If you were Froome

[User Guide]

Lets see if he can stand the heat

I voted Giro, I want too see what he can do when the spotlight is on.As we are lead to believe hes always had the "measurables" physically;but has never shown that in races.Ok hes had injuries and health issues last 1year or two,prior too that though he was hardly prolific.Maybe he is a bit of a Kloden or Stannard ,talent yes, a winner ? driven? hungry? likes spotlight? thrives under pressure?.... Lets find out.

 

[cineteq]

He is clearly a talent that should not be wasted helping Wiggins try to win a race he never will.

Voilà. It's either Wiggins or Froome for the Tour, but not both.

 

[ramjambunath]

Firstly change his name. Is he Chris Froome Kenya or Chris Froome England.
In all seriousness though he proved himself to be too good a rider to be wasted as a super domestique. Even without Froome, who effectively paced Wiggins up the mountains in La Vuelta, Sky have a couple of decent climbers in their team.
Finally, with all the offers that he received, I don't think he would have stayed at Sky unless he had an established leadership role in the team.

 

[greenedge]

I agree with those wary of the balancing act required at Sky if they have both Cav and Wigo. There is no love lost between those two.

I voted for the Giro option, however, Froome would likely select the option that offers him the most support. He won't be successful at any grand tours without his team.

All niceties aside, and all due respect to the Champion track rider that Wiggins is, they let victory slip through their fingers at the Vuelta. Such opportunities seldom appear. Wiggins has had his grand tour chances three years running now, he's not so dissimilar to A.Schleck - can't quiet get the win. At least the Schlecks helped Carlos Sastre when he positioned himself for the win. Not to say Froome would have won, just that he was not given the chance when the door opened.

He did crash at the TDF. Andy has been a GT contender for 5 years Wiggins 3. Hopefully Froome at the Giro will get the help of riders like Tommy and Cummings.

@User Guide Kloden and Stannard are way different in their different races and their palmares. Kloden has finished 2nd at the TDF twice 04-06. Stannard is still young but is a domestique with a big motor who will play an important roll in Cav's lead out next year and at cobbled classics.

 

[spalco]

If the choice is between Giro and Vuelta I would choose the Vuelta again if I were him - he had excellent success there once, why not go for the win all out now? Not sure how I would approach the Tour, but I guess I would at least pretend to be humble and grateful if I'm asked to ride as domestique for Wiggins.

Don't forget, Wiggins is 31, while Froome is just 26,; Wiggins won't be there forever, and if Froome plays the loyal company man maybe he could be the heir...

 

[ramjambunath]

If the choice is between Giro and Vuelta I would choose the Vuelta again if I were him - he had excellent success there once, why not go for the win all out now? Not sure how I would approach the Tour, but I guess I would at least pretend to be humble and grateful if I'm asked to ride as domestique for Wiggins.

Don't forget, Wiggins is 31, while Froome is just 26,; Wiggins won't be there forever, and if Froome plays the loyal company man maybe he could be the heir...

Considering he chose sky for next year in itself makes him a loyal team man. I would want to see him do the Giro and Vuelta (Giro with Henao), and the likes of Uran and Zandio domestiqueing for Wiggins. They could put all eggs in the TdF basket but if Contador and a few others (Evans basso and schleck) are in top form I don't see Wiggins beating them and it could be a massive fail, though if they sign Cavendish it could make up with some stage wins.

 

[User Guide]

He did crash at the TDF. Andy has been a GT contender for 5 years Wiggins 3. Hopefully Froome at the Giro will get the help of riders like Tommy and Cummings.

@User Guide Kloden and Stannard are way different in their different races and their palmares. Kloden has finished 2nd at the TDF twice 04-06. Stannard is still young but is a domestique with a big motor who will play an important roll in Cav's lead out next year and at cobbled classics.

Indeed but both have question marks over their mental aproach,self belief wanting to be "the man" as it were.

 

[Bavarianrider]

If you were in Froome's shoes and knowing that Wiggins will be undisputed #1 rider for Sky at the TDF. Which would you rather do ?

Lead the Giro
Lead La Vuelta
Be Super Domestique at the Tour

Wiggins won't ride the Tour in 2012. He'll focus on London, won't he?

