brownbobby said:
ontheroad said:
macbindle said:
https://cyclingtips.com/2018/05/the-secret-pro-an-insiders-view-on-chris-froomes-crazy-giro-attack/
This piece reads as a justification for Froome's performance, and as with much media commentary I have seen peddled in recent days, it seeks to downplay the absolute brilliant nature of the ride......but why try and dampen it?
When we witness something brilliant I cannot get my head around why so much of the commentary is based on trying to downplay the performance. He put almost 8.5 minutes into the 7th place finisher on the satge and looked fresh enough to do the same again the next day if required. Apart from the sheer inaccuracy peddled in terms of time gained on the descent, other nonsense put forward about aeros, refuelling, hi-viz jackets, tactics, gravel tracks etc is a basic insult to the intelligence of many cycling fans. It does not explain such dominance.
It appears that every single reason other than the sheer physical supremacy of Froome is being put forward as an explanation for the performance. So if you are a Froome fan or a sky fan why be afraid to herald a performance for the ages?
Well that's an easy one to answer....this is cycling, extraordinary performances don't just happen, they are met with suspicion and the performers are immediately judged to be doping until proven otherwise...which of course they never can be :sad:
The question was slightly rhetorical of course!
I listened to initial comments directly after the stage from Ashley House who said he was lost for words, from Brian Smith who asked 'was that real?', from Sean Kelly who referred to it as unbelievable, from Matt White who said he never seen a performance like that in a grand tour.....ever! Then you had Lance Armstrong who said it was one of the most monumental performances of all time and certainly of the last 10 years whilst you had George Bennett who was laughing at the absurdity of it (yes, I know he then rowed back some time later).
On the other hand the Sky camp and their supporters were much more subdued. I watched Froome and Brailsford interviewed after the stage and you would expect them to be positively buzzing but a body language expert would have been amazed to have been told that they had just effectively won the Giro and produced a performance for the ages in the process. IIRC Brailsford even said directly after the stage that he thought that morning that there was a strong possibility of getting the maglia rosa at the end of the day and acted like it was totally normal. He must have been one of the few who had believed this prior to the stage.
Some of the UK media commentary since the race ended has continued with this same theme of downplaying the performance and achievement of his Giro victory. If there is nothing to hide well then why not salute the magnitude of his achievement rather than put it down to the inability of his opponents to perform and other even more absurd factors. Otherwise it just ends up looking like PR bluster to divert away from the sheer physical supremacy that Froome had over 95% of the field.