[Dixon]

He's become the Buzz Aldrin of Cycling.
Who knows what would have happened if Froome had been allowed to 'go on' in one of the mountain stages when it looked like he could have broke away from Wiggins?
Massive credit goes to Wiggins and without doubt it's one of the alltime great sporting achievements by a British sportsman or team, but i do feel a bit of sympathy for Froome.

[grassmarket]

Impossible to say. For all we know he might have attacked, got a 300m lead, and then gradually got pegged back by Wiggins. If he knows what side his bread is buttered on, he will stick with Sky though - none of the other teams could have supported him better.

[swingaleg]

Another thing that is unquantifiable..........on the mountains Froome was getting extra special cover by riding behind Brad. This was because they wanted to rest him as much as possible because he was 'last man' in the final 2 or 3 K of the climb

The fact that he looked fresh as a daisy coming to the summits was part of the plan.......they protected him precisely so he would be fresh

If he'd have been team leader he may have been doing more work on the lower slopes, he would have had to cover any break by a contender, it would have ben mentally tougher than just following Brad........it's unquantifiable as to wether he'd have coped

Even in the Vuelta last year when he finished 2nd and Brad finished 3rd he was still playing 'first lieutenant' for almost the whole 3 weeks so we don't know if he'd have coped with being team leader'

We might find out in a few weeks time as Brad won't be riding the Vuelta this year and Chris will go as Team Leader

[TheFridge]

Froomes time will come no doubt , i wouldn't be suprised to see him lead the team in next years tour which is expected to have more mountains and less time trails , hes most likely to be team leader for the Vuelta thats less than a month away so that puts to bed any notion of him being the 2nd man all the time.

I agree that we really dont know if he could of pulled minutes on Wiggins in the mountains , hes obviously got the kick but no-one can say for certain whether or not he gets away from and stays away from Wiggins.

He'd be mad to leave Sky , they are clearly the best team and the team to realise his ambitions in.

[afx237vi]

It's a team sport, that's what he signed up for.

[aggs]

Impossible to know.
There is far and away more to being the yellow jersey of the tour than 'just' being in the lead on time. The rigours of being first on GC don't end when you cross the line - in fact they are only just starting!

The team and tactics for the tour were worked out back in October when the route was announced and it was seen to be Brad-style-friendly. Brad has finished 4th in the past and has a proven record of leading teams and being able to take pressure. The lowest place he had on GC this year was 2nd and he always had time on his rivals ... even Froome finished 3 minutes back from him. A DS would need to be a bit reckless to split the team with 2 leaders in those circumstances - and neither Dave Brailsford or Sean Yates are reckless.

Chris had an awesome ride as second in command. He could ride like there was no pressure on him because there was no pressure on him. If he had a bad day or a bad spell, he could sit back and recover - Brad had to be on-point all the time ... and not show any sign that he was any thing other than in complete control.

Chris has now finished a Tour de France (which is a different race even to the other stage races) and knows what it's like to be part of a winning team. His time will come and this year will be a building block for it.

[Mark F]

Surely on that stage where Froome tried to go on but was told to go back had he not done so Wiggins would have just speeded up and tried to catch up anyway?

Remember Froome is 27 and Wiggins 32 so the former will get a chance.

[mindyann]

Originally Posted by Dixon

He's become the Buzz Aldrin of Cycling.
Who knows what would have happened if Froome had been allowed to 'go on' in one of the mountain stages when it looked like he could have broke away from Wiggins?
Massive credit goes to Wiggins and without doubt it's one of the alltime great sporting achievements by a British sportsman or team, but i do feel a bit of sympathy for Froome.

Tour history has quite a few of these 'would they have won if not working for a team leader' questions.

Greg LeMond finished second working for Bernard Hinault when he won his 5th Tour on the understanding the roles were reversed the following year - which Hinault seemed to ... struggle ... with a little

Miguel Indurain when he worked for Pedro Delgado in 1990.

Again, Jan Ullrich finished second to Bjarne Riis when he won in 1996.

Probably the only one with a bit of reason to feel put out would be Miguel because Delgado didn't actually win (or even get on the podium) - although it's probably worth pointing out that all of LeMond, Indurain and Ullrich won their first Tour the next year.

[Eater Sundae]

I don’t think he needs any sympathy. In his post TdF interview, as part of ITV4’s coverage, he was very up-beat, and understood exactly what he was part of. Although I’m sure he would have liked the chance to attack Valverde for the stage win, but he didn’t seem too downbeat (that was left to his girlfriend). I can’t remember the situation in the other stage where he was clearly called back – I don’t think there was any chance of him getting the stage, IIRC, it was just for GC time. At that stage his job was clearly to support Wiggins (as it should be at all times really) so he should not have tried to accelerate in the first place.


Will he move on? As others have said SKY is the best place to be. What good would it be to be top-dog in an also-ran team. He will get his chance at Sky if he is good enough. Once the management think it is in the best interest of Sky to promote him, then he will be promoted. Sky are much too professional to not do that.


