Froome: unlucky or clumsy?
Comments
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His technique is just fine. Just won the Tour.0
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He is crashtastic, but the 'while all others remain vertical' is a bit of a fantasy. See last year's Tour as an example of that
I think where there are genuine case of him being at fault himself, it stems (pun!) from a couple of things:
1. obviously the amount of time he spends with his eyes straight down rather than looking at whats going on ahead or to the side. I made a post yesterday about Porte having said that Froome rides into him when they're out on training rides together
2. he came to road racing very late. Almost everyone else in the pro peloton learnt their bunch riding skills as sprogs, and then racing as juniors. There's a story from when they were all riding U23 races in Italy, and the likes of Stannard and Swift would tell Rod Ellingworth that they and the rest of the bunch steered well clear of Froome on descents and the like cos he was a liability.
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I think its a combination of things…he is clearly an awesome specimen on a bike.. he's won the TDF twice..you don't get that just by turning up!
He does have a very "unique" style and the constant head down, which clearly is totally natural suits him or he would have ironed it out as a marginal gain, the looking down must impact on his ability to react to events, and as we see time and again, it only takes a split second to bring the house down..so don't rip him, he's just been unlucky, case of wrong place/time for his skill set, which I wish I had a 10th of if I'm honest.
If he were to "train" his technique/style out you can guarantee he would miss far more races with long term mechanical body injuries due to trying something that isn't normal for him…keep on just as you are I say to him, and lets have 2 in a row at next years TDF.0 -
Good opportunity to give this one a bump:
http://chrisfroomelookingatstems.tumblr.com/
He can handle himself just fine but as mentioned, looking so often not where you are going and what's going on around you is clearly a silly way to ride and endangers himself and others. There are more crashes in general due to a variety of factors, not least the younger kids ego.
@DanMartin86 Aug 30
Why so many crashes this year? My opinion: guys showing less professional respect/caution, fighting for every position, take more risks
@DanMartin86 Aug 30
To be more clear, I'm not saying we should ride round in procession. But there's certain etiquette that should be followed
Peloton has diversified massively in recent years so like London, things are going to break as a result.Contador is the Greatest0 -
Most top riders are a bag of bones, particularly the GC contenders, it's not surprising they hurt themselves badly when they fall.Eddy Merckx EMX-3
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Dan Martin is another rider that often fails to stay upright. good Pro, but again not the complete skillset.Good opportunity to give this one a bump:
http://chrisfroomelookingatstems.tumblr.com/
He can handle himself just fine but as mentioned, looking so often not where you are going and what's going on around you is clearly a silly way to ride and endangers himself and others. There are more crashes in general due to a variety of factors, not least the younger kids ego.
@DanMartin86 Aug 30
Why so many crashes this year? My opinion: guys showing less professional respect/caution, fighting for every position, take more risks
@DanMartin86 Aug 30
To be more clear, I'm not saying we should ride round in procession. But there's certain etiquette that should be followed
Peloton has diversified massively in recent years so like London, things are going to break as a result.0 -
If always staying upright is the complete skillset, nobody has it.
Dan Martin is another rider that often fails to stay upright. good Pro, but again not the complete skillset.Good opportunity to give this one a bump:
http://chrisfroomelookingatstems.tumblr.com/
He can handle himself just fine but as mentioned, looking so often not where you are going and what's going on around you is clearly a silly way to ride and endangers himself and others. There are more crashes in general due to a variety of factors, not least the younger kids ego.
@DanMartin86 Aug 30
Why so many crashes this year? My opinion: guys showing less professional respect/caution, fighting for every position, take more risks
@DanMartin86 Aug 30
To be more clear, I'm not saying we should ride round in procession. But there's certain etiquette that should be followed
Peloton has diversified massively in recent years so like London, things are going to break as a result.0 -
Dan Martin is a funny one to comment - his most high profile crashes have been from sliding out on corners or wet manhole covers haven't they?0
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I watched a rider the other day grappling for a gel, arm behind his back mid a corner. Then he undertook a rider in front. It looked very cool, great shot, but risky.
Chris Froome is clearly a talented rider, but not looking ahead has to increase the chance of missing potential problems. It's up to him though and shouldn't change to appease anybody.
I don't live in London. What is breaking/broken in London FF?0 -
I don't live in London. What is breaking/broken in London FF?
Too many foreigners. Well that's what i took from the original comment.0 -
I don't live in London. What is breaking/broken in London FF?
Too many foreigners. Well that's what i took from the original comment.
Too many Brits and Americans here, that's Frenchie's problem0 -
I don't live in London. What is breaking/broken in London FF?
Too many foreigners. Well that's what i took from the original comment.
If you sell your father's land to buy a trumpet where will you stand to blow it?
I've lived in London all my life, have studied demography at LSE am very well factual informed so would consider my opinion on the matter solid. I won't go into it here though...
viewtopic.php?f=40088&t=13035823#p19694205Contador is the Greatest0 -
Hard to comment when to my knowledge there isn't any footage of yesterdays crash. Froome stated he was rode into and pushed into the barrier. I've not seen or heard of any eye witness reports or camera footage.Bianchi Infinito CV
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am very well factual informed so would consider my opinion on the matter solid.
Phew! For a moment there I was worried.0 -
Ok - thanks for comments - wasn't suggesting the Froominator wasn't a class act, but he's had a couple of high profile offs (this Vuelta, the Tour in 2014) where it was only really "him". The staring at the stem thing can't help, but I too would happily take one-tenth of his talent!
