The Froome Dawg Thread

[love2fly]

7 minutes ago, Wyatt Earp said:

I write it down to a good old S.A. personality trait, where people simply can’t be happy for others that do well.

 

I remember building a loan bike for him when he was 15, 2 nights before he left for Kenya to go and do a race.

A total nobody, but he went nonetheless and won, beating David Kinjah in that race.

From there he stayed hungry with an unquenchable hunger.

 

I was privileged enough to have him work in my store over school holidays, it was very evident that he had the highest of respect for anyone and everyone.

 

A humility that most can only dream of, accompanied with a serious training regime and moral ethics.

He didn’t rise to the top by luck or favor.

He earned every second of his success.

I doubt many will ride their first Tour De France as a last minute pick, start Alpe D’heuz alongside Denis Menchov, sitting in the top 10 at the start of that 13.9 km monster, and still come out the other side alive to tell the tale.

I interrupted his post/mid ride brekkie one morning at Bidon to ask for a selfie and he even insisted on standing up and his mate took the pic. I was struck by his humility and the fact that he's just a cyclist like all of us....I wonder how my request would have fared with one of the Spanish, French, Italian or S American primadonnas....

[Shebeen]

7 minutes ago, Wyatt Earp said:

I write it down to a good old S.A. personality trait, where people simply can’t be happy for others that do well.

 

I remember building a loan bike for him when he was 15, 2 nights before he left for Kenya to go and do a race.

A total nobody, but he went nonetheless and won, beating David Kinjah in that race.

From there he stayed hungry with an unquenchable hunger.

 

I was privileged enough to have him work in my store over school holidays, it was very evident that he had the highest of respect for anyone and everyone.

 

A humility that most can only dream of, accompanied with a serious training regime and moral ethics.

He didn’t rise to the top by luck or favor.

He earned every second of his success.

I doubt many will ride their first Tour De France as a last minute pick, start Alpe D’heuz alongside Denis Menchov, sitting in the top 10 at the start of that 13.9 km monster, and still come out the other side alive to tell the tale.

or as the aussies call it Tall Poppy Syndrome.

I don't think he's actually claimed as ZAF by many.  He's pretty much universally derided, no one threw urine at Bernal. Wiggo got a knighthood on his first tour win even though it we'll never know if team orders kept Froome behind winning himself. Froome did get an OBE after his second win.

[J Wakefield]

On 6/6/2023 at 7:08 PM, Wyatt Earp said:

Love the condescending posts about sending him out to pasture from the peanut gallery who couldn’t win a stage at Tour of Brakpan.

In fairness he has as much chance of winning or placing in a race as they do winning Tour of Brakpan. 

[Wyatt Earp]

1 hour ago, J Wakefield said:

In fairness he has as much chance of winning or placing in a race as they do winning Tour of Brakpan. 

Because unlike any of us he has aged.

I get that Klipdrift makes South Africans feel invincible, but in the end of the day, we aren’t machines.

 

But I digress, he still has more wins behind him than most Brakpanner’s have kids with their sisters, and that’s no easy task.

Edited June 8, 2023 by Wyatt Earp

[SwissVan]

2 hours ago, J Wakefield said:

In fairness he has as much chance of winning or placing in a race as they do winning Tour of Brakpan. 

Its not about winning.... the responses hinge around the  "time to put the old man out to pasture" comment.  Which imo was a bit harsh.

I know you know this, however for the rest of us....There can be only one winner, TDF has +/- 198 riders of which less than 10 of them have a realistic chance of placing on the GC podium. 

One step at a time....First he has to get selected for the TDF team

Go Vroomie

 

[peepeekaitjie]

31 minutes ago, SwissVan said:

TDF has +/- 198 riders

this year there are only 2

[J Wakefield]

3 hours ago, Wyatt Earp said:

Because unlike any of us he has aged.

I get that Klipdrift makes South Africans feel invincible, but in the end of the day, we aren’t machines.

 

But I digress, he still has more wins behind him than most Brakpanner’s have kids with their sisters, and that’s no easy task.

No one ages in jhb when you see behind the scenes you would think they race a category lower each year in some cases. 
 

sure he has an incredible career, no one like him or dislike him can ever argue, but that was then, this is now. 
 

[Wyatt Earp]

1 hour ago, J Wakefield said:

No one ages in jhb when you see behind the scenes you would think they race a category lower each year in some cases. 
 

sure he has an incredible career, no one like him or dislike him can ever argue, but that was then, this is now. 
 

Good doctors, and then those same guys who see the doctors become supposed and vehement anti-doping crusaders.

As for Froome, his expectations of himself is far lower than that of the entitled public.

[Wyatt Earp]

2 hours ago, SwissVan said:

Its not about winning.... the responses hinge around the  "time to put the old man out to pasture" comment.  Which imo was a bit harsh.

I know you know this, however for the rest of us....There can be only one winner, TDF has +/- 198 riders of which less than 10 of them have a realistic chance of placing on the GC podium. 

One step at a time....First he has to get selected for the TDF team

Go Vroomie

 

Let’s he honest Swiss

The hub has always been like the Lenasia drag championships.

The cars with the loudest engines are always the slowest.

But yeah, I don’t see Froome making claims about winning races, it’s the suburb kermesse gold medalists who want it.

 

[EddieV]

.... to me, most of Froome's success could possibly be explained away as team work and his own complete commitment to the sport until the Queen stage of the 2018 Giro D'Italia. 

I lost all interest in him after that victory.
 

['Dale]

Who can forget that dramatic day, hey

Edited June 11, 2023 by 'Dale

[splat]

This was briefly discussed in the TdF thread.
Any comments on this ?

I am surprised that selection would be based on performance during events, rather than general performance or possibly specific tests.

https://road.cc/content/news/chris-froome-let-down-tour-de-france-snub-302523

I had forgotten about Gary Blem - still wrenching !

[love2fly]

On 6/8/2023 at 12:43 PM, EddieV said:

.... to me, most of Froome's success could possibly be explained away as team work and his own complete commitment to the sport until the Queen stage of the 2018 Giro D'Italia. 

I lost all interest in him after that victory.
 

Why would that be? Ran into him at Bidon one morning, what a down to earth humble guy.

[Nick]

Great career but he's talking about team selection now, right?

The equipment rants are puzzling. The others are performing on the same equipment. Michael Woods certainly didn't care on Sunday.

Or is this stuff only happening to him? If it's just bad luck, then why complain so much? Slow wheel changes, slipped saddles, bent handles bars, rubbing discs, racing schedule. Looking at them altogether, it sounds like a whinge about the team. All issues that point fingers at people's tasks on the team.

https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/christopher-froome/2023

[OVERDRIVE]

Well. 

Chris Froome 'absolutely not' worth multi-million euro salary says his team boss | Cycling Weekly

Edited July 13, 2023 by OVERDRIVE

[Shebeen]

On 6/8/2023 at 12:43 PM, EddieV said:

.... to me, most of Froome's success could possibly be explained away as team work and his own complete commitment to the sport until the Queen stage of the 2018 Giro D'Italia. 

I lost all interest in him after that victory.
 

Disagree, sure Skyborgs bossed the peleton but he had to finish the job. He was dominant for a few years.

If you're really going to tarnish his legacy then look at how almost everyone from that generation has been overtaken by youngsters.