If anyone is to move on, then I think Cav could be the first to go. He was clearly held back in the TdF, without the support that HTC could give him. He has said that he couldn’t turn down the chance to be part of a yellow jersey winning (Edit: and British) team. However, he has now ticked that box, along with the World Champion title, and very soon may have the Olympic Gold if all goes to plan. That’s a lot of boxes ticked. What would he now want? More TdF green Jerseys? More TdF stage wins. I guess it would be the latter. As World Champ (and especially if he becomes Olympic Champ as well) as well as the clear King of Sprinting, he is very marketable. Surely there would be some organisation that wants to “do a HTC”. As a sprinter he has a limited life. He’s put it on the back burner for a year, which is quite a sacrifice.

[Marmite Baby]

Originally Posted by Eater Sundae

As a sprinter he has a limited life. He’s put it on the back burner for a year, which is quite a sacrifice.

He's still only 27 and Mario Cipollini was still winning prolifically into his mid-30s.

[Wallasey Saint]

No i don't have any sympathy with Chris Froom as he finished 2nd in the Tour De France, & he must have known Bradley Wiggins is the no 1 rider when he signed for Team SKY, & if he didn't then he's a fool.

I'm delighted the final standings there is a British winner & 2nd place regardless of who it is.

[Dixon]

Originally Posted by TheFridge

Froomes time will come no doubt ,

He'd be mad to leave Sky , they are clearly the best team and the team to realise his ambitions in.

I agree with you on that!

I can see Cav leaving Sky though.
He's just too great at what he does and too big a star not to be the main man. All credit to him as well this year for the way he did a lot of the donkey work to help Wiggins.

ps . Great to see this fantastic sport getting the kind of recognition it's always deserved

[walterwhite]

Originally Posted by Dixon

He's become the Buzz Aldrin of Cycling.
Who knows what would have happened if Froome had been allowed to 'go on' in one of the mountain stages when it looked like he could have broke away from Wiggins?
Massive credit goes to Wiggins and without doubt it's one of the alltime great sporting achievements by a British sportsman or team, but i do feel a bit of sympathy for Froome.

Brad still beat him easily in both time trials. Froome might have got away but Wiggo hasn't got the sudden burst of speed that other riders have, he may well have caught him again.

[walterwhite]

Originally Posted by Marmite Baby

He's still only 27 and Mario Cipollini was still winning prolifically into his mid-30s.

People talk about Cav like he had a bad tour. He won 3 stages and that was with falling off twice in sprints he would have been close in. Plus he has concentrated on the Olympics this year so isn't in pure sprinting shape.

[apaul]

Is anyone saying that Cav had a bad tour? The question isn't really whether he has good or bad tours, but is he in the best position to get stage wins? The answer to that is yes when he was with HTC, but no with Sky which has different priorities. Eventually someone younger and faster will come along and he should maximise his wins in the meantime.

[Eater Sundae]

Originally Posted by walterwhite

People talk about Cav like he had a bad tour. He won 3 stages and that was with falling off twice in sprints he would have been close in. Plus he has concentrated on the Olympics this year so isn't in pure sprinting shape.

I think he had a good tour, in that his performances were better than in previous tours as he managed his 3 stage wins with a lead out team which was not as strong as he has had in previous years, so he had to do even more.

Sorry, it was me who took this thread off topic by referring to Cav.

If anyone still wishes to talk about Chris Froome...

He will get opportunities to lead, presumably starting in Spain. However, he will have to cope with Contador and (Andy) Schleck, which will probably add pressure that wasn't there in France.

[Electra]

Originally Posted by Eater Sundae

I think he had a good tour, in that his performances were better than in previous tours as he managed his 3 stage wins with a lead out team which was not as strong as he has had in previous years, so he had to do even more.

Sorry, it was me who took this thread off topic by referring to Cav.

If anyone still wishes to talk about Chris Froome...

He will get opportunities to lead, presumably starting in Spain. However, he will have to cope with Contador and (Andy) Schleck, which will probably add pressure that wasn't there in France.

Will Schleck be ready for the Vuelta though? I read last week that he was out of the Olympics & can't even sit on a bike yet.

[grassmarket]

Originally Posted by Electra

Will Schleck be ready for the Vuelta though? I read last week that he was out of the Olympics & can't even sit on a bike yet.

Yeah, diuretics will do that to you.

[aggs]

Originally Posted by grassmarket

Yeah, diuretics will do that to you.

Other Schlek

[grassmarket]

Originally Posted by aggs

Other Schlek

I know that, but given how close the two are in every respect....

[aggs]

Originally Posted by grassmarket

I know that, but given how close the two are in every respect....

<waggles eyebrows>

[Electra]

Originally Posted by grassmarket

Yeah, diuretics will do that to you.

Really? I'd have thought a broken pelvis would factor pretty heavily tbh.

[Eater Sundae]

Originally Posted by Electra

Will Schleck be ready for the Vuelta though? I read last week that he was out of the Olympics & can't even sit on a bike yet.

I don't know TBH. I thought I'd read somewhere that he would, but maybe it was my imagination, as I don't know where.

[ed brown]

No. His time will come. The best things come to those that wait.

[walterwhite]

Originally Posted by ed brown

No. His time will come. The best things come to those that wait.

Although next year he will have Schleck and Contador to deal with.