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I've really warmed to Griepel having seen him do bottle runs on non-sprint stages, and seeing him absolutely turn himself inside-out on the 20% cobbled gradients of Flanders in support of other team mates was
Amen, love his attacking shenanigans in Flanders over the past few years, Lotto Soudal haven't won that much of late (Monday being a huge turn up for the books) but they're certainly far from boring.
^^ Yep, watching the Ronde made me warm to Andre the Gorilla. Rode his heart out that day and performed well all Spring. Credit to him for peaking again for the TdF. I can't see him staying in Green for much longer though.
Getting back to Froome, I find it a bit ironic that MTB website forumites are criticising him for spinning such a high cadence up hills. Given his background, it's not really surprising is it?
mikewsmith - MemberThere was the tale from the bus on that one Notter, where Brailsford said nothing stupid just stay out of trouble. Cav said he might like to have a crack having been the bottle carrier for the tour and Brad was the first to put his hand up and say they would get him there.
Liking that Mike 🙂
Getting back to Froome, I find it a bit ironic that MTB website forumites are criticising him for spinning such a high cadence up hills
I think a few people are just parroting the criticisms they've seen elsewhere on the web TBH.
Spinning is his "thing" isn't it? Don't knock it if it works.
Getting back to Froome, I find it a bit ironic that MTB website forumites are criticising him for spinning such a high cadence up hills. Given his background, it's not really surprising is it?
A good proportion of the MTBers I ride with these days dismount at any slight rise and start pushing...
Seems like a good time to post Chris Froome staring at stems:
That's a work of genius, "Looking at Brad’s stem when he’s not looking" is my favourite. 🙂
Ah great.
4 days in and someone on an mtb forum says chris has it sewn up....
Guess ill stop watching now.
Well to be fair you should have expected spoilers on this thread
😀
A good proportion of the MTBers I ride with these days dismount at any slight rise and start pushing...
....bit of load bearing exercise, helps with the osteoporosis
This is a golden era for British cycling having been in the doldrums for so long. A you criticise riding style or someones charisma when being interviewed ? And their nationality is an issue when they choose to be British? Thats a great compliment. Rather shallow people on here.
Wiggins is a fighter and has been a great person to get people into cycling
Froome is a fighter but is quieter. But to be attacking this early on in the flat stages. Sure to get the car at the front for the pave but thats good. So what to his riding style, clearly works for him!
Cav great sprinter and a worker.
Armitstead great sprinter and works hard.
Dani King works hard but a little quieter
Is this fascination with charisma and nationality becoming a little too DM for STW?
If everyone were like Jens Voigt then it would be just as boring.
Wiggins with his quips is ideal modern media material but it's on record that he wasn't/isn't easy with the fame and attention that being the first British rider to win Le Tour brought him. In many ways he's similar to Neil Armstrong who struggled with (and really didn't like) the fame of being first man on the moon.
And their nationality is an issue when they choose to be British? Thats a great compliment. Rather shallow people on here.
Only if you think that believing Froome to not be British is a criticism.
I heard the radio 4 Desert Island Disc program with Wiggins and it explained a lot about him. Get it on iplayer, he's a pretty good guy given the pressures placed on him (by his success).
As I recall from the Froome book, as a kid he stole rabbits from the neighboring school to feed some pet snake (allegedly). Its a wonder his not been lambasted by the RSPCA (cuddle bunnies section).
Both are great bike riders and different just as it was in the Coe Ovett (remember them?).
If you think Froome has the tour in the bag now, you really do not know how much certain other riders want to win. Watch Quintana(s).
Its a compliment he would choose to be British. Not sure how you would read this be a criticism
Its a compliment he would choose to be British. Not sure how you would read this be a criticism
You were suggesting that others are criticising him because he is not British. In my case, I offer it as an explanation as to why he receives less coverage than Wiggins.
Point of order: in any sport the solid pillars of which country you can represent are, place of birth and/or parentage. Given his dad is British, any doubts about his eligibility are made by people who are, dumb.
I thought rugby and cricket were 3 year residence based rules not parentage.
Given his dad is British, any doubts about his eligibility are made by people who are, dumb.
Who is questioning his eligibility?
Back in the days when cycling in the UK was quieter and smaller it was easy enough to support the British riders because, first of all, there'd only be one, and second, chances are, you might know him, have raced against him or know someone who had. Hell, I even bumped into Boardman at one point. I cheered for Julian Winn in the the Brit champions jersey as he rode the Giro, knowing that a year or two before I'd been sprawling in the mud at a cx race while he eased past.
And then you could go and watch them in the big races. Wiggins and Cav climbing Constitution Hill behind me on the pavement. Investing time by standing on deserted roads in mid-Wales cheering these people on.
Even these days you can form attachments to Brit pro-riders because they are local, or you've seen them race locally. For me it's G and Rowe who I keep an eye on.
You can't do that with Froome. Sorry, rephrase, I can't do that. I haven't seen him race, haven't seen him coming through the ranks of the local cycling club, haven't parked next to him and chatted while getting ready for a race. I like him. I like his attacking. I hate his ugliness on the bike, but I'll cheer for him. But not because of his nationality. I'll also cheer for Teklahaimanot, or Degenkolb. Froome might be British but he's not local. 😉
(I'm trying to remember the name of the half-British, half-Italian rider from the 90/00s. The one nobody supported because he was Italian.)
