed for the testing to get done.

Fast forward to today... Froome, one of the favorites of the TdF "forgets," (more like playing stupid) to tell the reception desk that they are to let the WADA personnel come up to the room if they decide to show up... and people believe him?

H. U. H.??

Why didn't the tester ring him then? If they had his phone number then call him.

why would they call? they know that the clinic needs something to *** about..

Someone sounds hurt............

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

Folk jumping in feet first just because it's Froome, he was on holiday with his wife, I'm not sure what more Froome can do, surely the hotel is to blame for this? They are the ones who wouldn't let them phone the room or give them access to Froome

I don't like the fact he has waited months to tell the public this as it makes the whole event rather fishy.

However from my own experience if you stay in a very reputable hotel where there are VIP guest the hotel staff are under strict instructions to not let any visitor disturb the guests that includes even a simple phone call, especially early in the morning. However Froome should have told the staff that there was a very minor possibility that drug testers could be on site. He was probably too busy making babies to tell them though!

since a large minority of athletes miss the odd test and don't disclose there is nothing fishy about it.

Seems odd to me that he would publicly complain of not enough testing knowing that he had missed 2 tests in his testing history.

 

[djpbaltimore]

Didn't he complain about the lack of testing last year when he only had one missed test many years prior?

From the article: "Ahead of last year's race, Froome had taken to Twitter to complain about the lack of testing at Mount Teide"

At least Froome acknowledged that it was his error. From the context of his quote, the 'I just didn't see this one coming.' seems more do with the actions of the hotel staff rather than suggesting that he knew ahead of time when the tests will be as many posters on this thread are suggesting.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/froome-reveals-missed-doping-controls

EDIT typos

 

[Catwhoorg]

I *** about people being late to work meeting all the time, usually with no good cause.

Does the fact that I very occasionally end up late myself to one, invalidate my position ?

 

[sniper]

With the press digging into Mo F. there was a reasonable chance of Froome's missed tests coming out eventually.
Imo this is just Chris trying to control the message.
I think it's a wise decision. If, say, the Daily Mail would have gotten their hands on the info, it could've been more embarrassing for Chris.
His excuse ('they wouldn't let the testers go up to my room') is no better than Mo's 'couldn't hear the doorbell', though.

 

[SeriousSam]

Re:

I *** about people being late to work meeting all the time, usually with no good cause.

Does the fact that I very occasionally end up late myself to one, invalidate my position ?

No, your position is still valid, but it makes you a hypocrite. Being exposed as a hypocrite can be devastating depending on the circumstances.

 

[sniper]

Re: Re:

Folk jumping in feet first just because it's Froome, he was on holiday with his wife, I'm not sure what more Froome can do, surely the hotel is to blame for this? They are the ones who wouldn't let them phone the room or give them access to Froome

I don't like the fact he has waited months to tell the public this as it makes the whole event rather fishy.

However from my own experience if you stay in a very reputable hotel where there are VIP guest the hotel staff are under strict instructions to not let any visitor disturb the guests that includes even a simple phone call, especially early in the morning. However Froome should have told the staff that there was a very minor possibility that drug testers could be on site. He was probably too busy making babies to tell them though!

since a large minority of athletes miss the odd test and don't disclose there is nothing fishy about it.

Seems odd to me that he would publicly complain of not enough testing knowing that he had missed 2 tests in his testing history.

odd why? he had two close rivals up there in Tenerife. It was a clever move. He wasn't thinking about his missed tests. Why would he?

 

[Tonton]

My round 2 pick is in the doping news. Great !

Missing a control in itself is a possibility for any rider. That's the flaw with out of competition surprise visits: the guy may give an address but be at the local pub carbing up when the testers show up. The counter argument is that you are not just any rider: you're the Dawg, for crying out loud! Be professional. You know how much damage a missed test will do to your "clean" reputation.

In this case, a few things smell strange: the lack of spontaneity with regards to the release of the info and the statement is one: the whole thing looks too "controlled". Media/Sky/Froome working together. The other is the statement from Froome: he overdoes it. "I own it. I should have let the hotel staff know". BS.

Smells like The Chicken, and tastes like The Chicken if I may say.

 

[Dear Wiggo]

My round 2 pick is in the doping news. Great !

Missing a control in itself is a possibility for any rider. That's the flaw with out of competition surprise visits: the guy may give an address but be at the local pub carbing up when the testers show up.

At a guess it was not a random / surprise visit though - but a test at his known location during a time slot he had nominated.

 

[Tonton]

My round 2 pick is in the doping news. Great !

Missing a control in itself is a possibility for any rider. That's the flaw with out of competition surprise visits: the guy may give an address but be at the local pub carbing up when the testers show up.

At a guess it was not a random / surprise visit though - but a test at his known location during a time slot he had nominated.

True. And I'm trying to imagine the script, the dialogues. Dawg says the staff told him testers had shown up, which implies the individuals introduced them as such.

