I wonder if froome has the stamina to crack all 3 grand tours
He couldn't even do two last year so it looks unlikely. Especially with the current trend in Italy and Spain to make the route "a bit tricky".
And all this Froome would beat Wiggins talk is a bit premature. He is certainly the best climber now but that doesn't guarantee he would have won last year. He still may come unstuck this.
Wiggins style, that was evident up to Peyragudes last year, was to do the minimum in the mountains to maintain his lead, to ride to the plan. Froome wanted to go for glory and chase down Valverde but to Wiggins this was an unnecessary risk and he was much more confident he could take minutes in the TT. He also didn't want to burn out all his domestiques for the flat stages to come.
Compare this to Froome up to Ax 3 Domains who went for the glory, dragged Porte with him who obviously went deep into the red and then the next day he and the whole team were in serious dificulty. Who knows what effect the glory hunting on Ventoux will have cost him.
It would be a different race with Wiggins in it but history shows it is no less effective a way to win races.
That said I am right behind Froome this year.
imo froome at 'race weight' looks a lot less like a famine victim waiting to die than wiggins does
and I'd choose Monaco over Lancashire any day of the week
I bet you can't det a decent black pudding in monaco
mboy - Member
Froome just isn't the character that Wiggins is off the bike
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Compare this to Froome up to Ax 3 Domains who went for the glory, dragged Porte with him who obviously went deep into the red and then the next day he and the whole team were in serious dificulty. Who knows what effect the glory hunting on Ventoux will have cost him.
Rest day today, so no worries.
As for the insinuations of drugs by some people, he could clearly out climb last years winner, it's not like he's done a Bjarn Riess and come from a chubby mid pack to winning in 6 months.
Froome is sheer class- both performance-wise and image-wise.
An alien-praying-mantis on the bike, what's cooler than that?
he probably prefers a nice boerewors anyway
I'm saving judgement till I see, dude might be so ripped he can clean his cycling clothing with his abs..
RealMan saves a rather dire thread 🙂
Overall, yeah, I'm finding that I'm liking Froome in this tour. I like the bold attitude of him hitting the hills and asking the others "what have you got then?"
The attacks he did yesterday were really quite impressive.
I'm liking Froome.
I was suspicious, but his team have suffered like US Postal never did,and he's been picking his efforts very carefully. (He didn't chase the echelon for example)
So, I'm just enjoying it for what it is, a guy attacking the other favorites, and putting them to the sword, great to watch! I've watched the Ventoux a few times now, it was incredible riding! (that required a bit of oxygen after the finish line)
Also i like the guy off the bike, considered in his answers, modest, quiet, but funny too.
Good on him, hope he can finish it off now
At the end of the day for me he's a Kenyan (wouldn't it have been better for him to be the first Kenyan to win the TDF?) but he's a brilliant, aggressive rider so get's my full appreciation.
A right bunch of Daily Mail readers on here today 🙄
@the generalist: because this is a harder tour and all the favourites are here
Nibali isn't.
Anyway, I admire Froome in the same way I admired Cadel Evans in 2011. But given that he is about as British as Evans is Welsh, there's no particular reason to support him on the basis of nationality.
blah blah blah
i support riders on their merits/attitude and lack of arrogance, nationality is as relevant as shoe size......
I'm thinking, other than the TT, we won't see Froome on the attack until the last mountain stage next week.
Why? Because they have attacked only twice, both times on mountain top finishes, and both times when there was a chance for a breather afterwards (ok last week was a gamble, but a long downhill finish was likely to keep the GCs together, and so it turned out).
I suspect they will police rather than control the front of the peleton, just be there in case there's another Saxo style breakout, but let breakaways go, not force the pace too much, try to grab a few TT seconds.
And then with nothing to lose, look to blow the Annecy stage out of the water.
no no no.. ransos, you've got that all wrong, hang onto even the slightest thread of Englishness.. you can always hand him back if he "Zola Budd's"
But given that he is about as British as Evans is Welsh, there's no particular reason to support him on the basis of nationality.
He's got British parents right? Sounds British to me.
he probably prefers a nice boerewors anyway
You do know that South Africa is thousands of miles and half a continent away from Kenya don't you?
He's got British parents right? Sounds British to me.
Well no, but if it helps you.
It's not something that bothers me particularly, but Millar and Wiggins were both shaped by a British upbringing, something you can't say about Froome. In a way, I think it's a shame he's not riding as a Kenyan.
His father and grandfather are British, he has always carried a British passport. He is British, if that matters to you. Personally, I just like him as a rider. Met him last year at the tour. Very unassuming.
His father and grandfather are British, he has always carried a British passport. He is British, if that matters to you. Personally, I just like him as a rider. Met him last year at the tour. Very unassuming.
I have Canadian friends born of British parents and with dual passports. They consider themselves 100% Canadian.
As I say, nationality is surely shaped far more by your upbringing than where you or your parents happen to be born. Froome isn't British, but that's no reason to not greatly admire his achievements.
if he goes on to win this years tour it will be a much bigger achievement than what Wiggins did last year.
why's that then?
much harder route and the support team is not as strong. i.e. he doesnt have a rider better than him to hide behind.
Richie Porte.
And it's hard every year, less climbing just means faster. Hardest years are when the tour embraces the cobbles!
I have Canadian friends born of British parents and with dual passports. They consider themselves 100% Canadian.
That's not the rule though. Plenty of people born abroad who consider themselves the nationality of their parents.
Sports people's nationality should be determined by where they choose to pay tax, rather than where they were born.
