Wiggens vs Frooome on News 24

[ERNIE-BOY]

The most boring TDF in ages.

[Wyatt Earp]

There was an article on News 24 this morning. Chris Froomes chick claims that it is a disgrace that CF was given orders to back off when he had BW by the nuts in the mountains. He could have ridden BW off his wheel but was instructed to back off . BW wife claims it was the right thing to do. It however begs the question.... did the best rider win Le Tour.

I suppose the team pays tthe salaries, so they call the shots. I remember the one year that Doper Armstrong won the tour they made the claim that any member of his team was good enough to have won. Team orders however dictated that Doper would win.

 

I don't think she understands the fine line between being a chick (for only seven months) or his wife.

This crap has now been flogged to death, a dude who wasn't even sure of his spot on the TDF squad stood on the podium in Paris.

[Karooryder]

[TiBones]

A bit long but a good precis of the issue:

 

From Velonation:

 

Hours, maybe even a day or two before Thursday’s stage 17 finale ever played out on the road, the scenario that unfolded had likely been foreseen, discussed, and decided on, either in the Sky hotel, the team bus, or over the radio.

The race was in the final, gasping kilometers of this last mountain stage, ascending the 5.1-percent ramps to the Peyragudes ski station. Cadel Evans, the defending champion already sunk by stomach issues the day before, was dropped. Vincenzo Nibali, the only man who could truly threaten Sky’s one-two hold on GC, had been brought to heel. A lone breakaway, the not-what-he-used-to-be Alejandro Valverde, was still within reach of the yellow jersey group. It was the perfect opportunity for Chris Froome to nip away for a second stage win, a personal reward for the yeoman’s work he had done for Bradley Wiggins over two mountain ranges, yet notably leaving Froome too little road to threaten his leader’s overall advantage.

That Froome — seemingly ravenous for victories — did not leap away gives some insight into what Sky’s closed door decision was. But Froome, who has remained grudgingly loyal to Wiggins despite being heralded by many as the strongest GC man in the race, did not go quietly. He surged ahead in the closing kilometer, every bit the dog straining at his leash. After ripping a small gap, he looked back to Wiggins, apparently but not overtly taunting him before laying off and picking the yellow jersey up again. The message was clear: “I will do what I am paid to do, but look what I could do if I didn’t.”

As this Tour has from early on, the awkward closing to the Pyrénées begged the question of what’s next for Chris Froome. Following his breakout performance in the 2011 Vuelta, where he overhauled Wiggins to finish second, Froome re-upped with Sky for another three years, ostensibly locking him down through the 2014 season. Now, that commitment looks less secure.

Froome has said that he would like to have leadership of the Sky team if a more mountainous 2013 Tour route favors his strengths over Wiggins’. Barring injury or other catastrophic change to Wiggins’ form, that will not happen, regardless of the route. Wiggins is and always has been the team’s darling, its marquis rider. The current yellow jersey is as already a British Olympic hero, a Commander of the British Empire, an avowed Mod as comfortable being wrapped in the Union Jack as Pete Townshend. For a British team backed by the nation’s cycling federation, it doesn’t get much more ideal. Should Wiggins return to the Tour as defending champion and not receive the full and unquestioned support of his team, there will be a national outcry.

Froome might be stronger than Wiggins this year, and he may be stronger next year, too. But as a born-in-Kenya, raised-in-South Africa rider whose British citizenship and racing license are reflective of his father’s country of birth, Froome will never be management’s preferred choice if both men are within reach of the victory. In professional cycling, being the more marketable rider is sometimes more important than being the stronger one. Sky may be able to pacify Froome with a Giro or Vuelta arrangement, but if both men are on the Tour’s start line for Sky next year, the most Froome can hope for is to inherit leadership on the road.

Or, he could leave. Despite his contractual status, Froome will almost certainly be receiving overtures after the Tour if he isn’t already. And after prying Wiggins from his Garmin contract with a golden crowbar, Sky boss Dave Brailsford will have little room to complain publicly about the tactic. But Froome’s freedom faces several hurdles.

The first will be Sky’s willingness to let Froome go. On sporting grounds, keeping Froome against his will is a mixed bag. On one hand, while Froome fulfilled his duties in the face of temptation during this Tour; he’s clearly unhappy with some aspects of his role and hungry to see what he can do in a leadership position. Whether he’ll remain as loyal in the future is a serious consideration. And even if he commits no outright betrayal, disgruntled employees can be unmotivated and dangerous for morale. However, if Sky does turn him loose, it would release the current number one threat to Wiggins’ title defense into the wild, though the return of Alberto Contador will alter that assessment somewhat. Unlike Contador, though, Froome is not just a physical threat, he’s an intelligence threat as well — he knows how Sky engineered its likely Tour victory from the inside, and will take that knowledge with him wherever he goes.

