Froome is looking rather lean!!
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I agree up to a point but there are 2-3 hours before the cameras roll and I think they are there.
All this time, Froome and Porte and others have been racking up serious miles on serious mountains. Not sure they should be doing that if they are ill and cant even compete in one day of racing. I remember when Froome had a bad back...there was a photo of him training in the mountains then too.Contador is the Greatest0 -
tuneskyline wrote:He's obviously had health issues. His veiny legs suggest he's kept himself in good shape and they want him to go into the mini tour this week in good shape to test his form. Its just a shame Contador is not there.
Can't work out if you are No1 fan of Bertie or Frenchie0 -
I Like the panache riders. Don't really have a favourite rider. I did offer FF a signed Contador poster because it seemed like he would have appreciated it. I already have a signed framed one on my wall and this one is sitting among some comics,I mean graphic novels. He did not want it :shock:0
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Or just an old friend of oursMad_Malx wrote:tuneskyline wrote:He's obviously had health issues. His veiny legs suggest he's kept himself in good shape and they want him to go into the mini tour this week in good shape to test his form. Its just a shame Contador is not there.
Can't work out if you are No1 fan of Bertie or Frenchie
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nic_77 wrote:
Or just an old friend of oursMad_Malx wrote:tuneskyline wrote:He's obviously had health issues. His veiny legs suggest he's kept himself in good shape and they want him to go into the mini tour this week in good shape to test his form. Its just a shame Contador is not there.
Can't work out if you are No1 fan of Bertie or Frenchie
Just what I was abour to suggest.0 -
Pross wrote:Yep, but it's their GT riders who seem to be struggling this season. I'm wondering whether it is overload causing injury, illness and fatigue. Wiggins had a disastrous season last year, it's easy for people to suggest he wasn't bothered but he had seemed keen going into the Giro. Having more or less taken a sabbatical for the rest of that season he is looking fresh again. Who knows, it could even explain the reason for JTL's drop in blood levels (which I think he initially suggested himself).
This is an interesting topic for discussion but just a couple of points:
Amongst the guys who've been crocked with injuries are Stannard and Sutton - both caused by crashes and both defo part of Sky's core classics squad - not GT riders.
Dombrowski's been crocked since the very start of the season. Can't see what training overload would have led to that during the off-season (Sky even scaled back on their initial pre-season training camps in Mallorca - none in Nov, unlike previous years, and the Dec one was kept very light in terms of training intensity, according to what I've read.
Wiggins wasn't rested for the rest of the season after the Giro. He was back training in Jun, raced Tour of Poland, Eneco, for starters, then ToB, and the Worlds where he won the TT silver.
One last comment. In one of the Cycling Anthologies Kenny Pryde wrote a chapter speculating that with riders now winning GTs clean (obvs, for the reader to give his essay credence, they have to believe that point), whether the strain and effort in winning a GT clean is a lot more debilitating than doing it dirty, and we might now be looking at more once-off GT winners. Which perhaps starts to go into the territory that you're putting forward for discussion.0 -
Oh, one other point I want to make (sorry)..and elaborating on what I said about training camps...
I actually think Sky have scaled back this season on taking their riders straight into heavy training volumes AND racing on the front all day etc. They did a massive review after the end of last season, asking riders what went well and what didn't. And from a recent CycleSport Rod Ellingworth interview they also wanted to understand why - with the exception of Wiggins ToB win and Poland TT win, and Lopez's Eneco stage win - the team struggled so much for results post-Tour.
I think they concluded that domestiques like Lopez, Siutsou and Kiry etc had hammered / been hammered so much in the stage races from Oman through to Dauphine, that they were cooked by the time it came to the Tour (esp Lopez and Siutsou).
They've certainly raced differently in stage races this season. And I think they are being extremely strict about not letting riders start races/stages if they're not right.0 -
Richmond Racer wrote:Oh, one other point I want to make (sorry)..and elaborating on what I said about training camps...
