Froome

Lichtblick
Lichtblick Posts: 1,434
edited August 2012 in Pro race
Do you feel sorry for him?

Look at the face and body language when he finished 2nd at the Tour:

bettiniphoto_0117850_1_full_600.jpg

and getting Bronze at the Olympics:

11141%257C000007f78%257Cfda0_orh266w400_london12-men-tt-podium-men-3.jpg

Disappointment writ all over it.

Yet throughout the Tour this year it is alleged that he said more than once than he could win it. So here's his big show: the Vuelta. Not winning it, yet.

So, ok, he's just come off the Tour and the Olympics - only two races there (was he in the RR and TT at the Olympics?)

And ok, maybe I'm being mean. But I thought after all that talk-the-talk in France, he'd walk-the-walk in Spain. Just sayin'. That's all.
«1

Comments

  • That boy tired!
  • Vino'sGhost
    Vino'sGhost Posts: 4,129
    Jesus, I thought I knew f**k all
  • smithy21
    smithy21 Posts: 2,204
    Wiggo not exactly looking delighted in the first shot either. Was Lesley Garret warming up the vocal chords at that point?
  • finchy
    finchy Posts: 6,686
    No, I don't feel sorry for him. He'll win a grand tour one of these days.
  • bompington
    bompington Posts: 7,674
    Lichtblick wrote:
    I'm being mean... That's all.
    Plus some padding ;-)

    But actually you have a point. Maybe a bit of man-management from DB et al to send him knowing he would be past it, just to take him down a peg or two.
  • I'd be just as annoyed to come second in the biggest annual sporting event in the world and third at THE BIGGEST sporting event in the world, too.

    I also hear his golden slippers are too tight and his angels' halos are a little bit dull.

    Jesus wept...
  • Noclue
    Noclue Posts: 503
    Was just thinking today that he looks as though he is getting worn out whilst Contador is starting to come into form, as said though, he'll come good one of these days.
  • thomthom
    thomthom Posts: 3,574
    Lichtblick, No one has won the Tour (he didn't but that was just because of team politics..) and the Vuelta in the same season since Hinault and you just expected him to do so?
  • Jesus, I thought I knew f**k all

    :)
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    ThomThom wrote:
    Lichtblick, No one has won the Tour (he didn't but that was just because of team politics..) and the Vuelta in the same season since Hinault and you just expected him to do so?

    It was down to losing 2 minutes in the time trials and a minute and half due to a puncture. At no point in his career has Froome looked capable of attacking and making up three and a half minutes on the field over a few stages. Anyone who thinks he would have done that time is in a dream world.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • thomthom
    thomthom Posts: 3,574
    edited August 2012
    You have got to be kidding me.

    Wiggins pulse didn't hit 70 at any point in the mountains. Had Wiggy-boy been exploited by just a little bit of pressure, forced him from looking away the power meters and actually make him do something he wouldn't have won by that margin on the final TT (A TT he would have had minutes to catch up btw to Froome...) Froome was in top shape in the Tour and is still playing with the biggest boys in the mountainous terrain in this Vuelta even though his form is decreasing. Had he been allowed to attack and not holding Bradleys hand, he would have won that Tour De France. Even his thick bird could see that during the race.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    ThomThom wrote:
    You have got to be kidding me.

    Wiggins pulse didn't hit 70 at any point in the mountains. Had Wiggy-boy been exploited by just a little bit of pressure, forced him from looking away the power meters and actually make him do something he wouldn't have won by that margin on the final TT (A TT he would have had minutes to catch up btw...) Froome was in top shape in the Tour and is still playing with the best boys in the terrain even though his form is decreasing.

    Can you name any race where Froome took time out of closest rivals on any mountain stage? No, me neither. Froome couldn't make a 15 second gap over Cobo in the Vuelta, so god knows where you think he's going to find 14 times that amount.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • Turfle
    Turfle Posts: 3,762
    ThomThom wrote:
    You have got to be kidding me.

    Wiggins pulse didn't hit 70 at any point in the mountains. Had Wiggy-boy been exploited by just a little bit of pressure, forced him from looking away the power meters and actually make him do something he wouldn't have won by that margin on the final TT (A TT he would have had minutes to catch up btw to Froome...) Froome was in top shape in the Tour and is still playing with the biggest boys in the mountainous terrain even though his form is decreasing. Had he been allowed to attack and not holding Bradleys hand, he would have won that Tour De France. Even his thick bird could see that during the race.

