Should Chris Froome swallow his pride and retire?

andyrr

MattFalle said:

andyrr said:

MattFalle said:

.

ugo.santalucia said:

I have seen too little from him to change my mind... breakaways are allowed to happen at discretion of the peloton, there is no particular glory in that... he did OK to be there on the final climb, but didn't have enough to stay with Pidcock and lost over a minute in the end. To put it in perspective, Pidcock never managed to stay with Pogacar, Vingegaard, Thomas, Kuss etc... he is young and might become a GC superstar, but he is not yet there.
It's an OK performance for Froome, it's not a definitive return to form... I hope the Vuelta will be more revealing.

this, extremrly well saif.

top 5 at the moment: MvdP, WvA, Pog, Rog, Vin.

Following approximatly 30 mins behind: Froome, Pidcock, etc.

Ugo talks the truth.

Who is this Pidcock character that you speak of. Is it the out of his depth bland pull out of the Tour de France by stage 8 guy ?

ah - the guy who finishd in the pack for 20 stages, won one stage where no one else wanted it and finished Gawd knows how far down the finishing list..

but yup, thats the fella, fella.

… finished Gawd knows how far down the finishing list..

17th o/a, 2nd in the young riders classification, 6 stages finished top 20.
Pidcock’s position was over 1 hour down by the end but he was still under 9 mins down after stage 15 so he held a high position pretty far into the race.
TheMF is/are (still unsure if theMF is a singular person, thing or persons) but whatever, it seems to love flaunting it’s bias and ignorance for the world to admire.

ugo.santalucia

Dorset_Boy said:

ugo.santalucia said:

Interestingly, nobody wants to sign Cristiano Ronaldo, despite him being a better asset than Froome... same age or thereabout

Not quite true. Loads of club would sign him, if his wage demands were realistic.

I see him as in the exact same position as Froome, one of the highest salaries out there for an ageing athlete. The difference is that Ronaldo is physically still intact and looking at his last 3-4 years, one wouldn't say he is at the end of his career... with Froome it is very obvious.

No_Ta_Doctor

I'd me more impressed by the argument that Froome brings experience and mentoring to the squad if 17 of their 30 man squad weren't over 30. They've only got 5 riders 25 and under. They must have one of the oldest squads on the world tour

gweeds

webboo said:

I suspect that Matt knows very little about cycling other than what he’s read on tinterweb.

To be fair, he does continue to confirm this every time he posts.

redvision

I really don't get this argument against froome. His wages are simply a reflection of how important the team feel he is to them. They value him enough to pay him whatever he's on, plus were clearly satisfied with the numbers he was producing to warrant a place on the tour, in which he held his own and, in my opinion, actually exceeded expectations.

I think he's shown he has recovered from his crash and can still compete, but he is still in the process of discovering just what his limits are - which will inevitably decline as he ages. But for now, IPT are satisfied with him, he did well in the tour, and who knows if that's a stepping stone for greater things or not.

Personally i can see him wanting one more victory (a stage win or one day race) before he contemplates ending his riding career, just to prove the doubters wrong and to go out on a high.

bobmcstuff

gweeds said:

webboo said:

I suspect that Matt knows very little about cycling other than what he’s read on tinterweb.

To be fair, he does continue to confirm this every time he posts.

He's just a wind up merchant isn't he.

ugo.santalucia

It could even be that Israel hired him in the hope that he could come back and challenge for GT podiums, but they might now have regrets, if all he can win is maybe one stage before retiring. Just another way of looking at it

andscrim

I think I know MF from his language and views on TP which we argue over frequently. I love riding with him as we always have a laugh. He’s a lovely bloke really but loves a wind up. Army guy yes but not a ‘military expert’. Godfather to my daughter despite his views on lil Tom who I think is a great rider…

shirley_basso

^ WTAF is this?

Pross

ugo.santalucia said:

It could even be that Israel hired him in the hope that he could come back and challenge for GT podiums, but they might now have regrets, if all he can win is maybe one stage before retiring. Just another way of looking at it

If they've got any kind of commercial nous the contract will be full of various clauses on targets and expectations. Only they and Froome / his agent etc. will be privy to that and only IPT know whether they are getting value from the deal. Outside of that it really is irrelevant. I found their recruitment policy a bit weird but they had a pretty decent Tour although unfortunately for them Bike Exchange had an even better one so they are still looking likely to get relegated from the Pro Tour.