I'm trying to remember the name of the half-British, half-Italian rider from the 90/00s. The one nobody supported because he was Italian.
Max Sciandri?
That's him.
Fantastic ride in Atlanta!
A very British heroic failure!
[quote=IdleJon ]You can't do that with Froome. Sorry, rephrase, I can't do that. I haven't seen him race, haven't seen him coming through the ranks of the local cycling club, haven't parked next to him and chatted while getting ready for a race.
Froome also didn't go and ride a 10 together with lots of club riders when preparing for a big event. Just to explain again, this isn't a criticism of Froome, any more than I'd criticise Nibali for not doing that; it's just one of the reasons Wiggo is more loved.
he has done fantastically well already after 4 days, and looks like he is going to win - it is his to lose now, and I cant see him losing, unless he crashes out - no-one has come close to challening so far, I thought Contador was going for it in Huy, but he faded quickly. Nibali wont be anmywhere near him, it is more likely that a younger rider will be his closest rival.
4 days in and someone on an mtb forum says chris has it sewn up....
Guess ill stop watching now
See, it wasnt in doubt from Day 4 until the last climb, even then,when he was struggling, he did enough to keep control. All the others lost the race in the first few days, he only had to defend then, so making it so much easier for him and the team.
You cant win the race in one stage, but you can lose it, which all the others did in the frst week.
Geraint Evans showed that on Friday - looking like a top 5 for 7 days, had one bad day, then dropped to 15th.
Geraint Evans? Is that Cadel Evans and Geraint Thomas' love child???
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BBC Article "Chris Froome and the French"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33651540
Evans, Williams, Jones,Thomas they all sound the same to me!
For some reason, I thought I'd put Williams down, but now, just getting mixed with Cadel.
Lets get the British thing sorted, its not like its one of his grandparents is British or claiming under residency, his parents are both English. According to good ol' wikipedia, they moved out to Kenya to run a farm. We've had his aunt in the shop, most of his family still live in and around Tetbury. He has a far better claim to his nationality than certain cricketers playing for England.
Genuine question - has ever actually lived in Britian?
To answer my own question - apparently never. He says he 'feels british' though so he must be. It seems a reasonable reason for a bit of UK wide apathy towards him from the non cycling world as a British sporting icon imo.
Top bloke.
I read an interview with him a while back, and he said he had the choice of riding for either Kenya or Team GB, and with the full Team GB support programme it was a no-brainer for him. Which I can completely understand, though he seems to have kept this quiet in recent times for obvious reasons.
Do they cheer for him in Kenya?
Obviously this has nothing to do with how talented he is at riding bikes, he seems like a good guy and is clearly a very fast rider so it's all good as far as I'm concerned.
Again from what I saw and what the people who met him in December locally said top bloke. Happy that he considers himself british. Not many top international sports people live in the UK or country they represent due to being on the road so much. If my off season was Nov-March I reckon I'd go and live somewhere warm
I've warmed a lot to him during this TdF.
I've said it before, but for me the nationality thing is that he didn't come up through the British cycling scene in the way Wiggins did. Given he's not ridden the national champs or Tour of Britain, has he ever raced here apart from in the Olympics? The cricketers do all play here even when not playing for England.
I watched Chris Froome race the nations in Abergavenny in 2009 whilst in Barloworld colours, so he definitely has raced the national champs!
He even attacked off the front on one of the later laps
Froome is the opposite of Dan Martin. Dan grew up in the Midlands, raced all the local races as a junior but due to not fitting in with the BC track setup became Irish.
Ah, I stand corrected, that must be one of only a handful of races he's done here though. In case it needs repeating, nothing against him because of that, but it makes him a bit less "one of us".
"one of us" 😯 - i'd hate to be one of you.
Aracer , agreed, really warmed to him in the documentary on itv4 and personally don't support sportsmen particularly by their nationality. But he's still not really 'one of us', if that ever matters. Being 'one of us' in British cycling terms normally involves having been inducted to the sport by being cold and wet in a church hall HQ and handed pint mugs of tea by a friendly old dear with a faint whiff of wee about her.
I wonder what some on here think the nationality of my brothers son is? My brothers job has him changing location every 3 to 5 years. His wife is Russian so his son has dual Russian English nationality but has not lived in either country in his 9 years of life so far. Is he Englush? Is he Rssian? If he were to become a world class athlete and compete on the world stage then under what nationality?
I read an interview with him a while back, and he said he had the choice of riding for either Kenya or Team GB, and with the full Team GB support programme it was a no-brainer for him.
He basically says the same thing in his book. He also mentions that if his family had stayed together and his dad had not lost all his money he would have gone to boarding school in the UK like his brother.
Lots of people that have have parents from a country that they have never lived in consider themselves to be of/from that country. In America for example you will find lots of people that would call themselves Italian, Polish, Irish etc. when they have never set foot in those places and in some cases even their parents haven't either.
If you tried to tell them that they were wrong you would have a big problem on your hands.
I really think that the people that pay Froome push him to make a point of identifying himself as British, the potential to make money on a Kenyan tour winner for the companies sponser him is tiny compared to the British market
Whichever one he feels would offer him the most suitable support so he may achieve his potential and goals, I would imagine.
see what I did there?
I don't care where he is from but for me there's nothing that makes me want to get behind him. There's plenty of guys in the peleton I'm equally ambivalent about so it nothing special... just no draw to Froome for me.