how did the giro-tour suddenly become so feasible?

[TourOfSardinia]

Dumoulin raced the Giro hard for 3 weeks. He was constantly fighting for GC with Simon Yates and then with Froome. He had Sam Oomen for company and that was about it for team support in the mountains. Now, in the Tour he is practically stronger now than at the Giro with no signs of Giro fatigue slowing him down. Froome looks to be paying for his Giro week 3 efforts but Dumoulin looks as fresh as he did in the first week of the Tour.

We know Major Tom's a junkie. Strung out in heaven's high....
...
They got a message from the Action Man
...
I'll stay clean tonight, But the little green wheels are following me
...

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[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Froome showing some third week weakness today - as you'd expect from a Giro-Tour double attempt.

Dumoulin on the other hand...

Couldn’t have anything to do with the age difference between them, could it? Froome at 33 is expected to recover as quickly as Dumoulin at 27? Really? Froome at 33 is supposed to be better than anyone and everyone much younger? Froome has already won more Tours past the age of 30 than anyone else in history. Even if he and Dumo were squeaky clean, and hadn't exhibited any unusual transformation, Froome is at the age when riders historically have shown major declines. Dumo is at the age when historically they have begun to peak. Other things being equal, you would predict Dumo would hold up better in the Tour following the Giro.

I'm not saying Dumo isn't suspicious. He's well on his way to a double performance that no one since Pantani has managed. But even if you believe he came from as unremarkable beginning as Froome, he hasn’t yet come close to accomplishing what Froome has. Dumoulin now is about equivalent to Froome in 2012 or 2013. He appears to be one of the best GC riders in the world at the moment, but there’s still a gigantic step up from there to one of the best of all time.

Since 2011, Froome has ridden 14 Grand Tours, two almost every year. That has to take a huge toll on the body. He’s won six, finished second in four others, and will almost certainly at least podium in this Tour. He crashed out of two others. The only GT he finished during this period and didn’t podium was the Vuelta in 2012, after riding the Tour and having no experience in doing a double. Give Dumoulin a few years to approach a record like that before comparing him to Froome in terms of transformation.

Often, though, some riders' recovery peaks when they are in their thirties, even if they can't climb/ride to the same level level. Nibali, for example, was more consistently strong in a GT especially towards the end in 2015-16 than 2012.

 

[Cookster15]

Re:

Contador would have done it in 2011 were it not for crashes in the Tour him being so naive and taking the absolute piss out of the Giro by powering away and destroying everyone at every given chance. Had he settled on the minute-2 minute advantage he had once he established himself as the leader he would have had plenty more in the tank for the Tour. That's not the type of rider he is and when you are that strong it must be hard to hold back but I'm sure looking back he would have rode far more conservatively

The early crashes in 2011 meant Contador had no choice but to attack. It was obvious in the Pyrenees he was weak (he got dropped on Luz Ardiden). Before his implosion on the Gaibier he had attacked on the previous two stages. It all caught up with him on stage 18. Courage wasn't enough. Still lit up the Alpe but he couldn't sustain the power. But then rode an awesome stage 20 TT for a vanquished champion.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

It's slightly more believable for a 27 year old than a 33 year old. Esp considering we have seen Dumoulin continuing to improve, while on the other hand there have been signs that Froome is not as strong as he was two/three years ago.

I think throughout his career, Froome has consistently been weaker in a second consecutive GT. Its one thing that has been quite consistent about him - and is what you would expect from a rider trying to win consecutive tours. Even last year when he did the double, he showed vulnerabilities in the Vuelta that weren't there in the Tour.

So not sure it is so much an age thing - just that he has always lost a bit of shape and sharpness, like all other riders do. Except for Dumoulin.