Dorset_Boy

No_Ta_Doctor said:

I'd me more impressed by the argument that Froome brings experience and mentoring to the squad if 17 of their 30 man squad weren't over 30. They've only got 5 riders 25 and under. They must have one of the oldest squads on the world tour

You are aware they have a development squad at Conti level?

ugo.santalucia

Dorset_Boy said:

No_Ta_Doctor said:

I'd me more impressed by the argument that Froome brings experience and mentoring to the squad if 17 of their 30 man squad weren't over 30. They've only got 5 riders 25 and under. They must have one of the oldest squads on the world tour

You are aware they have a development squad at Conti level?

Bit like buying Ronaldo, not much for the Premier League, but to inspire the young teams... makes no sense

RichN95.

Things to note:

1. Hardly anyone has seen Froome's contract, so who knows what he actually earns
2. Sylvan Adams has more money than he can spend
3. Froome's mere presence raises the profile of them team and makes it more attractive to riders
4. The rumour that the team may overpay doesn't hurt either. It gets the team a hearing with top agents.

MattFalle

And, tbh, on here alone Froome/Israel have just got 16 pages of discussion - don't see that for AG2......

shirley_basso

They would get more discussion if their kit was black instead of brown. WHY OH WHY???

No_Ta_Doctor

I think Chris Froome should swallow his pride and retire purely to end this bloody thread. "I felt I still had a couple of seasons racing in me and the chance of a top result, but I couldn't put the Bike Radar posters through any more debate"

ugo.santalucia

shirley_basso said:

They would get more discussion if their kit was black instead of brown. WHY OH WHY???

it's a good brown though, never did a turd of that shade, did you?

kingstongraham

RichN95. said:

Things to note:

1. Hardly anyone has seen Froome's contract, so who knows what he actually earns
2. Sylvan Adams has more money than he can spend
3. Froome's mere presence raises the profile of them team and makes it more attractive to riders
4. The rumour that the team may overpay doesn't hurt either. It gets the team a hearing with top agents.

1. Lots. We can all accept that, surely?
2. I hope so.
3. Really? When the number one jersey place on the biggest race is taken by a no hoper, that makes it attractive?
4. So that's why they're doing so well and get so many big names.

RichN95.

kingstongraham said:

1. Lots. We can all accept that, surely?
2. I hope so.
3. Really? When the number one jersey place on the biggest race is taken by a no hoper, that makes it attractive?
4. So that's why they're doing so well and get so many big names.

For 3 - the team has more prestige with him there than without
For 4 - but it gets them closer to bigger signings than other similar teams.

Remember that right now they are in the relegation zone of the WT. They are not a draw for top riders. Froome at least gives them some cachet

kingstongraham

Relegation zone of the WT while having apparently unlimited funds and a propensity towards wasting money on old riders.

DeVlaeminck

I really think they hoped he'd get back to grand tour podiums and are now just making the best of a bad job.

seanoconn

andscrim said:

I think I know MF from his language and views on TP which we argue over frequently. I love riding with him as we always have a laugh. He’s a lovely bloke really but loves a wind up. Army guy yes but not a ‘military expert’. Godfather to my daughter despite his views on lil Tom who I think is a great rider…

Bonkers 😂

andyrr

DeVlaeminck said:

I really think they hoped he'd get back to grand tour podiums and are now just making the best of a bad job.

This is probably my take on the situation although Froome is still improving I think - whether he or the team genuinely think he’ll get back to being a GT podium contender is an unknown for us.

ugo.santalucia

andyrr said:

DeVlaeminck said:

I really think they hoped he'd get back to grand tour podiums and are now just making the best of a bad job.

This is probably my take on the situation although Froome is still improving I think - whether he or the team genuinely think he’ll get back to being a GT podium contender is an unknown for us.

He seems very very lean for someone who has no GC aspirations

roscoe

He’s out of contract this year, be interesting to see off they renew.

RichN95.

roscoe said:

He’s out of contract this year, be interesting to see off they renew.

The people who insist they know how much he is paid are also insistent that he has a five year contract.

focuszing723

Froome signed a five-year contract with Israel Start-Up Nation ahead of the 2021 season after parting company with Ineos.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/chris-froomes-contract-does-not-guarantee-tour-de-france-selection-says-verbrugghe/

focuszing723

Froome reveals his contract with Israel Start-Up Nation is much shorter than thought.

“Then I discovered that I really like racing, competing, traveling, cycling in the great outdoors. I like the lifestyle of a professional cyclist. Even if I don’t return to my old level, it is invaluable for me to keep cycling.”

https://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/chris-froome-reveals-contract-with-israel-start-up-nation-is-much-shorter-than-thought/
If he still enjoys it and getting paid, I don't understand all the fuss.

dennisn

I think Willie Nelson said it best. When asked when he wag going to retire he said something to the effect that, I sing, play the guitar, and play golf. Which one's do you want me to retire from? I like doing them all.

ugo.santalucia

Anything worth of note from Froome?
I'm not following the Vuelta...