 

[spalco]

Considering he chose sky for next year in itself makes him a loyal team man. I would want to see him do the Giro and Vuelta (Giro with Henao), and the likes of Uran and Zandio domestiqueing for Wiggins. They could put all eggs in the TdF basket but if Contador and a few others (Evans basso and schleck) are in top form I don't see Wiggins beating them and it could be a massive fail, though if they sign Cavendish it could make up with some stage wins.

Right, I don't really see Wiggins winning the Tour de France either, especially if Contador's there. However, if Sky is targeting the Tour with Wiggins for GC and Cavendish for stage wins/green jersey, they'll need all the help they can get and I don't see how they can pass on taking Froome to France too.

Has Sky said anything about how the Olympics figure into their plannings for the GTs next year?

 

[spalco]

Wiggins won't ride the Tour in 2012. He'll focus on London, won't he?

Is he going on the track again in London? Because if it's just the road race I would think he could incorporate the Tour into his preparation.

 

[theyoungest]

Wiggins won't ride the Tour in 2012. He'll focus on London, won't he?

His entire Vuelta campaign was a dress rehearsal for the trajectory he plans to follow in 2012: ride the Tour, and then the Olympic TT. Since he got 2nd at the Worlds, I assume the dress rehearsal was successful.

 

[ramjambunath]

Is he going on the track again in London? Because if it's just the road race I would think he could incorporate the Tour into his preparation.

He had problems with the ticketing system andnsaid that he would do only the RR and the ITT. My personal opinion is he will do the ITT and the team pursuit. He hasn't confirmed anything yet though. His loss of weight due to becoming a stage racer will make him a bit less effective as an individual pursuit rider.

 

[Moncoutie]

Would like to see him lead at the Giro or Vuelta, but I'd be amazed if Sky don't have him play super dom at the tour.

 

[Dancing On The Pedals]

Whn will EBH and Geraint get to lead at a GT. Sky signed them as talents who can do GT's but now they end up doing sprints. EBH showed at the Dauphinie that he could be a GT rider in future and Geraint could go well as shown at Galibier. He can also ITT/ do well at Classics. Sky are not doing enough to give them leadership position at these races which is a pity. Now they also have Froome, Uran and Henao. Rogers will be back in good form next year ( ToC ) and Cavendish will be there ( finally/ probably )

Read an interview with GT somewhere the other day in which he discussed whether he would go on to become a GC contender - his view was something like if he knows he can do it successfully and regularly compete in the top 10/5 of GT's (I guess similar conversion to Wiggins) then he will go for it. Personally, I hope he focusses on the Classics like RVV and P-R as I think he could win both of those one day in the future.

Anyway, back to the OP, would love to see Froome given sole leadership at the Giro or the Vuelta (or both), however, I think Sky will try and give Wiggins as strong a team as possible at the Tour, which means an in form Froome. Of course, if we get a Vuelta type situation, with Froome on a par or out perfoming the team leader (but this time with the British press far more aware of what's going on), then that should be interesting to watch
I think Sky have enough riders to send strong squads to all three GT's, not to mention a potentially very strong Classic's team - targeting either a good GC position or stage wins and so on, but I have a nagging doubt in my mind that they will put all their eggs into the tour/Olympics basket unfortunately.

 

[Swabian Lass]

Wiggins won't ride the Tour in 2012. He'll focus on London, won't he?

Wiggins has said that his priority is the Tour next year because that's "unfinished business" and he's "been there, done that" with the Olympic gold medal thing.

I think that he may do most as I understand that he's only do the road race at the Olympics anyway. I think that he's pretty clear that his track days are over.

 

[Swabian Lass]

Re the OP I think that Froome should do the Vuelta for sure as leader. If I were him I think that I'd be prepared to do the super dom bit at the Tour, partly because I think that there's a chance that Wiggins won't quite be up there and he could end up as leader. Not much of a chance in the Tour, I admit, but he'd be a good Plan B for Sky.

Sky's problem next year could be that they have too many options - Wiggins and Froome in GC, EB-H chasing stage wins, and Cavendish for Green. I'd love to be a fly on the wall at their team meetings.

 

[ramjambunath]

Wiggins has said that his priority is the Tour next year because that's "unfinished business" and he's "been there, done that" with the Olympic gold medal thing.