I actually think Sky have scaled back this season on taking their riders straight into heavy training volumes AND racing on the front all day etc. They did a massive review after the end of last season, asking riders what went well and what didn't. And from a recent CycleSport Rod Ellingworth interview they also wanted to understand why - with the exception of Wiggins ToB win and Poland TT win, and Lopez's Eneco stage win - the team struggled so much for results post-Tour.
I think they concluded that domestiques like Lopez, Siutsou and Kiry etc had hammered / been hammered so much in the stage races from Oman through to Dauphine, that they were cooked by the time it came to the Tour (esp Lopez and Siutsou).
They've certainly raced differently in stage races this season. And I think they are being extremely strict about not letting riders start races/stages if they're not right.
I think you might be right their GT teams over the past couple of years have been hammered in the Tour and pre Tour prep races leaving little or nothing thereafter. to be honest you could say that a lot of post Tour races are after the Lord Mayor's parade but there is still one GT, the World's (though not really a trade team's concern) and Lombardy. I believe Froome may have won the Vuelta in 2012 if he hadn't ridden the Tour for Wiggins but he was cooked.0 -
This months procycling alludes to that.
It's a little high risk. Sky's season is a success if they win the tour. Why change a winning formula for a load of chippers?0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:This months procycling alludes to that.
It's a little high risk. Sky's season is a success if they win the tour. Why change a winning formula for a load of chippers?
Probably the only legacy of the Armstrong/US Postal era still standing would you say?0 -
It's got nothing to do with postal.
The tour is bigger in relation to the rest of the calendar than it was so focussing on it just makes good sense if you have the best stage racers.0 -
So RR, basically, due to excesses and abuse of the past the team is overcompensating this year.
Sounds like the finance industry.
Regardless, their ability this year to field proper squads and finish races has been laughable.
Why was Eisel riding a granfondo yesterday and not at Liege to help out their shambolic team showing?
I will go through every Sky rider when i have time to see what they have been doing on the racing front, or lack thereof, this year.Contador is the Greatest0 -
Can't wait. I assume you'll then go on to do the same for all the other big teams too, because of course we all know you don't single out Sky for a ridiculous amount of criticism or anything.frenchfighter wrote:I will go through every Sky rider when i have time to see what they have been doing on the racing front, or lack thereof, this year.0 -
In the UCI Rankings, there is no Sky rider in the top 25 (I stopped looking after that) other than my man Geraint Thomas and he would have been a decent amount higher had he not crashed in PN.
For you Spanish haters, they are smashing the country rankings.Contador is the Greatest0 -
frenchfighter wrote:In the UCI Rankings, there is no Sky rider in the top 25 (I stopped looking after that) other than my man Geraint Thomas and he would have been a decent amount higher had he not crashed in PN.
For you Spanish haters, they are smashing the country rankings.
You and your bizarre frequent recourse to 'haters' - 'Contador haters', 'Spanish haters'
Anyone who doesnt share your particular Directioner-style obsession, is a 'hater'
It helps you relationalise things in that little head of yours. Its how children deal with things.0 -
Richmond Racer wrote:frenchfighter wrote:In the UCI Rankings, there is no Sky rider in the top 25 (I stopped looking after that) other than my man Geraint Thomas and he would have been a decent amount higher had he not crashed in PN.
For you Spanish haters, they are smashing the country rankings.
You and your bizarre frequent recourse to 'haters' - 'Contador haters', 'Spanish haters'
Anyone who doesnt share your particular Directioner-style obsession, is a 'hater'
It helps you relationalise things in that little head of yours. Its how children deal with things.
No it just saves me having to explain it in detail each time.
My previous posts stand.
ps what does relationalise mean?
pps how do you know my head is little?Contador is the Greatest0 -
Froome has been well enough to race, they have just chose to train over race.
The constant pulling out of races and re-jigging of team rosters is getting a little bit tedious.
Thinking Correctly Under Pressure or 'tcup' as Sir Clive used to put it has always been Froomes issue.
