Regarding Froomey, it's worth bearing in mind that he's been as sick as a dog on and off for two years, until this year they finally diagnosed his obscure tropical ailment and fixed it: also he has a history within Sky of producing top-notch results in the lab, but not always being able to reproduce those watts out on the road.
He was also (if he and his fans will forgive me saying so, like a back-seat DS) a bit lacking in tactical experience, and during the Giro it was often reported (by the two of them) that Bradley Wiggins would be advising him on when to go, when to hold back, etc, with really good results.
So now that he's back to full health and being consistently good out there, I think that we all know that he's likely to be a really, really good rider in the next couple of years.
I think (not that I know these things) that Sky are going to send him to the Giro, possibly as team leader, to see how he gets on: at the beginning of the Tour, I had doubts about how he would bear up under the pressure, but I really need not have worried, he's been fantastic, and if you have listened to any of the post-race interviews, he's been consistently calm, modest, and has stuck to the "party line" that this Tour is for Bradley, and yes, he would love to win the Tour himself, and he hopes that he will, but not this year.
Although of course if anything dreadful happens to Bradley during the TT today, or the cruise tomorrow, we'd all be happy to see him on that top step of the podium...
He has a long contract with Sky, and (a little like Uncle Bjarne and Contador) Sky have stood by him through his illness, so I have every confidence that he will stay with Sky to repay their faith.
Also, he's only 27, against Bradley's 33 or so, which means that he may well be being groomed to take over as Sky's main man.
Finally, going back to the pressure of winning business, there is a huge difference between being the GC man, and being second: it's so good that Froome took a stage earlier in the race, and had a chance to experience the pressure of podium, interviews, doping control, more interviews, no cooling down, delayed massage, more interviews etc. It will be interesting to see how he gets on at the Giro.
So, is it all over? Is is really the Snore de France this year? Most of the news reports seem to say that the jerseys have now been settled, and the TT today won't make any major changes to the GC, barring accidents and dogs running out into the road.
Cor, talking of which, did you see that? The enormous black dog (described by other riders as being "as big as a pony", huh, slight exaggeration) that took Gilbert out yesterday. Lovely picture of Gilbert remonstrating with its owners, here it is:
In the report, Gilbert, bless him, said "I wanted to hit them." And we can easily understand why, as this stupid family let their large dog just run around loose - during a cycle race! Are they mad? Have they never seen a cycle race?
I'm pretty sure the dog is a Newfoundland :) Lovely, shaggy thing.
ReplyDeletePhilippe and every rider involved in that crash had a right to be angry; dogs are excitable, add to that a peloton rushing past, new people and surroundings, and most dogs will go bounding off on their own. That said, picture depicting a little girl looking terrified, and her parents shamefaced, with angry cyclist vociferating--not exactly one for the photo album. Apparently, if he had persisted in telling them off, he would have been automatically disqualified from the race.
Aside: Hello shaggy doggy. I like you, I'm sorry your people have no common sense. But who's a handsome dog?
Re: Frank. I hadn't even considered the possibility that a spectator might have handed him tainted water. Oh, that's just dark, but the twisted whims of humanity no longer surprise me. I don't know Coug, I'm more concerned about the psychological toll this might be taking. I think Frank, more than Andy, is the more intense of the the two, and takes things to heart, so I'm hoping the family is keeping him buoyed up.
On a much happier note--Congratulations to Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky!
It looks like good weather for Andy's teacher in France. 'Walking for Andy' is a nice story and a monumental effort. There is an old saying [Kipling] 'He travels fastest who travels alone'.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.walking4andy.lu/
Andy's teacher has ventured out alone, showing courage, persistence and determination. I say 'alone' - over 7000 people have checked his website to see how he is getting on... "29 km an 5 Stonnen an 45 Minutten". Impressive.
It was bad to see the Brothers scheduled to race on their own this year, and even sadder to think that recent events may conspire to separate the Brothers still further - especially when it was obvious to everyone that they could determine their success by working together. Let's hope when they feel the time is right, they will be able to take direction into their own hands.
In the meantime, I'll be seeing how Andy's teacher is getting along.