    Rodriguez, Valverde, and a Contador that can't out TT Kessiakoff are "the biggest boys"?
  • thomthom
    thomthom Posts: 3,574
    RichN95, ah, you mean the Vuelta Espana 2011 where Wiggins kept Froome from winning yet another GT because he made him work his ass off in front of the peloton even though Wiggins wasn't even close of being as good as Froome in the mountains..? Ah, good on there..
  • thomthom
    thomthom Posts: 3,574
    Turfle wrote:
    ThomThom wrote:

    Rodriguez, Valverde, and a Contador that can't out TT Kessiakoff are "the biggest boys"?


    Eh, what?
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    ThomThom wrote:
    RichN95, ah, you mean the Vuelta Espana 2011 where Wiggins kept Froome from winning yet another GT because he made him work his ass off in front of the peloton even though Wiggins wasn't even close of being as good as Froome in the mountains..? Ah, good on there..

    No I mean the Vuelta where Sky backed the rider with a track record in stage races ahead of the one with none right up to the steep part of the Angliru when Wiggins was actually the leader and Froome wasn't asked to wait.

    Tactics are really easy in hindsight. I suppose you picked Froome as a contendor pre-race did you?
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • thomthom
    thomthom Posts: 3,574
    I picked him as contender after stage 6..
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,215
    In a way I'm glad Froome is looking jaded as it is less likely eyebrows will get raised. I'm surprised people are still convinced Froome was stronger than Wiigins at the Tour just on the basis of a few short attacks. He has attacked and dropped the likes of J Rod and Valv in the Vuelta once and gained a small amount of time but lost more trying to ride aggresively a couple of days later. If he'd persisted with his attack that day where he dropped Wiggins at the Tour I'm convinced Wiggins would have pulled him back and then distanced him.
  • Turfle
    Turfle Posts: 3,762
    ThomThom wrote:
    Turfle wrote:
    ThomThom wrote:

    Rodriguez, Valverde, and a Contador that can't out TT Kessiakoff are "the biggest boys"?


    Eh, what?

    It's not that hard. You said they were "the biggest boys", and I'm asking are you seriously saying they are "the biggest boys"?

    ThomThom wrote:
    I picked him as contender after stage 6..

    Sure you did.
  • Turfle
    Turfle Posts: 3,762
    Pross wrote:
    In a way I'm glad Froome is looking jaded as it is less likely eyebrows will get raised. I'm surprised people are still convinced Froome was stronger than Wiigins at the Tour just on the basis of a few short attacks. He has attacked and dropped the likes of J Rod and Valv in the Vuelta once and gained a small amount of time but lost more trying to ride aggresively a couple of days later. If he'd persisted with his attack that day where he dropped Wiggins at the Tour I'm convinced Wiggins would have pulled him back and then distanced him.

    I do think Froome could have gained timed on Wiggins on a couple of the stages, but equally there were a couple of days where Wiggins was stronger in the mountains. I saw absolutely nothing to suggest he would have gained near enough time to win the overall.

    Attacking is one thing, staying away is quite another.
  • thomthom
    thomthom Posts: 3,574
    edited August 2012
    Turfle wrote:
    It's not that hard. You said they were "the biggest boys", and I'm asking are you seriously saying they are "the biggest boys"?

    In my world Alberto is the best climber in the world. Froome has been as good as him in this Vuelta so far.

    Turfle wrote:
    Sure you did.

    I didn't say I expected him to win. I didn't call him a favorite either. But riding easily with Wiggins on the stages before stage 6 and ending second behind Jrod on stage 6 gaining great time to many of the favorites makes you a contender in my world.

    But the fact is that Wiggins and the Sky tactics did cost Froome the overall. No doubt about that. I remember clearly how the commentators were shaking their heads when SKy decided to work in front of the peloton while being in the top of the GC late in the race.
  • ThomThom wrote:
    But softpedalling with Wiggins on the stages beforehand and the ending second behind Jrod on the gaining great time to many of the favorites makes you a contender in my world.