That's not the rule though. Plenty of people born abroad who consider themselves the nationality of their parents.
I doubt many people who are born and grow up "abroad" would consider themselves to be the nationality of their parents, unless it's an ex-pat type arrangement.
I couldn't care less where he's from. He's riding like most of us could only dream of.
A good transcript of today's press conference on (shudder) the Daily Mail:
http://www.****/sport/othersports/article-2363979/Chris-Froome-frustrated-doping-claims-Tour-France-2013--FULL-TRANSCRIPT.html?ITO=socialnet-twitter-dmailsports&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=socialnet-twitter-dmailsports
I couldn't care less where he's from. He's riding like most of us could only dream of.
Most?!
If he's eligible for SPOTY that's all that matters...shame that tennis bloke will win it whatever anyone else does this year.
s me particularly, but Millar and Wiggins were both shaped by a British upbringing, something you can't say about Froome. In a way, I think it's a shame he's not riding as a Kenyan.
Millar was brought up in Hong Kong.
I really can't believe some of the comments on this thread.
I couldn't care less where he's from. He's riding like [s]most[/s] all of us could only dream of.
And by a considerable margin!
As an aside: I rode up Alpe d'Huez last Friday. I wonder how much quicker Froome will be?
I couldn't care less where he's from. He's riding like most of us could only dream of.
This. I consider myself fit, ride 150 - 250 miles a week, rode my first Cat 4 race at the weekend, got destroyed, totally ripped to pieces. the level that guys like Froome operate on are beyond what I can comprehend tbh.
Millar was brought up in Hong Kong.
When he was thirteen, he went to a British school in what was then a British colony, moving back to England when he was about eighteen. As I said, an ex-pat arrangement.
.
We (Mrs Kenny and I) really warmed to Froome last year in the Vuelta. It was his reaction when losing that was so impressive. No toys getting chucked out the pram and no storming off refusing to do interviews. He accepted defeat gracefully and behaved like the perfect gentleman and sportsman (and therefore proving he is British I guess 🙂 ).
It's always a better test of a man's character when things aren't going well.
If, or when, he wins overall in Paris next Sunday we'll be raising a wee glass of something to toast his victory.
shame that tennis bloke will win it whatever anyone else does this year.
Why is it a shame?
He's riding like most of us could only dream of.
even though he was born and raised at altitude you still watch him thinking - thats not right. especially as all the main contenders crack 1/2 a mountain back. he might be off the smack but because of the record of the tour, and pro road cycling, you cant get that excited just sceptical...
he might be off the smack but because of the record of the tour, and pro road cycling, you cant get that excited just sceptical...
In that case why bother watching. If you're not prepared to believe the spectacle can be achieved clean, don't watch it.
I've been a big fan of Wiggo for a fair few years now, and perhaps in reaction to what went down at the Tour last year, started this season with a fairly negative view of Froomy.
BUT
I know Wiggo wasn't fighting fit and picked up an injury, but it never seemed entirely clear that he was going to accept the new team order and ride for Froome in the Tour this year. Last year Froomy rode strongly for the team and was a big factor in Wiggo taking the yellow onto the Champs Elysee, and apart from that one moment in the mountains when he looked over his shoulder at Wiggo, did his job, and did it right. I'm far from convinced that a fully fit Wiggo would be working for Froome with the same attitude, and I'm not even 100% convinced that his illness / injury wasn't a touch convenient in terms of putting some of those awkward questions to bed.
Unreasonable to expect a rider of the status of Wiggo to be playing the part of a domestique? I'd remind you of all those shots we had last last year of Team Sky's Mark Cavendish making his way back up from the team car with fuel for the leader..
Froome showed last year that he can ride for someone else, and do it well, with one glitch on one stage. Wiggo has shown nothing of that himself.
So, yeah, I'm warming to Chris Froome.
And for those criticising Wiggins riding style in the lasy years tour...
That was surely a result of picking a team strategy that took advantage of Wiggins strengths. Wiggins is good at TT's so lets use them to get him extra time and hope he climbs well enough.
Froome is a better climber so lets pick a strategy that uses that as an advantage.
Quite simple really but it presents the impression that Froome is dead exciting to watch and Wiggins isn't. Wiggins was following the company line which was don't forget what's happening when you're in the mountains and churn out a 40mph average when you're by yourself.
I'm alot more comfortable with Froome's replies than I ever was with the "Never controlled positive" school of denial that was LA, but when I saw him pull away from Quintana the first time, I said to the missus "Christ, he's going to get a hard time for that trick"
Still, it doesn't get better than this:
A Brit (yes!)
In yellow
On Mt Ventoux
On the 14 juillet
Still, it doesn't get better than this: A Brit (yes!) in yellow on Ventoux on the 14 juillet
with polka dots too!
That was surely a result of picking a team strategy that took advantage of Wiggins strengths. Wiggins is good at TT's so lets use them to get him extra time and hope he climbs well enough.
Quite. It was what Indurain did, and it worked well enough for him...
🙂
i support riders on their merits
I suppose you live in Surrey and suppourt Manchester United?
I doubt many people who are born and grow up "abroad" would consider themselves to be the nationality of their parents, unless it's an ex-pat type arrangement.
Fake statistics but probbaly true......
There are more Irish bar in New York than there are Irish people in Ireland.
There are more Pzzerias in Chicago than there are Italians in Italy
There are more Hamburger outlets in the USA than people in Hamburg.
Every Ammerican considders themselves Irish, even Obama made a song and dance about it!
