Chris Froome to target 7 tour de france titles

[Noodley]

...he has been the best rider in a GT twice, only his team manager got in the way, not other riders, not his bike, not a mechanical fault, not bad luck, not the weather, just the team manager.

Wrong.

 

[Rob3rt]

Wrong.

Speculation: If e-rider was wrong less, he'd be right more!

 

[Boris Bajic]

I know that, my point was in response to someone doubting his ability to be good enough to win a GT - and my point is, that he has been the best rider in a GT twice, only his team manager got in the way, not other riders, not his bike, not a mechanical fault, not bad luck, not the weather, just the team manager.

Your point was abundantly clear. I do not for one moment doubt his ability, his corage or his fitness. All, I think, are of the highest calibre.

I think that was clear in my original post in this thread.

What I was responding to was the view you gave the impression you held: That he would have had two GTs by now if it hadn't been for matters beyond his control and in line with his contract with his employer and several other factors we may never know.

Which is why I did my Scooby-Doo post. He has not won a GT. He is undoubtedly good enough to do so.

He will need to cross the finish line (supported by domestiques who may also be good enough to win) ahead of several other top riders who are also good enough to win.

I've seen snippets of the TdF before and my strong impression is that it can be quite comptitive and there may be more than one rider who wants to win, is good enough to win and thnks he has a pretty good chance of doing so. It might be Froome this year. He might go on to win all 3 GTs... Oh Bugger! I'm repeating myself.

 

[The Couch]

... Greg Lemond might have won at least three more TdFs if not for a) Hinault, and b) being shot, but history will always show him to have won three and no more

Or if Merckx hadn't been punched in the gut, he would (deservedly so) have had the record
... if it hadn't been for those meddling fans

 

[gavroche]

Nobody has ever won more than 5 tours but it may happen one day. Don't think Frome will be the one though.

 

[dragon72]

What it all boils down to, is that Froome has got what it takes to be a serious contender in the TdF for the next five or so years. I tend to agree and would add the other GTs to the mix too.
Whereas Wiggins is definitely in the latter days of his career as a serious competitor, and too reliant on there being some serious ITT kilometres in the grands tours' parcours and long steady climbs in the hilly bits. Let's not even mention descending in the wet. There, I've said it.
Brailsford already knows who's going to bring in the wins.

 

[smutchin]

Brailsford already knows who's going to bring in the wins.

This. ^

Someone earlier queried whether Froome and Wiggins would both be at Sky next year. I consider it quite plausible that they won't be, but I'd be surprised if it's Froome who goes.

 

[smutchin]

Also, I find it interesting that a lot of people say they "can't warm to Froome", but this is the rider who gave us one of the most exciting bike races in recent memory when he charged to glory on stage 17 of the 2011 Vuelta. How can anyone not warm to that?

He's frickin' awesome.

 

[rich p]

Also, I find it interesting that a lot of people say they "can't warm to Froome", but this is the rider who gave us one of the most exciting bike races in recent memory when he charged to glory on stage 17 of the 2011 Vuelta. How can anyone not warm to that?

He's frickin' awesome.

I sort of agree, Smutch, but he has a weird interview persona. Maybe we like our cycling heroes to be slightly flawed but loveable. Wiggo and Cav fit that bill while Froome comes over as a slightly odd colonial cousin. Despite what some say on here occasionally about not caring about nationality, and just like exciting racing, there is something indisputably patriotic about most of us when forced to choose. Froome for all his exciting cycling talents and tactics just aint a Brit. I say this as a lover of many things foreign and foreigners but deep down it's a support I find hard to shift.
My heart rate goes off the scale when Cav is in the last 100m of a TdF sprint or Freddie Flintoff runs out Ponting to win the Ashes. It's not pretty but it's deep down.

 

[rich p]

P.S. I have had a drink or two.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

A Brit of convenience with faraway eyes who looks plain wrong on a bike. It's the looking wrong on a bike that I can't forgive.

 

[redcard]

Is Froome teetotal? I have a feeling he probably is. Us Brits are very suspicious of that.

 

[ianrauk]

I sort of agree, Smutch, but he has a weird interview persona. Maybe we like our cycling heroes to be slightly flawed but loveable. Wiggo and Cav fit that bill while Froome comes over as a slightly odd colonial cousin. Despite what some say on here occasionally about not caring about nationality, and just like exciting racing, there is something indisputably patriotic about most of us when forced to choose. Froome for all his exciting cycling talents and tactics just aint a Brit. I say this as a lover of many things foreign and foreigners but deep down it's a support I find hard to shift.
My heart rate goes off the scale when Cav is in the last 100m of a TdF sprint or Freddie Flintoff runs out Ponting to win the Ashes. It's not pretty but it's deep down.

you are talking sense for an old boy. It's the same reasons as to why people (Brits) don't really warm to other sportsmen such as (off the top of my head) Rusedksi, Lennox Lewis and Owen Hargreaves.

 

[Hip Priest]

I'm English. If I moved abroad and had a son, would it be unreasonable for him to consider himself English too? A lot of sportsmen have cosmopolitan backgrounds, and can choose to represent any one of a number of countries.

Froome has chosen Britain. Should we knock him for it?

 

[Hip Priest]

It's the same reasons as to why people (Brits) don't really warm to other sportsmen such as (off the top of my head) Rusedksi, Lennox Lewis and Owen Hargreaves.

What about Mo Farah? He's a national hero, yet was born in Somalia and lives in the US!