dracs

ja that was mind boggling! How stupid can people be - and sportsman and journo's in particular seem to keep putting both feet in it~!

semantics, but ja sure agree to disagree . i don't require him to commit himself to be an African first and something else second to identify with him and support him - but thats just me.

most of the guys were doing this in the tour of California this year - but just one change as the TT there finished on a big climb - so TT bike to the foot fo the climb, then quick change to a road bike with light wheels... about 10 or 15 seconds lost - apparently more than that gained ont he climb. But ja - 3 changes seems a bit much!

I agree. So many twitter hero - easy to throw things around that you wouldn't say to someone's face. Good on Hunter for calling Leon on it. Fact is he has always looked out for Daryl and played a big part in his career - so not surprised he would take some offense

Actually, when SA jorno's ask him or make jokes about him really being South African, he chuckles and points out that he is in fact British but comes here whenever he can etc. i.e he replies factually and diplomatically but not in any way that would contradict the fact that he has the Union flag next to his name when he is competing.

Ja and it was nice to see Purito try something at last... and katusha actually kicked it off on that climb

Mikkel Condé v2.0‏@mrconde4m Regarding bike changes. OPQS' Rolf Aldag tells Danish newspaper that Tony Martin will change bike 3 (!!) times during the time trial.

Not really. What else was he going to say - he rides for them in the olympics, is team leader for what is pretty much the uk flag carrying team, and was asked by a UK journalist. He is a product of Africa and comes here when he can - he pretty much is never in the UK. As you say - being African can be a state of mind and Froome has said before that once retired he will come back to Africa.

So, back to the race - seems there is a good chance of rain for the late starters - this could really mix things up a bit as there are 2 technical decents... Good for Contador I'd say.

Funny - someone expresses true feelings and he's a whinger! I would like to see more riders taking down the filter and say what they think! Guarantee there is no real bad blood between the 2 of them - they have both shown they have great respect for each other. And its not like Contador will take less risks now anyway - which is a good thing...

According to Vaughters... his team (Garmin) is no. 11, the top 6 as follows: Jonathan Vaughters‏@Vaughters9h @AndyElche @lucaseuser 1.Katisha 2. BMC. 3. Sky. 4. Astana. 5. Omega. 6. RSNt. With minimal differences. Differences become big after #6 And the part that follows is interesting. Vaughters quite often talks about missing out on Froome - he made a BIG play for him and at that point he had only shown glimpses of what he could do in the Vuelta (Sky re-signed him just before the end of the 2011 Vuelta) - Froome was talking to Garmin and other teams before and during as Sky had not sommitted to him. AndyR‏@AndyElche9h @Vaughters @lucaseuser thank you..do you consider your budget enough to develop your ideas/talent to the max..seems to be! Jonathan Vaughters‏@Vaughters9h @AndyElche @lucaseuser no!!! If my budget were a bit bigger, Froome would be under contract w me. Lost that bid in 2011

because Sky's current policy is the same as pretty much all the other WT teams - including Garmin. They selectively release data to the public. What you should be asking is why didn't Bikepure request require their other memebers to do the same as they insisted from Froome.

I'm calling it Albasini's if the break surivives. the dude has been strong - and he's the one OGE guy to miss out on yellow (was = time with gerrans and Impey)...

"We know that Tuesday's a hard stage. We've been here before and it blew to pieces at the start in the cross-winds and there's some hard climbs"... Wonder what the wind is doing today? I reckon this is the only way Froome could lose much time in the rest of the tour - the other teams need to attack him on the flats (before the climbs) - and some wind will help...

told you

Not sure what more the guy can do - he engages everyone who asks him the same questions day and and day out, his team principal has now offered a viable option to prove his innocence (something that he shouldn't have to do), many insiders previously considered to be at the forefront of anti-doping have confirmed they believe the guys is clean or at least have no reason to believe he is not (including Le Mond, Walsh, Miller etc etc), yet twitter and forum "experts" (such as those above) who know better are CERTAIN he is not for real.. Agh anyway - I am wasting no more energy on this. I just feel for the guy - this should be his moment in the sun and it is being kakked on by so many people "better" than him. If he doped then this will come out one day - for now I give him all the kudo's I can.

thank you and yes I agree - quite obviously weight is a factor in climbs and not really in (flat) time trials. I don't think I said otherwise... Anyway, at the risk of flogging a very dead horse, for a given weight and aero profile, having an exceptional ability to sustain power on a climb will improve your ability to sustain power on a TT. This is why the top GC riders tend to also be in the top 3 or 4 TT'ers... Froome is the rule in this regard, not the exception...

Sure - and I mentioned the 2 year's that times were from ITT's for that reason... Quite a few other faster from other races where timing was available though... Your list took only the most recent 3 tours thereby excluding for example Pantani's 57.34...