Scene at the front desk:

"Good morning gentlemen, how may I assist you?
- We're here to dope test Dawg.
- We don't have any Mr. Dawg registered as a guest. It must be a mistake.
- I mean Froome, Chris Froome, a.k.a. Dawg, Froomey, Skeletor. We're here to bust the SOB.
- Sorry Sir, but our policy is to respect the privacy of our guests. May I take a message?
- Look Front Desk uptight guy: we've come a long way, already missed Piti and Nibbles, almost got kidnapped in Colombia, we won't leave empty handed. All we need to do is perform a quick test and bust the a$$hole.
- Again, I apologize, but it is against our policy.
- Can you get us something at least? Did he send his clothes to the cleaner? Common man, get me the bag. I'll give you 20 bucks."

And then, imagine the casual scene at the hotel restaurant, the Froomes having breakfast:

" Would you like another glass of our fresh squeezed orange juice from Ferrara Mr. Froome?
- Sure Nigel, thank you. And please congratulate the chef: the pan y agua continental is absolutely fantastic.
- Oh, I almost forgot. Earlier this morning, two gentlemen came to perform an out of competition test. Of course, we didn't let them disturb you.
- Great. Here's a hundred pounds Nigel, to split with the Front Desk agent."

 

[Põhja Konn]

His disclosure is obviously caused of what happened to Farah. He new he had a minor skeleton in the closet and chose to bring it out now to avoid a much bigger potential embarrasment and distraction in the middle of the Tour.
Whatever one might think with regards to Froome and doping there doesn't seem to be any more heinous subtext to this particular story.

 

[The_Cheech]

Re: Re:

why would they call? they know that the clinic needs something to *** about..

I don't know what the sequence of events was but... I suspect WADA coming up with the whereabouts protocol and showing up UNANNOUNCED was intended so they can get a clean sample.

I don't see WADA personnel calling Chris and saying "Hey Froomey! We just got off the plane and we'll be there in about ½ hour. In the meantime, drink a bottle of water and wrap (tightly) a rubber strap around your upper bicep so that we can collect the sample as soon as possible." It's my understanding that the WADA folks are supposed to just show up, knock on the door, take a sample right there and then and let you go on your merry business (and viceversa). They're not supposed to sit there waiting for you or having to call your sister-in-law to collect a sample. That's why the whereabouts protocol exists. That's why the database exists.

I still do not know the specifics of the situation but what I can say with a shadow of a doubt is that athletes lie. And drug cheats is cycling are no different. Having read what I've read before, and seen what I've seen before, it would not susprise me that Froome wasn't even where he said he was. Or that, even if he was, he made it clear to the reception personnel to have NO ONE disturb him at all in the hopes of deterring or delaying a possible test sample from being collected.

And just like in Contador's steakgate case, the proof falls on him to show otherwise.

 

[nayr497]

Wonderful timing, 9 days ahead of the Tour.

If he just stayed on the private mini bus all the time, he'd never miss a test!

 

[The_Cheech]

Re:

Wonderful timing, 9 days ahead of the Tour.

If he just stayed on the private mini bus all the time, he'd never miss a test!

This can quickly spiral out of control if someone from the hotel says that it was Chris who didn't open the door or answer the phone.

 

[Dear Wiggo]

Re: Re:

Wonderful timing, 9 days ahead of the Tour.

If he just stayed on the private mini bus all the time, he'd never miss a test!

Does he realize that all it takes, for this to get out of control, is if someone from the hotel comes out and says that they did try getting in touch with Chris.

Omerta says, "No."

 

[The_Cheech]

Re: Re:

Wonderful timing, 9 days ahead of the Tour.

If he just stayed on the private mini bus all the time, he'd never miss a test!

Does he realize that all it takes, for this to get out of control, is if someone from the hotel comes out and says that they did try getting in touch with Chris.

Omerta says, "No."

If the Italian justice system gets involved they will have no choice.

 

[SkyTears]

"If the Italian justice system gets involved they will have no choice."

italian justice system is a joke , look at Astana, Aru and Nibali

but maybe it function differently for non italians, who knows.

 

[SeriousSam]

His disclosure is obviously caused of what happened to Farah. He new he had a minor skeleton in the closet and chose to bring it out now to avoid a much bigger potential embarrasment and distraction in the middle of the Tour.
Whatever one might think with regards to Froome and doping there doesn't seem to be any more heinous subtext to this particular story.

I agree with this. Sky's damage control and PR departments are clearly on top of their game.

 

[HiroAntagonist]

His disclosure is obviously caused of what happened to Farah. He new he had a minor skeleton in the closet and chose to bring it out now to avoid a much bigger potential embarrasment and distraction in the middle of the Tour.
Whatever one might think with regards to Froome and doping there doesn't seem to be any more heinous subtext to this particular story.

I agree with this. Sky's damage control and PR departments are clearly on top of their game.

I agree Froome and sky want to get in front of this, but the story is so weak. Ah well.

 

[armchairclimber]

In my opinion this is a quite mischievous bit of trolling on Froome's part. Pretty clever really. I under-estimated him.

 

[keeponrollin]

For those asking what he might be doing on hols in Italy that would make him want to avoid the vampires ..... blood bag !

 

[The_Cheech]

Re:

For those asking what he might be doing on hols in Italy that would make him want to avoid the vampires ..... blood bag !

How do you even know he was in Italy?

Rasmussen was going up the Mortirolo while WADA though he was in Cancun enjoying the sun and checking out the Mayan ruins.

 

[peloton]

Even if the hotel refused to notify him, the testers have his cell number, why didn't he answer the cellphone if he had that hour open for testing? Bizarre