MyTi

It would appear that Froome is riding for Geraint Thomas? I don't understand what is going on, or is this part of the strategy for Froome to win. I just tuned in to the hill stages and it appears that Sky is riding for Thomas instead of Froome. Can Thomas time trial as good as Froome or is the time trial stage where Froome gets yellow?

gpsblake

It's interesting, I think it was Greg LeMond who had to fight off his own teammate at one time. And Thomas is a very good time trialist winning the British Time Trail championships.

I did find it a shame that the French were booing Thomas. I can see booing Froome but I guess Thomas is guilty by association.

Flip Flop Rider

Thomas said after the finish that he was still riding for Froome, now whether that is true or not we will see. Froome could have attacked when Bardet went but he could not

in the Lemond/Hinault battle, Lemond thought that Hinault was trying to win his 6th Tour, and Hinault constantly said that he was riding for Lemond, but everyone questioned that (even though Lemond did win). There is a book about it called "Slaying the Badger: Greg Lemond and Bernard Hinault, and the greatest Tour de France". It's a great read and really helps in understanding tactics in the tour

Flip Flop Rider

Froome and Thomas, both from the UK. The crowd wanted to see either the Dutch rider or Bardet win

patrickgm60

No, Froome is riding for Froome. Obvious in Stage 12, chasing down GT, dragging other GC contenders behind him. Very un-teamish.

markjenn

Sky is so dominant that they can typically get both Froome and Thomas into the final group on mountain stages, so there is no need for either to ride for the other or choose who is the "lead" rider; they can get both of them out front near the end and then just let them attack each other if they choose. It's a dream scenario for Sky. They do need for Froome to get some separation from a couple of riders, but that will come in the next mountain stage.

It is painfully obvious no other team has the strength to contend for the GC. So other teams will be left to fight over stage wins and getting in breakaways. While I would prefer to have someone from a non-Sky team contending, at least this way we might get at least an intra-squad battle for the top GC spot.

- Mark

hobbs1951

Froome was born in Africa, and came to the UK in 2007 - his adoption of British nationality was a pragmatic one. Is not unfair to expect the Dutch to have wanted a Dutchman to win on the Alpe, nor should it be a surprise that they'd prefer Bardet to either Thomas or Froome.

For obvious reasons.

The situation that now exists is an interesting one, if Sky's strategy is for a Froome win, then how are they going to deal with Thomas's time advantage when clearly Thomas has the form he has ?

If you were Thomas and confident that you could win in Paris would you follow team orders ? Team Sky care little for the well being of cycling, yet Thomas may - who knows ?

I'm not a Team Sky fan.

John.

Caretaker

I don't think Froome is riding for Geraint Thomas, they are riding for themselves while not assisting other GC threats like Dumoulin. Sky (Kwiatowski & Co) are for F&T then they both do their thing individually. No Thomas isn't as good as Froome or Dumoulin at TTing but the TT is still a way off.

McBTC

Looked like GT only edged out the pack to claim the yellow jersey because Froome was right there too.

Caretaker

He had the yellow jersey in the bag on Stage 11 once GvA was dropped early on and Stevan Kruijswijk was caught on the final climb. That he was leading on GC after Stage 11 had nothing to do with Froome who was trailing GT by 00'59" from Stage 10. The only way Dumoulin would have taken yellow would have been if he had finished over 01'20" ahead of GT.

bikecrate

It looked like Froome was fading a bit at the end of the Alpe d' Huez climb and GT had the legs over everyone. I could almost see there being a ITT battle between Froome and GT.

Thought puzzle...what would happen if Froome had a mechanical with no other team support than GT? Would he be ordered to give his wheel or bike to Froome or would Sky allow him to keep riding to protect his jersey? Hummmm?

Caretaker

No, either of them having a mechanical would have to wait for the team/neutral car.

diphthong

thomas is just as competent in the penultimate stage tt as froomie-if not more so currently. unless one of them has un jour sans between now and then, that will be their mano y mano
battle for the maillot jaune. my bet is on thomas. still many difficult stages and scenarios between now & then. if thomas gets through the pyrenees ahead, even or slightly behind froomie,
i think he dropes the hamer (my apologies to the road forum) ftw.

diphthong

as for great britain to come from nowhere to being the biggest player in track and road cycling in the last decade says something. akin to the chinese
swimmers in the same time frame. not expecting it to end well. twere i the queen, i wouldn't be so hot to trot on knighting cyclists...

MyTi

Pemetic2006

CerveloJoe

I agree that Froome and Thomas are both riding for themselves at the moment. I also feel they will until the end unless one has a bad day and loses fairly significant time. If that occurs, then the rider who loses time will work for the other I'm sure. I believe it's actually advantageous for Sky to have both riders in contention.

toast3d

If Froome wins the tour, he's going to be as hated as Lance.

McBTC

Now there's talk of Nibali suing the tour... I guess for lack of crowd control, given he's out of the race because a fan's camera strap took him down on Alpe d'Huez a couple of days ago. No one mentioned LA being yanked off his bike-- I guess it was the drugs and not the straps on the woman's musette bag that was at fault...

Marcus_Ti

I'm not sure what anyone ASO or not could do on the Alpe. You'd need police interlocking arms to stop them. Which, on a 13.8km mountain means you'd need about 20,000 police thereabouts. Which, isn't realistic or attainable.

Lunatics will always get through...what the police should do is arrest anyone who lights up a road flare. That crap needs to stop.

scott967

It would really suck to have to ride through one of those effing smoke flares.

scott s.
.

colombo357

Froome is in a low pressure situation. He can basically noodle his way to the podium at this point (relatively speaking).

Or, when Dumoulin attacks, Froome can chase down Dumoulin and counterattack. If GT is able to keep up, great. If not, Froome will be in yellow.

Froome will win the Stage 20 ITT.

patrickgm60

What's the TdF rule on that? It seems that team leaders borrow team mates' bikes in a crash, yet I recall a rider being sanctioned for this recently. What am I misremembering/confusing?

gpsblake

Thomas now a slight favorite over Froome for the win. Thomas is 6/5, Froome is 6/4

Caretaker

You're asking me????