The second problem is finding a team that both needs and, more importantly, can afford him. The base salary Sky pays Froome is rumored to be considerable — nearly that of Wiggins. On top of that, Brailsford would likely demand a heavy buyout fee. However, other teams can offer him the one thing he wants that Sky cannot — outright leadership — and for that, he may be willing to take a pay cut.

At this point, it is way too early to know where Froome will ultimately end up should he leave Sky, but there could be a handful of likely suitors.

With presumptive Tour third place Vincenzo Nibali leaving at year’s end, Liquigas will be in need of a GC rider for the near term. If Froome reached a two or three year deal there, joining former Barloworld director Albert Volpi, it could see the 27-year-old through his prime years with a team that’s proven capable of supporting a top GC rider. It would also give the team’s rising star Peter Sagan the time and space to determine where he’ll ultimately direct his seemingly boundless talent.

Katusha stands out as a team with the financial might to potentially absorb Froome’s salary and buyout fee. The state-backed Russian team finally secured homegrown GC man Denis Menchov for this year, but he fizzled early in a Tour that should have suited him and, at 34, likely has only a few good years, if any, left. And with Joaquim Rodríguez already on the payroll, Katusha has proven open to foreign leadership and with his comments on Menchov this week to VeloNews, the team’s top director, Valerio Piva sounds as though he’s ready to move on from the Menchov experiment.

Orica-GreenEdge, another nationally-oriented squad with relatively deep pockets, has a host of up-and-coming Australian talent, but could be interested in Froome if it wants to make a more immediate impact on grand tour GC. Though he’s not Australian, going to another Anglo-oriented team might make an easier fit and ease the transition from Sky. Orica would offer familiar surroundings to Froome, as a number of his former Barloworld and Sky teammates, including South African Daryl Impey and Simon Gerrans, made the move to the first-year Australian squad for 2012.

Omega Pharma-Quick-Step has been on a perpetual hunt for a GC rider for what feels like decades, and with Levi Leipheimer coming to the end of an injury-marred one-year deal and an anonymous Tour performance, the team might be in the market again. Patrick Lefevre’s team is well funded, but not overly wealthy, and still has to keep Tom Boonen in the style to which he’s accustomed, both in terms of salary and support riders. And if the team found the interest and money to sign Froome, grand tour support would be a serious concern in a heavily classics-focused team.

Should Froome take a pay cut to move elsewhere, he’ll consider it an investment in himself — if he rides well, to the expectations he’s set this Tour, he’ll make his money back and more. Or, like any investment, it could go bad. The road is littered with super-domestiques that struck out on their own and never pulled off the grand tour win that once seemed within reach. As Wiggins himself has observed, Froome’s stellar performances have come when he is not under the intense media scrutiny of a favorite. They have also come as he’s had the riders, expertise, and resources of one of the world’s best funded and tightest run cycling teams behind him.

But once he’s in the glare of the spotlight, expected to carry a team, without Sky behind him and with the weight of Britain, Kenya, and maybe even Africa itself on his shoulders? Only then will we know what Chris Froome will do next.

Ryan Newill

[NielC]

They share the prize money equally so she should be happy...for a while...

[ERNIE-BOY]

Wiggins was outclimbed by Froome on two occations yes - but Froome signed a contract with sky to help wiggins through the mountains not to moan like a little bitch.

 

Have a look at the amount of races Wiggins have won this season - a LOT he's in good form ( and got tired on 2 ascent so too did Nibali etc.) the only other three riders that has the palmares of wiggins this year is Sagan.Tommeke,Rodriguez.

 

Froomedog will get his day....

Its like telling your wife to shut her face,,she has enough money to spend,,she dont need to worry about the other women in your life..lol

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Its like telling your wife to shut her face,,she has enough money to spend,,she dont need to worry about the other women in your life..lol

 

Erm, no. It's like telling your wife to stop jeopardizing your tour prospects by constantly bitching and moaning on one of the biggest social network platforms, when she has no idea how the internal structures work.

[Danger Dassie]

Erm, no. It's like telling your wife to stop jeopardizing your tour prospects by constantly bitching and moaning on one of the biggest social network platforms, when she has no idea how the internal structures work.

 

Seriously doubt that it endangers anything, other than people reading far too much into wag wars on Twitter.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Seriously doubt that it endangers anything, other than people reading far too much into wag wars on Twitter.

 

yeah. But it doesn't do any good for his (or her) reputation...

