Critérium du Dauphiné 2-9 June [spoilers]

[rich p]

Another move too late for Porte to be gifted the win. Just like yesterday RP didn't quite have enough but I suppose Froome gets some pleasure for trying when he could clearly have taken the stage if he's wanted.
It'll all fade to insignificance in the big one soon anyway where Froome looks pretty unbeatable on this showing.

 

[raindog]

Froome couldn't win the stage, so why drag a team-mate 2 kilometres to gift a win, then accelerate and drop him to take a pointless second place? I'd love to, but I really can't warm to the bloke. He doesn't seem to have any sporting class at all.

 

[montage]

Froome couldn't win the stage, so why drag a team-mate 2 kilometres to gift a win, then accelerate and drop him to take a pointless second place? I'd love to, but I really can't warm to the bloke. He doesn't seem to have any sporting class at all.

If anything, role reversal provides fantastic training regarding pacing strategies.

 

[thom]

Just caught the highlights from my hotel room on the outskirts of Avignon. In the distance, Ventoux is brooding, the top cloaked in clouds, as if still to finalise the set for an upcoming event...
Froome looks like something special for British cycling going forward. I really hope he takes this form through to the tour. I just love the way he can finish off the uphill finishes - no other British rider has a comparable talent. A pure racer like Contador or Nibali can still beat him but apart from that rainy day in Italy, nobody has posed a similar problem.
That is 3 separate week long stage race wins in addition to second in Tirreno-Adriatico (iirc), with the Paris-Nice winner in his service too - surely SKY are better placed this year for the tour than last ?
Chapeau Chris Froome !

 

[johnr]

So was Contador hamstrung by rubbish team orders, or just grabbing a fig leaf to cover his inability to challenge Froome? Or was he just eating the wrong kind of beef?

 

[lukesdad]

So was Contador hamstrung by rubbish team orders, or just grabbing a fig leaf to cover his inability to challenge Froome? Or was he just eating the wrong kind of beef?

You tell us

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Reading through the posts on other forums it seems that everyone else is all but convinced that Froome not Contador is the one on something.

 

[beastie]

Reading through the posts on other forums it seems that everyone else is all but convinced that Froome not Contador is the one on something.

Is that not a few people making a lot of noise? I occasionally browse Bikeradar, coz there is a fair bit of info and knowledge, but I can rarely be arsed to post due to the high ratio of retards. There are a few anti sky who accuse Froome, but one of them thinks Contador is god and likes riders in the vein of Di Luca and Vino. Pot and kettle etc. not "everyone else", not by a long way.

 

[rich p]

It's an easy accusation to make of Froome. He was a virtual unknown before his meteoric rise in the 2011 Vuelta and subsequent success. The Sky train , on the surface, looks like the USPS one and so draws comparison with Armstrong. The Clinic posters are frothing at the mouth with indignation about all things Sky but then they froth at anyone who wins a race.
Contador is clearly riding clean (or unprepared) at the moment as indicated by his appalling TTing. Only a couple of years ago he was beating Cancellara in them. It should be a good TdF if an attacking Contador can challenge the pretty dull Sky tactics though.

 

[The Couch]

...
Contador is clearly riding clean (or unprepared) at the moment as indicated by his appalling TTing. Only a couple of years ago he was beating Cancellara in them. It should be a good TdF if an attacking Contador can challenge the pretty dull Sky tactics though.

Indeed the (current) TT qualities of Contador are becoming his downfall. He is - I believe - still a decent enough climber to have a good shot at winning a Grand Tour, but it's his big decline in TT that is his Achilles Heel.
I think he should be very happy with the fact that the 2nd TT in this year Tour (stage 17) is Giro 2013-ish and not Tour 2012-ish.

Then again... it might (and most likely will) very well show that this year Froome is also the better climber

 

[smutchin]

Reading through the posts on other forums it seems that everyone else is all but convinced that Froome not Contador is the one on something.

But have they posted anything resembling evidence or just innuendo based on a superficial resemblance to USPS?

 

[The Couch]

But have they posted anything resembling evidence or just innuendo based on a superficial resemblance to USPS?

If so... I am pretty sure we would know (and be discussing it as well)

 

[Slaav]

The last few comments have encouraged me to pop over and have a look at other sites for comedy value.

Personally, I think that Sky (as a whole) are certainly clean. I also believe Froome is clean.

It is such a shame that Sky have genuinely broken new boudaries in Pro Cycling and are having quite a few fingers pointed at it! From memory, PHarmstrong had detractors quite early on didn't he? Rumours (based on supposed facts) were flying around in earnest as soon as it was decided that running a la Dirty Bertie was not really acceptable anymore?

All Sky have to 'prove' doping is their success and the jump in performance of a couple of riders?

As far as Froome is concerned, didn't he underperform quite a bit adn was a puzzle to Sky until they figured out and sorted his medical issues? And Wiggo can hardly be accused of a sudden jump in performance when you look at his career.....

LAstly on this, reading a couple of books, inc Wiggo and some stuff from Cav, it appears that in the 'old days' Pro cyclists were almost left to themselves to train as long as they turned up for the race as told? The sheer professionalism of Sky has driven the whole sport forward in leaps and bounds.

 

[rich p]

Froome had or has, bilharzia. One of the comments that amused me in the Clinic was that he uses this to mask his doping, as the illness means that his blood passport readings would be skewed.

 

[smutchin]

LAstly on this, reading a couple of books, inc Wiggo and some stuff from Cav, it appears that in the 'old days' Pro cyclists were almost left to themselves to train as long as they turned up for the race as told? The sheer professionalism of Sky has driven the whole sport forward in leaps and bounds.

"Old" days? It's still the way most teams work, afaik. Proper pastoral care and structured training are very recent innovations in cycling. Garmin have been the real pioneers in this respect. Sky followed their example and took it up a level by bringing in the likes of Tim Kerrison (which they can do because they're so much better funded than Garmin). Compare and contrast with the likes of AG2R, who have a vocally anti-doping team boss but don't keep close enough track of their riders to either prevent them doping or know they're doing it (ie Steve Houanard).

I mean, I believe Vincent Lavenu has his heart in the right place, but he's too rooted in the old ways of doing things.