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The Official, 103rd Tour de France, thread
- Thread starter Stat Brother
- Start date
Pogue Mahone
Well-known member
- Apr 30, 2011
- 10,755
He is almost universally considered a doper in France. I was in the Alps, amongst cyclists, this weekend, and the hatred for him was pretty intense.
Bold Seagull
strong and stable with me, or...
It's not just Froome is it I suppose, Sky are pretty much enemy no.1 in terms of teams.
Seagull58
In the Algarve
Yet he has done more than anyone else to prove he's clean, publishing all his blood data.
Indurain's Lungs
Legend of Garry Nelson
Very true. Some of the language describing yesterday's incident will have to be toned down a little.
I think Froome will be super motivated after yesterday so I'm going for Froome, Dumoulin, Martin.
I can see where it comes from but it is pretty disproportionate given that Contador, Valverde (in particular) and several others have served bans for failed tests. Although it does smack a little of Armstrong, Froome as never failed any tests so why is he coming in for more hatred than these other guys. The secret pro is an intersting read - he doesn't hold back on other riders and talks very suspiciously of the riders that go way better in the 3rd week of a grand tour (i.e Quintana, Nibali rather than Froome).
Some of it may be the parallels between the Sky approach and that spouted by USPS/Discovery during the Armstrong years. Sky are very unlikeable with Brailsford now nauseatingly smug (see his reaction after Froome's downhill attack). They go against all the history and romance of cycling that many miss (particularly the French).
Seagull over Canaryland
Well-known member
Talking to some French cyclists last week they said the feeling towards Froome is mostly a reflection they are fed up at the lack of French GC contenders and English speaking riders and teams have dominated the Tour for 'too long'. They acknowledged that Froome is a great athlete but they cannot quite accept that he is clean. This slight continues to be fuelled by some French media.
Vive les Anglais....
Vive les Anglais....
Bold Seagull
strong and stable with me, or...
I think the whole Sky thing is probably a driving force. If he was riding for Tinkoff or someone he wouldn't be getting this level of abuse. No one looks more suspicious than Nibali in my opinion, he can seemingly be in shocking form for a couple of stages, then bounce back incredibly. In his team too, and he doesn't get what Froome gets.
I think there is a lot of 'we don't like you Brits coming over here and dominating our bike race!'.
Fignon's Ponytail
Well-known member
I'll probably get slated for this, but in a perverse way I wish the result had stood yesterday - and they hadn't reversed the decision for the yellow.
I've never been a huge fan of Team SKY or Chris Froome I will admit, BUT - I would've loved to have seen his reaction out on the road the next 8 days had he slipped to 6th yesterday. The likes of Quintana etc. would've been in panic mode every time he went to the front. Froome is so unpredictable (& an absolute beast when he puts the hammer down), so the way he doesn't give a damn when or where he attacks has to be admired....its much the same attitude as Hinault used to have.
That said, I can just as easily see him continue to do it from the front as well - just to stick 2 fingers up at the rest of them!
I've never been a huge fan of Team SKY or Chris Froome I will admit, BUT - I would've loved to have seen his reaction out on the road the next 8 days had he slipped to 6th yesterday. The likes of Quintana etc. would've been in panic mode every time he went to the front. Froome is so unpredictable (& an absolute beast when he puts the hammer down), so the way he doesn't give a damn when or where he attacks has to be admired....its much the same attitude as Hinault used to have.
That said, I can just as easily see him continue to do it from the front as well - just to stick 2 fingers up at the rest of them!
Fignon's Ponytail
Well-known member
Just seen that Gerrans has abandoned due to a broken collarbone sustained in his crash yesterday (still finished the stage though before realising!) & Thibaut Pinot has also called it a day because of bronchitis....massively disappointing Tour for the Frenchman, despite having the polka dot for a few days.
Bold Seagull
strong and stable with me, or...
Spartacus got to be worth a little e/w bet today as a last hurrah?
The history of doping?
Indurain's Lungs
Legend of Garry Nelson
Sort of. The French are really pissed off that they got cleaned up after 98 (Festina scandal) and doping became a criminal offence in France a while after. Meanwhile, Lance, Italians, Spaniards were living it up off EPO, HGH, testosterone and the like.
They have a point really but now I don't think there are any excuses, the playing field is (more or less) level for most.
Seagull58
In the Algarve
We certainly hope so because it would be massively disappointing if it wasn't. However, the IAAF situation with the Russians, in particular, shows that doping is far, far from beaten.
Bold Seagull
strong and stable with me, or...
We don't need the Russians to know that doping is still a massive problem. It's across most sports, and the governing bodies just don't take it seriously enough.
Indurain's Lungs
Legend of Garry Nelson
Notice I said "level" not "clean"!!
The Russian situation is obviously huge but they have made little impact on cycling recently, probably because they were less able to do it. Cycling now has the most rigorous testing and it isn't only done by the national agencies. Cycling is slightly unusual in that there may be 60-100 days of competition each year, usually outside of your home nation and, therefore, conducted by other agencies. State sponsored campaigns tend to work best when you only compete a few days a year.