[FrancoisL]

I've been outspoken about the issue as well, but the way BW brought in MC yesterday with an obvious risk to his own first place shut me up. They all had a job to do and the SKY team have done it superbly well. That being said, Chris is probably too talented to stay - what about a BIG SPONSOR from the lotto, co-sponsor the belgium lotto team. We can call it lotto-e-lotto. Most of the SA girls are there already.

[Wyatt Earp]

Seriously doubt that it endangers anything, other than people reading far too much into wag wars on Twitter.

One has to wonder about her motives at times.

We also have to ask ourselves are the majority of the tweet to draw attention to herself, trying to secure her own future or not ?

We will never know and that is not for us to decide.

 

But here is the rub, to tweet exactly the opposite to what Froome portrayed is what got most people rubbed up the wrong way.

Had I been her, I would have kept my emotions to myself.

[ERNIE-BOY]

Erm, no. It's like telling your wife to stop jeopardizing your tour prospects by constantly bitching and moaning on one of the biggest social network platforms, when she has no idea how the internal structures work.

EEEr no...your not on the same page...Like I said...Its like telling your wife to shut her face,,,she has enough money to spend,,,no need to worry about the other wifes..

[Shebeen]

that's what passes for 'online' journalism these days - week old story hits the mainstream now that the tour finale is on frontpages.

 

http://www.sport24.co.za/OtherSport/TourdeFrance/TDF-WAG-war-on-Twitter-20120721

Chartres - Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome will share a glass of champagne during Sunday's final stage of the Tour de France to celebrate Britain's historic 1-2 in the most prestigious cycling race. Their better halves might not be up for it.

Wiggins's wife and Froome's girlfriend have been at the centre of a Twitter row that started after Stage 11 when Froome was told to wait for his leader in the ascent to the ski station of La Toussuire. That day, Froome was clearly the best but his Sky team's race strategy forced him to stay in his support role.

At the end of the stage, Froome's girlfriend, Michelle Cound, took to Twitter to express her disappointment at Sky's decision to fully back Wiggins in his bid to become the first British rider to win the Tour at the expense of her boyfriend.

"If you want loyalty, get a Froome dog... a quality I value... although being taken advantage of by others!" Cound wrote.

Catherine Wiggins was quick to respond, praising the great work of Wiggins's team-mates Mick Rogers and Richie Porte during that stage without mentioning Froome.

"See Mick Rogers and Richie Porte for examples of genuine, selfless effort and true professionalism," she wrote.

The tweet was immediately followed by another short message from Cound, who retweeted Wiggins's note with the comment"Typical!"

The dispute titillated a press room in search of drama in a race that offered nearly none but also attracted some riders' attention. British rider David Millar, who'll team up with Froome and Wiggins at the London Olympics, tweeted: "Oh SNAP! Sky have WAG WAR on Twitter. This (expletive) just got real."

Froome, tipped by many as a future Grand Tour winner, has been a loyal and dedicated team-mate to Wiggins but has sometimes expressed his frustrations and could not help showing his own strength in the mountains, making race followers wonder whether Sky was backing the right man on the road.

Their partners' sniping flared again this week in the Pyrenees when Froome had to stay with Wiggins in the climb to Peyragudes, letting another stage victory slip away for the sake of his boss.

"Suddenly not so in the mood for Paris on Sunday, what a joke," Cound wrote.

The South African photographer again expressed her disappointment following Friday's 18th stage won by Mark Cavendish after an impressive collective performance by Sky.

"Team work is also about giving the people around you, that support you, a chance to shine in their own right," Cound tweeted.

 

I think she has been reined in since it first started...just a bit. Otherwise nothing to see here really, move on.

[Wyatt Earp]

 

 

 

I think she has been reined in since it first started...just a bit. Otherwise nothing to see here really, move on.

 

At the end of the stage, Froome's girlfriend, Michelle Cound, took to Twitter to express her disappointment at Sky's decision to fully back Wiggins in his bid to become the first British rider to win the Tour at the expense of her boyfriend.

 

This little part here can be read as two-fold.

 

a)Sky are a bunch of knobs.

 

b)Chris is a soft c**k for following his bosses instructions.

 

So in light of this a little bit of reigning in was what the doc ordered.

[Wyatt Earp]

Forgot to add this.

 

Wiggins on his motorbike heading off to the pub.

 

http://x9f.xanga.com/1f4f65e330433273219504/m217866283.jpg

[Niner]

So if doping it cheating....because the "best" man does not win then....surely BW also "cheated" now as he is not the best man?

 

Is this tour about the BEST man to win or the best team? Why would SKY care if CF wins and not BW? THYE still win as team sky? Surely they should let the BEST man in their team win? Sky clearly chose the wrong person as the captain thinking that he is the best? Sky should kick BW of his "thorne" and select a new captain.