Yo Mike
Posts:338
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| 07/15/2013 10:55 AM |
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LOL, good one, certainly shorter.
Maybe ' -7 ' is more correct, tho....
I did see that 'he' tweeted a 'no gifts on Ventoux' to CF |
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C2K_Rider
Posts:173
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| 07/15/2013 12:30 PM |
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Posted By jeff sanford on 07/14/2013 07:32 PM
Here's my problem with Froome. You have a guy putting on one of the most dominating performances in the history of the Tour De France who has ZERO history as a world class cyclist until joining team SKY. Heck in 2010 he was disqualified for holding onto cars on the Mortirolo. Check this video from the 2009 Giro (7:30) Froome has to paperboy to get up the climb.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEGpv0xn0E8
Freaks do happen. I remember John Naber in swimming. He didn't even start swimming until he was in high school. By his senior year he set an american record in the back stroke. Two years later he was the top medal earner at the 1976 Olympics (4 golds, 4 world records). So I won't discount Froome's performance just because he is way ahead of the others. Testing and time will tell all.... |
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PlanB
Posts:15
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| 07/15/2013 04:48 PM |
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Where did the 'came-out-of-nowhere' idea come from in the first place? By a huge margin the preponderance of doping busts, confessions, sanctions, police investigations, testimonies, and court actions have involved riders and staff who came from the other place: somewhere.
Scratching my murky noggin I could think of only two busted riders who, before their busts, had rocketed to fame without any apparent pedigree or steady progress in racing. These were Rumšas and Thomas Dekker. Obviously there must be others who have simply slipped my mind. But even the usual suspects who crop up on such lists, like Riccò for instance, tend to have had very rich amateur palmarès that the mass audience don't know much about.
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 07/15/2013 04:57 PM |
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Ehhrr, Thomas Dekker had a "pretty good" U23 palmares I would say :-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Dekker_(cyclist)
Hardly someone who came out of nowhere. In fact that was the problem. When he subsequently couldn't live up to expectations in the pro ranks, that's when trouble began. |
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PlanB
Posts:15
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| 07/15/2013 05:05 PM |
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| Yeah, you're right, Dekker was the real deal before turning pro. In his case, he was seemingly tipped as the next Classics and Time-Trial Elvis before he'd so much as strapped on his blue suede cycling shoes. But you see my point (I hope). We've been applying this hypothesis, which admittedly sounds kind of logical, without much precedent to back it up. |
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Keith Richards
Posts:781
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| 07/15/2013 05:41 PM |
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Froome was 11th in the white jersey in his first TdF which is a much better result than Armstrong in his first crack at the big show.
Out of nowhere is a stretch and I am putting that nicely. |
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It is his word versus ours. We like our word. We like where we stand and we like our credibility."--Lance Armstrong. |
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jrt1045
Posts:363
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| 07/16/2013 08:29 AM |
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| 11th place in the white jersey contest is like 4th place in the sub-Saharan world champs. 84th overall and over an hour down |
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jmdirt
Posts:775
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| 07/16/2013 10:28 AM |
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jrt, the world champs are the world champs no matter where they are held. While everyone is trying to win or at least get a medal, nobody would be too upset with 4th at worlds. CF would be the 'home' favorite for an African worlds.
84th in his first TdF is pretty good for an African raised mountain biker who got a late start in 'proper' cycling. |
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jrt1045
Posts:363
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| 07/16/2013 11:44 AM |
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| sounds like the intro to the Floyd Landis Story, no? |
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jmdirt
Posts:775
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| 07/16/2013 03:45 PM |
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Similar! ;}
I met FL when he was racing dirt for TRP in the mid 90's. He was riding wheelies around the team van (about 20 times, mostly one handed) and one of the Retro Tech guys introduced us. He was an amazing bike handler with a strong engine. I think that he was a guy who had the genetic potential to win in a clean racing environment. Unfortunately, when he was in Rome, he did as the Romans.
Disclaimer: I know that everybody has a "I knew a genetic freak..." story. Do you want to hear my Greg Randolph story too (truly a genetic freak). |
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Red Tornado
Posts:159
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| 07/16/2013 04:13 PM |
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For a lot of these guys, time will tell. Just like how riders from the 90's/early 2000's are now being found out. Truth is we just don't know if CF is juiced or not; only he knows for sure. Yes a guy riding practically everyone off his wheel, at will, does look suspicious to me; given the likes of other guys throughout history who have been able to do that. Yes, this conjures up memories of Ricco & Co. from a few years ago. Not much anyone can do though until he's found guilty - it's just speculation until that happens; if it happens.
I'm with OC. It would be nice to see an actual RACE for 1st and not a processional around France. It's nice to watch places 2 - 10 duking it out, but not quite as nice as it could be. Yes it's pretty far-fetched to wish for a GC classification that comes down to mere seconds on the last day, but a true battle for at least the first half or 2/3 would be refreshing and very entertaining.
My $0.02 |
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PlanB
Posts:15
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| 07/16/2013 04:19 PM |
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| To me it sounds like the intro to the Cadel Evans story. |
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jrt1045
Posts:363
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| 07/16/2013 04:28 PM |
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Greg Randolph certainly got the poopy end of the stick. Extremely talented and had the misfortune(?) to win a slot on the 1996 Olympic, he got a lot of crap for how all that went down back in the day. Definitely affected his career in a bad way IMHO. In retrospect, he was probably the only legit member of the team. If you look back at the start list of the 1996 Olympic RR it is like a who's who of the EPO era
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_at_the_1996_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Men's_road_race |
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jmdirt
Posts:775
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| 07/16/2013 04:37 PM |
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| CE had more success than either FL or CF on the dirt before hopping to the road (he won the world cup at least twice that I can remember plus multi worlds medals as a jr and U23).
EDIT: I knew GR when he was a new cat IV and within months a top cat I. Huge genetic freak. I don't want to put words in his mouth but my take is that he got away from road racing because it was too 'hot' for him. He had the motor to do well on the dirt but he didn't get the handling figured out. |
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jrt1045
Posts:363
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| 07/16/2013 04:58 PM |
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| Och broke him, wonder how he's escaped the laser? He (Och) was Hein's stock broker too, right? |
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