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This ^
Another Chavez supporter here, but I’d be equally happy if Dumoulin won again. (As long as it doesn’t turn into another Sky boreathon!)
Froome always looks rough. Stages so far havent suited him, he needs multiple climbs. Having said that if he was on form he'd be doing better. It was a heavy fall he had before the tt. I wouldnt rule him out yet.
Bloody hell Yatsy 💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪☄️
Froomidge lost 1’06 🤪
2.30 back, tough choice ahead risk his chances in the tdf trying to drag it back or wave the white flag and save something for the tour
Awesome, Yates.
Can't help thinking Froome has come in a bit undercooked on purpose with the TdF in mind and will get stronger throughout the race. He'll need to get going soon though otherwise it's pointless - that didn't look good.
Quintana, Landa and Valverde must be enjoying this (though I think Roglic is a good outside bet for the tour)
Can’t help thinking Froome has come in a bit undercooked on purpose with the TdF in mind and will get stronger throughout the race.
though he's had more race days so far this season than Tom (Tom did manage a showing in the spring classics which probably helps with getting into the cut and thrust of road racing quite well and definitely looks lacking in Froome)
Perhaps he's just getting old then!
Is Simon Yates the one who has a drug ban? Or is that his brother ?
thiinking about it, it's a tough position for Froome now he 1.50 ish behind the WC TTer so will have to attack him in the mountains to gain time but he'll be up against a Chaves Yates Pinot Pozzovivo Carapaz tag team.
Is Simon Yates the one who has a drug ban? Or is that his brother ?
First hit on Google: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/36564327
I wonder if some of the problems for froome is he can't handle the cold very well.
I wonder if some of the problems for froome is he can’t handle the cold very well.
He's just not hit form, no other excuse.
could be a combination of cold induced asthma and staying off the puffer, just in case like.
In general, when you talk to them you can see they really want to win. I don't think they will switch off but, for sure, I this is not great news. They will keep fighting, they have strong morale - and that's what it is like in this sport. But we are not so often in this situation.
Nice to see a statement from Nic Portal (Sky DS).. the opening “in general” says it all really.
Still think Sky are pulling the funding soon, £20 says it’s after the TdF.
Well well well, that's it for Froome if you ask me in the Giro.
However, Yates is looking damn good along with having Chavez as his team mate. Very cool performance from him today out there.
I don't really understand why Froome hasn't come in at peak form, I thought previously he said his main aim this year was to win the giro to win all three grand tours.
Don't remember seeing Froome have consecutive bad days in a tour. I still wouldn't rule him out. Yates could easily have a bad day and lose the whole thing. It's early days, lots of tough days to come!
There are some tough days to come but the top 10 is still packed so he needs 3 or 4 guys to have bad days
Whats up with Froomes taped up knee?
It's pretty scary that Mitchelton Scott have a 2nd very similar variant warming up ready to lead the TdF team. In a way it would be good to have them riding together but sure how it would work unless took turns to ride for each other. They deserve to become a household name as a proper British pair of hard hitting tough brothers a bit like the Brownlees in triathlon.
It’s pretty scary that Mitchelton Scott have a 2nd very similar variant warming up ready to lead the TdF team. In a way it would be good to have them riding together but sure how it would work unless took turns to ride for each other. They deserve to become a household name as a proper British pair of hard hitting tough brothers a bit like the Brownlees in triathlon
Which one of them is generally the better ?
If you also throw Chaves in there for discussion, then you've got a very strong trio there. Their Domestiques are doing a cracking job at putting them in the right places too.
Was interesting to see y'day that when Froome was struggling, he still had cover from Sky, in the previous days he's been last man standing, but yesterday he had backup but still didn't quite have it at the end.
Bernal to the TDF phone !
Which one of them is generally the better ?
Faff all in it tbh
I don't think I've seen Froome blow up quite like that before, seen him struggle on the super steep and Quintana take 1.30 out of him on the alpe but he always had the "wherewithal" to push for the line and mind the seconds but yesterday he was completely gone.
cloudnine
Whats up with Froomes taped up knee?
See post 1 of this thread
Is there anywhere online you can watch extended highlights? There's only 3 minute clips on YT.
Quest show a one hour programme at 7pm. I saw a mention of on demand?
yes - https://www.questtv.co.uk/video/giro-2018
Stage 8 is the last one there though so looks like you may have to wait a few days for the exciting stages
I don’t really understand why Froome hasn’t come in at peak form, I thought previously he said his main aim this year was to win the giro to win all three grand tours.
