Criterium Du Dauphine 2017 *** SPOILERS***

Richmond Racer 2

I can't see any quotes where Porte has specifically criticised Froome. Quotes that say 'other teams' but none that specify or single out Froome. Perhaps I've missed something that you guys have read. Could someone post? Please and thank you.

EnacheV

Froome attacked 5+ times even before coverage started so it's normal he wasnt that good on final climb.

reading more of Porte statements after race makes me puke even harder, what a shitty charachter, i hope he finishes outside of top 10 at the tour, totally unlikable he becomed.

rick_chasey

Have we done Contador being asked not to attack by his boss?

EnacheV

BMC keps shit talking about how they teach Richie not to be a Froome domestique. Maybe they should teach him not to whine like a puppy when he feels the heat. The preparation stage races he won when nobody cared about them didn't teach him what being a leader is about.

on the other hand BMC should also be looking at their brand image, i wouldn't want to be associated with a whinny leader. For example, i would never buy anything with a BMC on it, when theres 10's of options (and BMC aren't knoew for low prices or good quality either) and i now associate BMC with no panache no sportmanship whiner.

epc06

EnacheV wrote:

BMC keps shoot talking about how they teach Richie not to be a Froome domestique. Maybe they should teach him not to whine like a puppy when he feels the heat. The preparation stage races he won when nobody cared about them didn't teach him what being a leader is about.

on the other hand BMC should also be looking at their brand image, i wouldn't want to be associated with a whinny leader. For example, i would never buy anything with a BMC on it, when theres 10's of options (and BMC aren't knoew for low prices or good quality either) and i now associate BMC with no panache no sportmanship whiner.

Yeah yeah. Sick of hearing him moan about the 4 bonus seconds he lost when froome boxed him in. Not.
Dan Martin made the same comments

epc06

Rick Chasey wrote:

Have we done Contador being asked not to attack by his boss?

Is this true?
He certainly seemed to be riding within himself

argyllflyer

If Froome wants the Tour/Vuelta double there's no point being in top form in early June and beginning to fade in early August. He has never rode the Vuelta at his best following the Tour so he does seem to be trying to push his form peak on a few weeks. Of course, it may not work and he ends up being undercooked. Or he is just out of form!

Vino'sGhost

I think it's too early to write froome off, but all the greats wane eventually, experience keeps them there or thereabouts for longer but there's no obvious replacement yet.

I don't think Porte is, though he may grow into the role in a few weeks.

No_Ta_Doctor

RR - as I read the quotes pasted here he said something about losing podium places. Only one rider did.

squired

This was a classic example of a well designed stage with very little valley road between the climbs and descents. Sadly the 2017 Tour doesn't really offer any opportunities for this type of racing.

Do we know why neither Henao or Poels were at Dauphine (and not at Switzerland either)?

I'm erring on the side that Froome is trying to peak better to enable the Tour/Vuelta double, but the racing this week certainly suggests the possibility of a more interesting GC battle at the Tour. Having said that, if he isn't too tired post Giro it could be Quintana's to lose.

Richmond Racer 2

No tA Doctor wrote:

RR - as I read the quotes pasted here he said something about losing podium places. Only one rider did.

So interpretation? Ok.

Richmond Racer 2

squired wrote:

This was a classic example of a well designed stage with very little valley road between the climbs and descents. Sadly the 2017 Tour doesn't really offer any opportunities for this type of racing.

Do we know why neither Henao or Poels were at Dauphine (and not at Switzerland either)?

I'm erring on the side that Froome is trying to peak better to enable the Tour/Vuelta double, but the racing this week certainly suggests the possibility of a more interesting GC battle at the Tour. Having said that, if he isn't too tired post Giro it could be Quintana's to lose.

Henao not 100%, Poels coming back from his injury and starting a much more low key race in form of RDS as his first race back

blazing_saddles

Richmond Racer 2 wrote:

I can't see any quotes where Porte has specifically criticised Froome. Quotes that say 'other teams' but none that specify or single out Froome. Perhaps I've missed something that you guys have read. Could someone post? Please and thank you.

ITV 4, last night.
He named two riders: Valverde and Froome specifically, then questioned why riders were riding as they did as.
Followed by: "Prepared to lose the race in order to stop him winning" comment.

Watered down version:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/porte-t ... -dauphine/

Strange. I thought trying to make your opponents lose was called...............................racing.

blazing_saddles

Richmond Racer 2 wrote:

squired wrote:

This was a classic example of a well designed stage with very little valley road between the climbs and descents. Sadly the 2017 Tour doesn't really offer any opportunities for this type of racing.

Do we know why neither Henao or Poels were at Dauphine (and not at Switzerland either)?

I'm erring on the side that Froome is trying to peak better to enable the Tour/Vuelta double, but the racing this week certainly suggests the possibility of a more interesting GC battle at the Tour. Having said that, if he isn't too tired post Giro it could be Quintana's to lose.

Henao not 100%, Poels coming back from his injury and starting a much more low key race in form of RDS as his first race back

On the plus side, Kwiatkowski exceeded most folks estimation in the mountains and Sky will have Geraint to take over the leadership when Froome gets dropped. :P

phreak

The Tour is interesting this year as whilst normally the first week or so is largely about keeping out of trouble for the GC boys, this year there are 3 testing stages in the first 8 days of racing where they'll need to be on their guard, with only 4 pure sprint stages before the rest day after stage 9. In other words, Froome can't really enter the race a little under-cooked and build his form in the first week.

rick_chasey

EPC06 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Have we done Contador being asked not to attack by his boss?