It's just a hill. Get over it.0 -
Hard to comment when to my knowledge there isn't any footage of yesterdays crash. Froome stated he was rode into and pushed into the barrier. I've not seen or heard of any eye witness reports or camera footage.
He either fell off all on his own or someone rode into him; either way I'm pretty sure it was an accident so not really worth delving into any further. S**t happens, and quite a lot in bike races.0 -
I don't live in London. What is breaking/broken in London FF?
Too many foreigners. Well that's what i took from the original comment.
If you sell your father's land to buy a trumpet where will you stand to blow it?
I've lived in London all my life, have studied demography at LSE am very well factual informed so would consider my opinion on the matter solid. I won't go into it here though...
viewtopic.php?f=40088&t=13035823#p19694205
Cheers FF, just wondered.0 -
I don't think he's a natural but he has improved a lot and he's certainly not the worst. The stuff you can practice and train for he seems fine at - so descending on a dry road he did well - I doubt he will ever be one to try and hit 120kph for fun but when he needs to stay with someone on a descent he knows the right lines, the braking points etc, he's learnt the right technique. You have to hand it to him - courage isn't lack of fear it's being afraid and still having a go - maybe fear is a bit strong but he's done what he has to do even if it doesn't come naturally to him.
I still think he's probably a little vulnerable to the less predictable stuff, when it's rained on dry roads and you can't predict the grip, when someone cuts across your front wheel in the bunch etc. We are talking about relative to his peers which are the best in the world of course so it's a high bar but compared to the best maybe it's not one of his strengths. Just like I could train 24 hours a day and never climb like Froome because I don't have that talent I think he maybe lacks the talent to be amongst the very best at that part of the sport.
As for looking down too much - I'd guess his upper spine is maybe not as flexible as some and his natural posture puts him in that position - how much that contributes to crashes is hard to say - clearly it has the potential to do so but you can never pin any particular incident on that.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
Had a brief chat with Sam Bennett last year in Flanders (friend of a friend, not claiming any great connection), he said that WT races are crazy and it's not a matter of if you will crash but when. It's a wonder to me that they don't crash more often.0
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Ok - thanks for comments - wasn't suggesting the Froominator wasn't a class act, but he's had a couple of high profile offs (this Vuelta, the Tour in 2014) where it was only really "him". The staring at the stem thing can't help, but I too would happily take one-tenth of his talent!
The Tour in 2014? The crash that broke his wrist was definitely not his fault.
He might have crashed the next day but that was as a consequence of the injuries he'd sustained the day before.
It never ceases to amaze me that people on internet forums think they can comment on a professional rider's handling skills purely from watching tv images.0 -
Ok - thanks for comments - wasn't suggesting the Froominator wasn't a class act, but he's had a couple of high profile offs (this Vuelta, the Tour in 2014) where it was only really "him". The staring at the stem thing can't help, but I too would happily take one-tenth of his talent!
The Tour in 2014? The crash that broke his wrist was definitely not his fault.
He might have crashed the next day but that was as a consequence of the injuries he'd sustained the day before.
It never ceases to amaze me that people on internet forums think they can comment on a professional rider's handling skills purely from watching tv images.
In defence, your honour:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl4eCCa1pJQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3OQAX90sFAIt's only a bit of sport, Mun. Relax and enjoy the racing.0 -
Crashing in the neutral zone on stage 1 of the 2013 Tour...now THAT took some doing...0
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[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19694479#p19694479]Richmond Racer 2[/url] wrote:Crashing in the neutral zone on stage 1 of the 2013 Tour...now THAT took some doing...
Not really. Lots of people crash in the neutralized section.Contador is the Greatest0 -
Cancellara's had a fair few spills in recent years... no one seems to question his riding skills...0
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[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19694479#p19694479]Richmond Racer 2[/url] wrote:Crashing in the neutral zone on stage 1 of the 2013 Tour...now THAT took some doing...
Not really. Lots of people crash in the neutralized section.
GC contender in the biggest race of the year (though not in your book, of course). Now that's not very common.0 -
Contador crashed in the neutralized section on this year's Tour (stage 7). Gesink went down too - likely bringing down Contador but I don't know for sure.
"If you dropped a club cyclist into a neutral zone of a Tour stage, they would crash," says Cavendish.Contador is the Greatest0 -
Contador crashed in the neutralized section on this year's Tour (stage 7). Gesink went down too - likely bringing down Contador but I don't know for sure.
Or maybe the other way around? But I don't know for sure.0 -
Contador crashed in the neutralized section on this year's Tour (stage 7). Gesink went down too - likely bringing down Contador but I don't know for sure.
"If you dropped a club cyclist into a neutral zone of a Tour stage, they would crash," says Cavendish.
But these are not club cyclists. These are the top of the pile.0 -
[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19694501#p19694501]Richmond Racer 2[/url] wrote:Contador crashed in the neutralized section on this year's Tour (stage 7). Gesink went down too - likely bringing down Contador but I don't know for sure.
"If you dropped a club cyclist into a neutral zone of a Tour stage, they would crash," says Cavendish.
But these are not club cyclists. These are the top of the pile.
ArfIt's only a bit of sport, Mun. Relax and enjoy the racing.0 -
I don't really think that he crashes any more than average. It's just he's an A-lister so you'll be guaranteed to see it when he does.
However, I would suggest that what crashes he does have cause a lot more damage than on average. Maybe he needs some falling lessons.Twitter: @RichN950
