Pro-cycling thread

The non racist G.

oh-oh, the last time this topic came up in this thread everyone forgot about racing for 5+ pages i think...

I thought it was Gee

Do you prefer Froomey or Froome-dawg?

The ee is silent.

Guh?

Some excellent cod science here, but an interesting analysis;

https://cyclingtips.com/2018/06/inscyd-view-a-scientific-analysis-of-chris-froomes-giro-ditalia-performance/

That is waaaaaaaay too long to read

How do they come up with these zany nicknames?

So, Barguil looking fat this year. Maybe his move to a crap team wasn't the best idea.

I still don't understand why he went with that team.

For the money? To be the star? To have no domestique responsibilities? To be closer to his hometown/region? To be adored by the French?

Undisputed leadership and a big bag of money.

A career is short, make money when you can.

Yeah but of the above doesn't help him win the tour which is what he wants.

Also Bardet's opinion of Froome racing can >>>>> I'd guarantee any racer that is entitled to race would. Its all well and good saying that they wouldn't race when they aren't in his position.

Does he want that? Thought he wanted to win stages and capture the hearts of French housewives up and down the country.

You think that team would have the budget to hand over a fat stack of cash though?

He’s consistently said he doesn’t want to ride for GC yet. He’s young, give him time to develop, it’s obvious the talent is there so support him in making the most of it.

I’m sure he had options, so they almost certainly paid him his market value. He’d clearly had enough of the Sunweb project, so maybe he thought a small team with lower ambitions was better for him. He might be right, but he’s young and talented enough to change path if it proves to be a mistake.

Interestingly, he was fairly average at the Dauphiné last year, finishing 30th on GC. We don’t know his training schedule and how much fatigue he’s carrying into the race, but he still has time to get his form right ahead of the Tour.

Fair point. I guess I'll wait and see what happens.

Is anything happening in the Dauphiné other than total domination by Sky? Watched a couple of the early stages but shrug.

Hardly anyone remembers what happened in the season after the Tour, so if you have a successful Tour you’re golden. If Barguil wins a stage and the mountain jersey his season is successful.

Their massive win at the TTT has put them so far ahead that it’s hard to see how they lose from here. But everyone thought Porte had the race sewn up last year only for it to go mental on the final stage.

Lightning rarely strikes the same place twice but the next three stages all have enough challenges to mix it up a bit. The Col du Pré tomorrow is vicious, narrow and steep, so a great place to isolate leaders.

Assume Froome is allowed to compete at the tour. Does he have any chance at all given recent failed giro/tour double attempts?

Edit. Put another way if he takes to the start line will he be favourite?