Is this true?
He certainly seemed to be riding within himself

Yeah he even called a press conference to announce e it.

Basically saying "it's not me - it's my boss!"

Logic is around not going so deep he can't recover for the Tour.

epc06

Rick Chasey wrote:

EPC06 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Have we done Contador being asked not to attack by his boss?

Is this true?
He certainly seemed to be riding within himself

Yeah he even called a press conference to announce e it.

Basically saying "it's not me - it's my boss!"

Logic is around not going so deep he can't recover for the Tour.

Ha, I didn't see that. What panache :-)
To be fair he probably does need to change his approach

Richmond Racer 2

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Richmond Racer 2 wrote:

I can't see any quotes where Porte has specifically criticised Froome. Quotes that say 'other teams' but none that specify or single out Froome. Perhaps I've missed something that you guys have read. Could someone post? Please and thank you.

ITV 4, last night.
He named two riders: Valverde and Froome specifically, then questioned why riders were riding as they did as.
Followed by: "Prepared to lose the race in order to stop him winning" comment.

Watered down version:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/porte-t ... -dauphine/

Strange. I thought trying to make your opponents lose was called...............................racing.

Cheers, Saddles. That answers my question

Now Titchie, time to toughen up and no more towing of Froome around Europe

kingstongraham

Did he waste 11 seconds trying to get them to ride with him?

TheBigBean

My conclusions:
- Porte was very strong, but as always, managed to pluck defeat from the jaws of victory. It's hard to see him not having a bad day in 21 stages.
- Froome has mastered going down hill, but is lacking going up.
- Contador has lost lots of form since Paris-Nice. Odd race for him. I would have guessed illness, but maybe it is age or simply team orders
- For someone that regularly climbs well I've often wondered why Fuglsang always seems to be a super domestique. He's 32.

Richmond Racer 2

TheBigBean wrote:

My conclusions:
- Porte was very strong, but as always, managed to pluck defeat from the jaws of victory. It's hard to see him not having a bad day in 21 stages.
- Froome has mastered going down hill, but is lacking going up.
- Contador has lost lots of form since Paris-Nice. Odd race for him. I would have guessed illness, but maybe it is age or simply team orders
- For someone that regularly climbs well I've often wondered why Fuglsang always seems to be a super domestique. He's 32.

Never the favoured child, is he

At Tinki/Saxo, he had to ride for Bert

At Astana, he's been well down the pecking order after Nibz (till this year) and Aru

DeVlaeminck

Just for clarity - is Contador claiming his DS told him to sit up and not go too deep? I'd love to think he was still even an outside contender for the Tour.

It's all looking rather well set up for July, I'm not sure history would prove much of a correlation between it being rather well set up and there being a great GC fight but at least the weeks leading up to the first summit finish will provide some decent speculation.

At least two teams - Astana and Movistar - now seem to have genuine credible co-leaders and Sky could perhaps be added to that list if they wanted to play it that way. We've also got a favourite in Froome who is proving increasingly more aggressive as his career progresses and a challenger who looks capable of matching him on the climbs and TTs.

secretsqirrel

Richmond Racer 2 wrote:

TheBigBean wrote:

- For someone that regularly climbs well I've often wondered why Fuglsang always seems to be a super domestique. He's 32.

Never the favoured child, is he

At Tinki/Saxo, he had to ride for Bert

At Astana, he's been well down the pecking order after Nibz (till this year) and Aru

That's not strictly true, he was designated team leader for the 2013 TDF. A decision made months in advance. He came a very creditable 7th place.

TheBigBean

SecretSqirrel wrote:

Richmond Racer 2 wrote:

TheBigBean wrote:

- For someone that regularly climbs well I've often wondered why Fuglsang always seems to be a super domestique. He's 32.

Never the favoured child, is he

At Tinki/Saxo, he had to ride for Bert

At Astana, he's been well down the pecking order after Nibz (till this year) and Aru

That's not strictly true, he was designated team leader for the 2013 TDF. A decision made months in advance. He came a very creditable 7th place.

Accordingly to Wikipedia that was only after the abandonment of Janez Brajkovic. But even if he was joint leader at the start, the point still stands, he is capable of 7th in the tour, but that is his only top 10 in any GT. My memory of Fuglsang is of a rider there at the end in some big mountain stages, but for some reason never challenging for the overall.

rick_chasey

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Just for clarity - is Contador claiming his DS told him to sit up and not go too deep? I'd love to think he was still even an outside contender for the Tour.

.

Not to sit up, but to follow & not attack.

EnacheV

More from Richie

“Valverde and Froome obviously didn’t want to see me win the race. That’s racing, but you don’t forget that for July.”
Read more at http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racin ... GUUcHg3.99

this guy has become disgusting after a 5th at TdF and a couple of 1 week stage races

i'm curious if he has any fans? hard to believe

so basically for the Tour i'm in the anyone but whinyrichie boat. god i hope he fails so bad.

wombly_knees

Well, he is an Australian sportsman.

Seem to remember Froome handled himself much better when he basically list the vuelta on that stage last year.

rick_chasey

It's almost like you lot don't like the beef...!

Richmond Racer 2

Rick Chasey wrote:

It's almost like you lot don't like the beef...!

More vegetarians than one would have thought

Meh, I'm up for a bit of needle. I just hadnt read the direct naming and 'shaming' by the wee Tassie, and wanted to know where that had been reported.

Riders complaining about other riders riding to make them lose, is a practice as old as time itself, non?

RichN95.

I can't see what Porte's issue with Froome is. Of course he didn't want Porte to win. He wanted Froome to. And at the base of the final climb it looked like he might.