A potential ban looming over his head and the constant stream of negative feedback directed towards him? He can repeat over and over how professional and focused he is, but that is going to affect you.
I hope he fights on and comes good in the TT. Still a good chance at the podium, but he just doesn't look on it. He's not had one good day.
He's riding into form so that he doesn't peak before the Tour de France, plus there's still snow on the mountains - Froome doesn't perform well in the cold. He likes it hot - that's why he favours La Vuelta.
He’s riding into form
I see this a bit of GT threads, do people actually pick up fitness on these Tours then ? I'd have thought you'd struggle to due to the fatigue levels you end up with ?
That's what the team coaches, journos and the commentators say. I've seen it with other riders in GTs over the years where they haven't looked special in week 1 but have come on strong later. Having said that I'm not sure they've been 2 minutes behind like Froome is.
I don’t really understand why Froome hasn’t come in at peak form, I thought previously he said his main aim this year was to win the giro to win all three grand tours.
Maybe he needs to eat more... joking aside, the cumulative stress of all those three-month GTs combined with maintaining an artificially low weight can't be good for you long term. And he reportedly did a series of huge rides over the close season, potentially in an attempt to reproduce the impact of a grand tour effort on his Salbutamol levels.
If that's true, it may have seriously screwed over his recovery from last season's efforts. At the least, it won't be what he's done in previous years.
As far as coming in 'under cooked', it's pretty much what he did at the Tour de France last year. The theory is that he improves throughout the tour rather than going into it at the redline already and having nowhere to go but down.
He doesn't look great so far, but if he improves and the likes of Yates and Pinot fall off over the next two weeks, it could be interesting. Yates looks bonkers strong, but he can still have a really bad day and lose a bunch of time on a single big climb.
Edit: 'fall off' was a bad choice of words, but that can happen too...
I think he's found out that week 1 of the giro is more stressful than france
he's possibly mentally switched already to building form and going for pink next year
I have not heard much comment about what he was doing through the winter that may affect his performance now. He must have been doing a lot of work to replicate the stresses and dehydration that could potentially have led to the adverse finding. If they are doing it is a systematic way then he would have to have replicate the stress that could lead to the high values found in his sample from the legal dose of Salbutamol. I think I read that this was seen in some of the training he was posting and it may have impacted his performance coming in to this season. As it was not a normal training regime and something different it may not have been as good preparation as he wanted. Add to that crash before the prologue and he has admitted he has been having a lot of treatment for it then his performance is where we may have expected it to be.
Having said all of that then I still think that Yates looks far better than many of the others and the team looks stronger as well so it may all have been academic. It will be a tortoise and hare moment with Demoulin trying to gain all the losses back on the TT and it is still a fascinating race.
As far as coming in ‘under cooked’, it’s pretty much what he did at the Tour de France last year. The theory is that he improves throughout the tour rather than going into it at the redline already and having nowhere to go but down.
The problem is that the first week of the Giro - and arguably the whole of the Giro - is more difficult than the first week of the TdF. The Giro doesn’t tend to have a week of stages designed by Cavendish where riders can get used to the pace. 😁 I’m sure Froome/Sky would be aware of that.
I see this a bit of GT threads, do people actually pick up fitness on these Tours then ? I’d have thought you’d struggle to due to the fatigue levels you end up with ?
I think its more if you come in "peaked" you lose it faster.
I think its more if you come in “peaked” you lose it faster.
You can't maintain absolute peak form for more than about 10 days at a time so the trick is to come into a 3-week Tour slightly "under-par" and ride yourself into it. Well, that's the trick for a GC contender, if you're really good you can build a team of riders around you who are slightly shifted along that axis - some of whom start super strong and then fade towards the end, others who start really weak but finish super strong - everyone is somewhere along that timeline of the 7-10 days of top form to protect the team leader throughout the race.
Go George Bennett! - a bit under the radar in all these conversations but generally keeping out of trouble and still well within reach. He admitted he attacked too much a few stages back but seems to have learned his lesson in this last stage. The TT will be his weak point unfortunately but great to see him playing amongst the big boys in the mountains!
Some interesting comments
chavez off the back apparently,
2,24 back at the moment there's going to be some tired legs riding like they are (not letting them get back on)
chaves 10 minutes back from the pink jersey (there was some issue but I didn't catch what whitey said) it's now raining just what bambi didn't want 😉