    I've read this sentence five times and still can't work out what the f4ck it's supposed to mean
  • thomthom
    thomthom Posts: 3,574
    ThomThom wrote:
    But softpedalling with Wiggins on the stages beforehand and the ending second behind Jrod on the gaining great time to many of the favorites makes you a contender in my world.

    I've read this sentence five times and still can't work out what the f4ck it's supposed to mean

    Lol. Fixed it.
  • Turfle wrote:
    Attacking is one thing, staying away is quite another.

    Indeed. My rather unimpressive 4th cat racing career is living proof of this: it's quite easy to go off the front and look good for 20 seconds, but keeping that up for the rest of the race is another matter.
  • Turfle
    Turfle Posts: 3,762
    ThomThom wrote:
    Turfle wrote:
    It's not that hard. You said they were "the biggest boys", and I'm asking are you seriously saying they are "the biggest boys"?

    In my world Alberto is the best climber in the world. Froome has been as good as him in this Vuelta so far.

    The pre-doping ban Contador certainly was, but this version right now hasn't shown anything like that form. He hasn't been able to put time into Valverde (who couldn't come close to Wiggins or Froome in the Tour), or Rodriguez (who historically is average in the Vuelta following a Giro), and a shattered Froome.

    When Contador gets back to his best he'll more than likely be the best again. But he needs to get back to that point first.
  • simona75
    simona75 Posts: 336
    Looking at the strength in depth of Sky could they realistically field two separate grand tour teams in 2013?

    Say one lead by Wiggins with Porte, Rogers, Pate, Edvald BH and others, a second lead by Froome supported by Henao, Uran, Flecha and others.

    One team does the tour, the other the Giro/Vuelta double.
  • thomthom
    thomthom Posts: 3,574
    simona75 wrote:
    Looking at the strength in depth of Sky could they realistically field two separate grand tour teams in 2013?

    Say one lead by Wiggins with Porte, Rogers, Pate, Edvald BH and others, a second lead by Froome supported by Henao, Uran, Flecha and others.

    One team does the tour, the other the Giro/Vuelta double.

    So you are saying Wiggins would be just as good as Froome has been by now in the mountains? I'm not sure how Wiggins would keep his head cold when someone actually made an attack. He hasn't dealt with such things for quite a while..
  • Turfle
    Turfle Posts: 3,762
    simona75 wrote:
    Looking at the strength in depth of Sky could they realistically field two separate grand tour teams in 2013?

    Say one lead by Wiggins with Porte, Rogers, Pate, Edvald BH and others, a second lead by Froome supported by Henao, Uran, Flecha and others.

    One team does the tour, the other the Giro/Vuelta double.

    They've apparently said (tho I haven't actually seen it) their goal is to win all three GTs in one year. Wiggins the Giro, Froome the Tour, maybe Henao or Uran could win the Vuelta against a weaker field.

    They definitely have got together a hugely strong GT squad. Even more so if Kiryienka, Cataldo and others come aboard, Suitsou comes back healthy, and Thomas and Kennaugh ride the road.
  • bockers
    bockers Posts: 146
    All irrelevant IMHO. The tour was largely clean the Vuelta is a drugs paradise as are all Spanish races. Froome has no hope against the 6month wonder Contador. I watch the vuelta as if it were a WWE production.

    Listening to commentators speaking in awe at Contador makes me sick.
  • dougzz
    dougzz Posts: 1,833
    Turfle wrote:
    simona75 wrote:
    Looking at the strength in depth of Sky could they realistically field two separate grand tour teams in 2013?
    Say one lead by Wiggins with Porte, Rogers, Pate, Edvald BH and others, a second lead by Froome supported by Henao, Uran, Flecha and others.
    One team does the tour, the other the Giro/Vuelta double.
    They've apparently said (tho I haven't actually seen it) their goal is to win all three GTs in one year. Wiggins the Giro, Froome the Tour, maybe Henao or Uran could win the Vuelta against a weaker field.
    They definitely have got together a hugely strong GT squad. Even more so if Kiryienka, Cataldo and others come aboard, Suitsou comes back healthy, and Thomas and Kennaugh ride the road.

    Seriously? Because surely Wiggins' best bet will always be the TdF while it has more TT Km than the Giro and Vuelta. Also, in pure publicity terms the TdF counts more than the other two combined. Why would he swap for a harder win of less value? It seems very unlikely to me.