Vuelta a España 2012 (with spoilers)

[iLB]

I'll be watching out for a meteoric rise in performance from one Cobo, and I think we should see a drop off in performance from Froome compared to July. Presumably with a more lengthy ban in prospect if caught, Bertie will be clean.

 

[smutchin]

I was very much of the opinion that too much was read into what Froome said to the media during the TdF, but the body language between him and Wiggo after the Olympic TT was pretty unambiguous. I suspect that it was nothing but has become something...

Maybe the constant media speculation has got to both of them a bit - repeat these rumours and innuendoes often enough, they'll become true.

Froome's girlfriend can't be helping their relationship much.

d.

 

[marinyork]

I was very much of the opinion that too much was read into what Froome said to the media during the TdF, but the body language between him and Wiggo after the Olympic TT was pretty unambiguous. I suspect that it was nothing but has become something...

Maybe the constant media speculation has got to both of them a bit - repeat these rumours and innuendoes often enough, they'll become true.

Froome's girlfriend can't be helping their relationship much.

d.

Well the olympic and froome's girlfriend is perhaps a different matter. It's not like Wiggins and Froome are going to be around each other in this year's vuelta though.

 

[smutchin]

Probably for the best!

Maybe if Froome wins the Vuelta, he'll cool down a bit. Or maybe it will just add fuel to the fire...

d.

 

[Slaav]

I was very much of the opinion that too much was read into what Froome said to the media during the TdF, but the body language between him and Wiggo after the Olympic TT was pretty unambiguous. I suspect that it was nothing but has become something...

Maybe the constant media speculation has got to both of them a bit - repeat these rumours and innuendoes often enough, they'll become true.

Froome's girlfriend can't be helping their relationship much.

d.

I wont prfess to know much about anything (generally in life ) but found this quote interesting:

“I’m going to do the best job I can and do whatever’s required of me from the team,” Froome said of the approaching Vuelta. “Initially I’ll be riding for the GC, but if one of my team-mates shows that they’re in a better place to win the race then I’ll happily work for them. We’re sending a first-rate squad and it should be a really exciting race.”

Does anyone else raise an eyebrow at this quote? Or is this just simply common sense? Taking this back to the Tour and his position with Wiggins, is he saying that if someone is riding better than him and he is having a mare to the extent that he cannot win, will he ride to support his better placed colleague? Or, for his Mrs benefit , is he saying that if someone is simply stronger and 'better' than him within his own team, then team orders go out the window and he will take a step back and support the chap who is simply having the better ride? Regardless of the position within the overall race?

Made me smile and seems to be able to be read in several different ways?

 

[PpPete]

I wont prfess to know much about anything (generally in life ) but found this quote interesting:

“I’m going to do the best job I can and do whatever’s required of me from the team,” Froome said of the approaching Vuelta. “Initially I’ll be riding for the GC, but if one of my team-mates shows that they’re in a better place to win the race then I’ll happily work for them. We’re sending a first-rate squad and it should be a really exciting race.”

Does anyone else raise an eyebrow at this quote? Or is this just simply common sense? Taking this back to the Tour and his position with Wiggins, is he saying that if someone is riding better than him and he is having a mare to the extent that he cannot win, will he ride to support his better placed colleague? Or, for his Mrs benefit , is he saying that if someone is simply stronger and 'better' than him within his own team, then team orders go out the window and he will take a step back and support the chap who is simply having the better ride? Regardless of the position within the overall race?

Made me smile and seems to be able to be read in several different ways?

Rather depends where you found the quote ?
If on Sky team website I might read it differently to if he was talking to a newspaper ?

 

[smutchin]

I read that quote in the Guardian. I presume it was from the press conference when they announced the team for the Vuelta, rather than a one-to-one interview.

Seems straight up to me. Froome obviously wants to win and is going into the Vuelta as team leader, which is just reward for the work he's done for Brad and Team Sky this year, but he's had a long, tough season that was built around peaking for the Tour, so even if he's feeling good now, he knows he may not have enough left in the tank to take on Contador when they hit the steeper slopes, so he's probably just trying to temper expectations.

Uran, on the other hand, has had a relatively easy time since the Giro and may prove to be the stronger rider when the going gets tough. But again, the team will be expecting Uran to ride for Froome the way Froome rode for Brad. Just as Froome wasn't allowed off the leash when Brad cracked in last year's Vuelta, Uran may not be allowed off the leash even if Froome cracks. We'll see.

The other thing to consider is that there's just one individual time trial, it's only 40km, quite technical rather than a course designed for pure speed and it comes before most of the really big mountain stages. So even though Froome is by far a stronger time triallist than Contador (or Uran, for that matter), he won't be able to use the same strategy Team Sky used in the TdF - he'll need to stay really close to Contador in the mountains if he wants a chance of overall victory.

d.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I reckon Henao will be chewing up both Uran and Froome in a couple of years anyway.

 

[rich p]

Contador was no mean time triallist in the past. Didn't he famously mash Cancellara in one of the GTs a couple of years ago? That performance raised a few eyebrows IIRC, including mine.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Contador was no mean time triallist in the past. Didn't he famously mash Cancellara in one of the GTs a couple of years ago? That performance raised a few eyebrows IIRC, including mine.

Cancellara might still have some beef with Contador over that performance...

 

[Chuffy]

Cancellara might still have some beef with Contador over that performance...

2009 Annecy IIRC. Didn't Cancellara complain that Bertie was getting assistance from the camera moto?

 

[smutchin]

Contador was no mean time triallist in the past. Didn't he famously mash Cancellara in one of the GTs a couple of years ago? That performance raised a few eyebrows IIRC, including mine.

Yes, I vaguely remember that. IIRC there was a fairly significant lump in the middle of the course. Also, I vaguely recall that wind was a big factor and affected Wiggo and Lance quite badly. I don't recall Contador's performance being considered all that suspicious at the time, but maybe that's me being naive.

d.

 

[rich p]

Well, Smutch, it's me being cynical too so perhaps we should meet halfway
One would assume he's clean now and will be steering well clear of Spanish beef for the Vuelta! Perhaps he'll send his soigneur over to France to get his steak, which would be ironic.

 

[Chuffy]

Cancellara might still have some beef with Contador over that performance...

Oh dear god. Did I just miss another terrible Bertie/steak refererence?

 

[lukesdad]

Contador was no mean time triallist in the past. Didn't he famously mash Cancellara in one of the GTs a couple of years ago? That performance raised a few eyebrows IIRC, including mine.

If memory serves me right, it was rather lumpy, and Fab had been grafting in the mountains for several days previously, not that shocking in the context of the race.