Interesting selective list. Heres the full list. 04 and 99 were ITT's and not all times are listed as no data available for various Dauphines... NEW TOP 50 1. 2004: 55:51 Iban Mayo 23.10 km/h 2. 2004: 56:26 Tyler Hamilton 22.86 km/h 3. 1999: 56:50 Jonathan Vaughters 22.70 km/h 4. 2004: 56:54 Oscar Sevilla 22.67 km/h 5. 1999: 57:33 Alexander Vinokourov 22.42 km/h 6. 1994: 57:34 Marco Pantani 22.41 km/h 7. 1999: 57:34 Wladimir Belli 22.41 km/h 8. 2004: 57:39 Juan Miguel Mercado 22.38 km/h 9. 1999: 57:42 Joseba Beloki 22.36 km/h 10. 2004: 57:49 Lance Armstrong 22.31 km/h 11. 1999: 57:52 Lance Armstrong 22.29 km/h 12. 2004: 58:14 Inigo Landaluze 22.15 km/h 13. 1999: 58:15 Kevin Livingston 22.15 km/h 14. 1999: 58:31 David Moncoutie 22.05 km/h 15. 2004: 58:35 José Enrique Gutierrez 22.02 km/h 16. 2009: 58:45 Andy Schleck 21.96 km/h 17. 2009: 58:45 Alberto Contador 21.96 km/h 18. 2009: 58:48 Lance Armstrong 21.94 km/h 19. 2009: 58:50 Fränk Schleck 21.93 km/h 20. 1999: 58:51 Unai Osa 21.92 km/h 21. 2009: 58:53 Roman Kreuziger 21.91 km/h 22. 2002: 59:00 Lance Armstrong 21.86 km/h 23. 2013: 59:00 Chris Froome 21.86 km/h 24. 1994: 59:02 Richard Virenque 21.85 km/h 25. 1994: 59:02 Armand De Las Cuevas 21.85 km/h 26. 1994: 59:02 Luc Leblanc 21.85 km/h 27. 1994: 59:02 Miguel Indurain 21.85 km/h 28. 1994: 59:02 Roberto Conti 21.85 km/h 29. 2009: 59:03 Franco Pellizotti 21.85 km/h 30. 2000: 59:05 Marco Pantani 21.83 km/h 31. 2000: 59:05 Lance Armstrong 21.83 km/h 32. 2009: 59:05 Vincenzo Nibali 21.83 km/h 33. 1994: 59:07 Pascal Lino 21.82 km/h 34. 1999: 59:08 Tyler Hamilton 21.82 km/h 35. 1999: 59:08 Roberto Laiseka 21.82 km/h 36. 2009: 59:10 Bradley Wiggins 21.80 km/h 37. 2004: 59:12 Levi Leipheimer 21.79 km/h 38. 2004: 59:24 Michael Rasmussen 21.72 km/h 39. 2004: 59:27 Stéphane Goubert 21.70 km/h 40. 2013: 59:29 Nairo Quintana 21.69 km/h 41. 2000: 59:30 Joseba Beloki 21.68 km/h 42. 2000: 59:34 Jan Ullrich 21.66 km/h 43. 1999: 59:35 Txema Del Olmo 21.65 km/h 44. 1999: 59:43 Kurt van de Wouwer 21.60 km/h 45. 2009: 59:46 Jurgen Van Den Broeck 21.58 km/h 46. 2004: 59:47 Oscar Pereiro 21.58 km/h 47. 2006: 59:47 Denis Menchov 21.58 km/h 48. 2006: 59:47 Christophe Moreau 21.58 km/h 49. 2009: 59:49 Andreas Klöden 21.57 km/h 50. 2004: 59:50 David Moncoutie 21.56 km/h http://climbing-records.blogspot.com/2013/07/mont-ventoux-2013-two-new-entries-in.html

wow patronise much? Interesting that you conclude that. What part of my posts above suggest I don't understand the difference? And please do tell me how the power you need to overcome one is different to the power you need to overcome the other? So I'm pretty sure the one is measured in Watts - what is this other "power" measured in? Froome is not a heavy weight and also not particulalry a light weight. This means he is typical of most successful GC riders through the years (if a little more ungainly than most). As for TT - he has always been strong but no doubt this year he has significantly improved his position on the bike.

Umm, yes exactly what you said there. "a good TT can lose weight and become a good climber." Are you suggesting that this statement did not apply to Froome?

Come on now you are misrepresenting my point! With equal air resistance on a flat road Greipel will beat Froome over 10 seconds 100 times out of a hundred. On the same flat (airless) road Froome will beat Greipel 100 times out of a hundred over 1 hour (or 20 minutes). The same would apply if the road had an 8 degree tilt even with Froome's substantial weight advantage on Greipel - over 10 seconds Grepel will slaughter him. They have and train for completely different power profiles. Power to weight or power to air and road resistance - power is still power. Froome has it and can sustain it.

On the TT and climbing thing - power is power - whether up a hill or on the flat. Froom is about the 4th best TT'er in the world on flat roads (you all know who the best 3 are). Thats about right for a guy who is currently the best GC rider in the world by some margin.

I think thats unfair. I read the full transcript of the interview. Brailsford was imploring the media to tell him what they needed to do to prove Froome and the team's innocence and this was what he suggested. His suggestion, if WADA could accommodate, is the only real solution. This would be an enhancement of the biological passport in that we would be additng power, wieght, teaning and other data to blood profiles. To suggest this data should be made public is naive - no teams do this - including Garmin.

Froome's own words make it clear that he would consider what you suggest cheating. The guy is not an idiot - he knows that his legacy would be destroyed if he is using something unknown or undetectable now that is likely to become illegal 5 10 or even 50 years down the line. No reasonable person would expect any Sky conspiracy to stay under-wraps forever - esp after recent US Postal and other unravellings. Come on - its logical - and you are a logical guy.