You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Quote attributed to Froome on the announcement
"Physically I was ready, but unfortunately I was unable to show my full ability at the races assigned to me due to equipment issues.“
did they give him a BSO? Like me does he have an annoying front brake which rubs and no amount of tinkering sorts?
joking aside WTF, how in a pro team can equipment even be an issue. Or is this bluster to mask his own performance?
Ran out of the right type of hypodermic?
Fridge-freezer failure?
He's not where he wants to be, which must be incredibly frustrating for someone who has dropped from a level most in the peloton can only dream of reaching.
But blaming equipment just seems a bit churlish. I'll bet my bike(s) it's not disc rub; I'd be more than happy to take his £12-15K Factor out to find out, if he wants. And anyway, he'd been in exactly the same position in any team, even Ineos, if that's the case.
He had bike problems in races that were his best chance to prove his form for the tour. That's all. Form not proven, not in this year's team for TdF.
He has had a bit of a poke at Factor's bikes ever since he joined Israel. Largely around his dislike of disc brakes.
Not sure why he was braking uphill when getting dropped
All he needs to do is lose a little bit of weight, right…?
Well, it worked the first time (apparently).
Tubeless tyres and incompatible brake disks from neutral service. I don’t recall rim brakes ever having issues with a wheel change. Changes are slower now too.
it was wiggins who lost the weight. So much that he said he couldn’t do it again.
All he needs to do is lose a little bit of weight, right…?
there were some pics of him on socials recently, looking very very lean
it was wiggins who lost the weight. So much that he said he couldn’t do it again.
Wiggins was skinny for years, credit Agricole & cofodis, in the pics he looks skinny, looked the skinniest at Garmin in the Roubaix pics, but Froome on Barloworld looked double his late sky days
but it's not just the weight, silent ban or actual TT crash, whatever happened in 2019, he's been a different animal since, last win was that 80km solo at the giro in 2018,
I guess Woods getting the overall at Route d'Occitanie was the nail in the coffin, contract ends this year, no ones picking him up surely
Doesn’t really matter. It’s not like he was likely to be a contender in GC
Silent ban? What?? In the crash he nearly died in?
He doesn’t need to be a GC contender. Stage wins are what he would have been after. I don’t think Woods is going to be going for GC either. Saying that, I do think Woods has a better chance of stage wins than Froome would have had.
And agree Froome dropped a ton of weight, probably about 10kgs or more from BW to Sky days.
I never thought he’d be the same rider again after that crash. And he isn’t. For his height he’s light, but not hugely so. And I ought to know 😉 . Wiggins was of course young in those pics. He is 6’3” and weighed 69 kilos and was 4% fat when he won the Tour in 2012. Froome is shorter and heavier.
The weight comment was sarcasm.
You’ll maybe remember that this was one of the main (and highly convincing) explanations given for Froomes original and miraculous ‘transformation’…🙄
That and repetitive bilharzia syndrome.
Personally, I’m not a believer. This is the sport of professional cycling after all…
Blimey, if we’re going to take that view then there’s pretty much no point in watching bike racing any more is there, because you know, they’re all at it aren’t they?
What a terribly cynical view, the bloke was a successful bike racer so he must be a cheat. FFS, I remember that first tour he won and Every. Single. Interview. was about his supposed doping. You must be doping right Chris? You can’t possibly be that good by simply training hard can you? And he took it on the chin and acted like a gentleman.
Personally I think it’s a shame he’s not up to riding this year’s tour.