Has Froome experienced enough heated race situations this year to get him through the tour?0 -
tom3 wrote:Froome has been well enough to race, they have just chose to train over race.
The constant pulling out of races and re-jigging of team rosters is getting a little bit tedious.
Thinking Correctly Under Pressure or 'tcup' as Sir Clive used to put it has always been Froomes issue.
Has Froome experienced enough heated race situations this year to get him through the tour?
I think he's raced enough 'heated race situations' over the last 20 months to 'get him through the Tour'. The experience of the previous season doesnt just evaporate - its all experiences banked for the future upon which to draw.
Whether he can win the Tour is a whole different question.0 -
tom3 wrote:Has Froome experienced enough heated race situations this year to get him through the tour?
I'd have thought dealing with an unprecedented >100km of isolation in yellow last year deals with the tcup stuff. Admittedly he was helped by pathetic defensive riding by Movi, but it was still an epic.
(Froome in 7th, marked by Valverde, checking his stem, hoping movi don't ride tempo all day.)
It appears Froome, and an alarming number of key gregarios, are currently too fragile to risk in a race. It's not looking good for the tour at all
Been desperate for a true test for Contador - not going to happen, I fear. And if training becomes the new racing which was the old training, again, I'll up the discount on any team statement to >50%.
Most exciting newcomer, and genuine challenger, avoids the big race of the year. Meanwhile a former champ returns to form only to find the new king crocked. Pathetic state of affairs for the sport....a rare 100% loyal Pro Race poster. A poster boy for the community.0 -
frenchfighter wrote:In the UCI Rankings, there is no Sky rider in the top 25 (I stopped looking after that) other than my man Geraint Thomas and he would have been a decent amount higher had he not crashed in PN.
For you Spanish haters, they are smashing the country rankings.
I haven't been aware of any Spanish haters on the forum and you seem to be building a defence against attacks that haven't happened.
For what it's worth (you are the only one really interested) SKY finished 2nd, 10th and 19th in the individual rankings last year. Contador was 10th. SKY were 2nd in the team rankings.
I have no idea what all this means.0 -
inseine wrote:frenchfighter wrote:In the UCI Rankings, there is no Sky rider in the top 25 (I stopped looking after that) other than my man Geraint Thomas and he would have been a decent amount higher had he not crashed in PN.
For you Spanish haters, they are smashing the country rankings.
I haven't been aware of any Spanish haters on the forum and you seem to be building a defence against attacks that haven't happened.
Notable references to Spanish (and Italian "dopers") and double standards etc etc. It is there.Contador is the Greatest0 -
Talking of going into races short-handed...
As of right now, for Romandie (8-rider squads)
OPQS are fielding 7 men
Lampre are fielding 6
If the UCI plans for smaller squads does get put into action, teams fielding weakened squads is only going to get more widespread and a lot worse.0 -
Richmond Racer wrote:Talking of going into races short-handed...
As of right now, for Romandie (8-rider squads)
OPQS are fielding 7 men
Lampre are fielding 6
If the UCI plans for smaller squads does get put into action, teams fielding weakened squads is only going to get more widespread and a lot worse.
How many are Sky fielding?Contador is the Greatest0 -
A full contigent. They've called Chris Sutton in as a late replacement for someone, presumably Kennaugh.0
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andyp wrote:A full contigent. They've called Chris Sutton in as a late replacement for someone, presumably Kennaugh.
Nope, Kennaugh wasnt scheduled to ride Romandie - his next race was going to be the Giro anyway.
Sutton's a replacement for Kiryienka0 -
Thanks for clarifying.0
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Must be the first time this year and I guess they realised they had to save face (they called him today and not back when they knew Kiri was out due to tiredness). I expect them to tear the field to pieces given they are so rested and the competition is weak. Porte and Froome have not done over 2500km this year. I wonder if Sutton manages it past stage two - he apparently has a bad knee as well.Contador is the Greatest0
