Should Chris Froome swallow his pride and retire?
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Hes undertaking a role as competently as any other rider would do so isn't he? Ineos get a bit of vfm, his presence takes a bit of media heat off Carapaz, the Vuelta get a 2x previous winner rocking up and Froome gets some race km's in his legs. Wins all round surely?2020/2021/2022 Metric Century Challenge Winner0
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Maybe so. Be interesting to know if IG are disappointed in where he's at, or whether they're getting what they expected, and anything else is a bonus.
I still think though as a longer term view if "all" they were going to get out Froome was a bog standard domestique performance* they might have been better giving a more junior rider the slot so that they build their experience within the GT team especially as the only team that benefits from his fitness building is ISUN, and in theory at least that will be a team that is trying to beat IG next year. It's a bit different to when your star rider is leaving but they are still expected to be a contender.
(*noting there is nothing bog standard about being able to complete a GT within the peloton)2015 Canyon Nerve AL 6.0 (son #1's)
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Also some suggestion that having someone with that much GT experience on the team is good for the team morale, tactics etc. even if they aren't at the pointy end. He seems to be doing a perfectly good domestique job.
Think maybe that was mentioned on the Breakaway.0 -
I heard that experience argument on The Cycling Podcast, in between that Abe Simpson fella (Lionel?) rambling on about how something trivial reminded him of something obscure but completely unrelated from the pre-war cycling era.0
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Cheeky - he's younger than me. I feel ancient now.jam1e said:I heard that experience argument on The Cycling Podcast, in between that Abe Simpson fella (Lionel?) rambling on about how something trivial reminded him of something obscure but completely unrelated from the pre-war cycling era.
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He's been there 10 years and is the reason they're so successful, so deserved a place purely out of respect."Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago0
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I'm clearly not as emotionally minded as others! He's not put a foot wrong though this race, so he's clearly not a bad pick, and that experience will definitely count for something. If he'd not been in the team, who might have had his spot in this race do you think?2015 Canyon Nerve AL 6.0 (son #1's)
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https://www.eurosport.co.uk/cycling/vuelta-a-espana/2020/la-vuelta-a-espana-2020-bradley-wiggins-chris-froome-is-getting-back-to-the-rider-he-was_sto7976634/story.shtml
Bit more on what Wiggins said.
Certainly true that Froome has looked better as a domestique as the race has gone on.0 -
There's been a few things Wiggins has said recently that make me feel he has started looking back on his career and regretted his behaviour at times. There was certainly something the other day on Instagram about how Tao conducts himself in the way he (Wiggins) wishes he had.0
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Guy is going through a divorce and isn’t necessarily the most balanced guyPross said:There's been a few things Wiggins has said recently that make me feel he has started looking back on his career and regretted his behaviour at times. There was certainly something the other day on Instagram about how Tao conducts himself in the way he (Wiggins) wishes he had.
He’s basically living out his therapy on mic.
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Froome certainly looked far better on Sunday. I'm still not sure he can win another Tour with the competition that has started to break through but he has earned at least a proper season to have a good go at it.0
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I wonder if he'll be given free rein to go for a stage in this race to see just where he is in terms of his form? Ordinarily you'd imagine this TT would be ideal for him, for instance, but will he give it some or simply conserve energy for domestique duties?0
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Looks heavy by his standards in the TT today . So perhaps not any where close to top condition assuming he has a few kilograms to shave off.0
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Now on minus points for the season apparently.0
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I'm curious as to whether or not he'll play any notable part in the last Vuelta GC day.0
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So everybody that performed worse than Froome, should they also retire?0
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I guess just getting a GT under the belt is a major factor for him. No doubt he’ll be ploughing ahead with training from here. Who knows what he’ll be able to do but it’ll be interesting to see what happens.
Not sure in the strength of his new team, have ISN signed anyone else to support Froome and Martin? Woods , Impey and Hagen off the top my my already I think.0 -
Got his 2011 Vuelta trophy today so worth turning up for that as well as all the other benefits.
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Yes! But also Masterchef too - but i didn’t know what that was ! ( got deep frozen in 2010) ! Lol.0
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Oh Okay! 😂0
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Vlasov must really want that top-10 place in GC. Valverde started the day 2 seconds ahead.
Comes to nothing in the end.0 -
notquite6foot said:
Vlasov must really want that top-10 place in GC. Valverde started the day 2 seconds ahead.
Comes to nothing in the end.
He's got his next job lined up then.RichN95. said:Matti66 said:Got his 2011 Vuelta trophy today so worth turning up for that as well as all the other benefits.
He also won Walls Ice Cream Employee of the Month
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
It's difficult with ageing top riders, as they very rarely make decent domestiques... it's the same with Nibali... he's not quite there anymore, but he could invaluable to a young promising rider... problem is they don't have the mindset to carry bottles and go on a breakaway.
So, I don't know about Froome... might still make top ten in a GT and that might be enough for a small teamleft the forum March 20230 -
I see he has made some positive comments about feeling better racing UAE but still looks a long way from being able to compete at the sharp end of races.
I've not been following the pro cycling world that closely over Winter but I see he's spent time off the bike rebalancing the power in his legs.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
"I just tried to hang on"DeVlaeminck said:I see he has made some positive comments about feeling better racing UAE but still looks a long way from being able to compete at the sharp end of races.
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/i-just-tried-to-hang-on-chris-froome-on-finishing-within-two-minutes-of-winner-on-uae-tour-mountain-finish-491864
https://www.velonews.com/news/road/commentary-im-already-losing-hope-in-chris-froomes-comeback/
Sounds like when I go out for a ride.
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Not that I’m particularly knowledgeable about pro cyclists winter training but it sounded like there was a big focus on rehab over winter. It’ll be interesting to see how he looks at Catalunya next month. You’d imagine he’ll probably do something else before Dauphine too (tour of alps or Romandie maybe?). Cycling podcast (well Bernie) were saying a realistic good return would be a top ten at the tour but it’s probably a bit early to judge properly yet though as many seem to have done. Pog looks awesome already however.RichN95. said:He looked OK yesterday. At one point on the climb he brought Hermans from the back of the bunch to the front quite easily. It's only February. Some GC riders haven't started yet.
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