I think that he may do most as I understand that he's only do the road race at the Olympics anyway. I think that he's pretty clear that his track days are over.

He hasn't ruled out the team pursuit (BBC interview 22 sept). Otherwise though, his track days are done. Reading the interview again he may not even ride the road race and do the ITT.

 

[spalco]

He hasn't ruled out the team pursuit (BBC interview 22 sept). Otherwise though, his track days are done. Reading the interview again he may not even ride the road race and do the ITT.

Makes sense if he thinks riding the road race could lower his chances for the ITT. Although obviously very, very strong, I think he's replaceable for the GB squad in the RR since the only Briton who can win it is Cav anyway.

 

[Morbius]

The key question to be answered is how GB/Sky will approach the Olympic RR. That then influences who rides what.
The Olympics are likely to be Cav's number 1 goal, so he is unlikely to finish the tour and may be OK with fewer doms.
Wiggins will not ride the RR after the TdF as they are too close together. He will ride the ITT and maybe the team pursuit (though he may be forced to choose between them).
Millar and Thomas are out of the RR due to clinic and team pursuit
So, I think Froome will be a key player in the RR. My guess is that he will ride the Giro to build form and aim to keep it through other events to the RR.

 

[Jan the Man]

Assuming Sky sign Cav and Eisel and G misses the tour their GT squads will look something like the following-

Giro-

Chris Froome
Thomas Lovkvist
Geraint Thomas
Peter Kennaugh
Steve Cummings
Davide Appollino
Alex Dowsett
Ian Stannard
Mark Cavendish


Tour-

Brad Wiggins
Rigoberto Uran
Eddy Boasson Hagen
Michael Rogers
Juan Flecha
Richie Port
Bernhard Eisel
Ben Swift
Mark Cavendish

Vuelta

Rigoberto Uran
Sergio Heano
Chris Froome
Xavier Zandio
Kanstantin Svistov
CJ Sutton
Michael Barry
David Cioni
Juan Flecha

 

[ramjambunath]

The key question to be answered is how GB/Sky will approach the Olympic RR. That then influences who rides what.
The Olympics are likely to be Cav's number 1 goal, so he is unlikely to finish the tour and may be OK with fewer doms.
Wiggins will not ride the RR after the TdF as they are too close together. He will ride the ITT and maybe the team pursuit (though he may be forced to choose between them).
Millar and Thomas are out of the RR due to clinic and team pursuit
So, I think Froome will be a key player in the RR. My guess is that he will ride the Giro to build form and aim to keep it through other events to the RR.

Thomas is the rider, who will have the biggest problems. If he ride the tour and work for Wiggins and Cav (if he signs for sky), then he will be part of the road race and word so far has been that he will also be part of team pursuit.

I think Froome should do the Giro, the RR and do the Vuelta.

 

[theyoungest]

Assuming Sky sign Cav and Eisel and G misses the tour their GT squads will look something like the following-

...

Froome and Thomas are almost certain to be on the Tour squad IMO... I'm sure Froome didn't choose Sky because he'd be relegated to the Giro there. And Thomas has worn the white jersey in two consecutive Tours, the biggest British talent.

 

[euanli]

You guys are missing something important about Wiggins and the Olympics. If he wants to do the TT he must also do the roadrace. Rules say so.

Thomas has stated he doesn't want to ride the Tour next year

 

[Jan the Man]

Froome and Thomas are almost certain to be on the Tour squad IMO... I'm sure Froome didn't choose Sky because he'd be relegated to the Giro there. And Thomas has worn the white jersey in two consecutive Tours, the biggest British talent.

Really? Geraint has already strongly hinted he won't ride the Tour next year as he looks to fine tune his speed for the team pursuit.

As for Froome, if he has been guranteed co-leadership of Tour in say 2013 then wouldn't surprise if he was sole leader for Giro next year. Purely speculation of course and Sky may prefer to go all out and send him to the Tour as he would be an effective foil for Wiggins.

 

[theyoungest]

Really? Geraint has already strongly hinted he won't ride the Tour next year as he looks to fine tune his speed for the team pursuit.

Yeah, I forgot about his track ambitions. In that case you're probably right. But Froome should be disappointed if he doesn't get a chance in the Tour, in favour of a guy he has just beaten while working for him.