DLBroox

Ah, got it! Too bad though. He was great in the Tour.

gpsblake

I'm mixed... I don't know if I hate Sky's tactics or love them. But they work, no other team can equal what they are doing right now or they would do the same.

The days of superman efforts where GC contenders would gain many minutes in the mountains are over. That high cadence of Froome's in the mountain is a sight to see.

San Pedro

From cyclingnews article:
"Pretty much every day is a GC day. In the Tour, there were only three mountain-top finishes, which means there's very little room for error there," Froome said. "If you get one of those wrong, like I did at Peyragudes when I lost the yellow jersey, that makes you think that with time trialling as my forte, I'd rather just focus on the time trials and play it safe on the climbs. I wasn't willing to put everything in and risk losing everything."

The Vuelta, with so many summit finishes and so many climbs, is a different story. "I can afford to gamble a little bit, give a bit of a go one day and if it doesn't work out, then I'll do things differently tomorrow," Froome said.

"The Tour was my main focus of the season, to win it. If that meant playing things safe on a daily basis, making sure I was always at the sharp end but never absolutely emptying myself on any one of those days to win a stage, then obviously that was the way to play it. Here at the Vuelta, there's more space to gamble and with 3,500 kilometres in my legs and a good 2,000 kilometres of training afterwards, I've certainly got a bigger base coming into the Vuelta and I'm feeling more confident on the climbs."

Interesting. I'm starting to understand why I read a lot of people prefer the Vuelta to the Tour.

He also had some out of touch opinions, at least to me, when asked about the Team Sky financial advantage.

Maelochs

On the broadcast today they said Sky and BMC have €25 million-€30 million budgets ... about twice what the smallest Pro Tour teams can muster. Eighty percent to rider salaries.

Yeah, no reason to think Sky has a stronger team because of its budget ..... sure ...

MinnMan

I could only find 2016 numbers

Which Tour de France team has the largest budget? - Cycling Weekly

What I take from these numbers is that Sky has a financial advantage, but that it is not that large compared to the other rich teams (BMC, Katusha). So their dominance is partly owing to money (e.g., it's clear why they cream those teams with a budget 1/3 of their, such as Trek-Segafredo) but not only so. If it were just money, then BMC should be competing pretty well against Sky at least part of the time, but Sky just dominates.

Caretaker

Stage 10

Great descent by Nicolas Roche (BMC) to gain almost half a minute on the GC guys. It's rarely you see Nibali losing time to a rival on a long technical descent like that.

dstrong 

Loved those overhead shots of the last descent.

DLBroox

Until this race I haven't minded Sky's domination that much but now I think they just control so much of the race they make it boring. I'm over them. I find myself not so much rooting against Froome as much as pulling for anyone but him when they make a move.

Maelochs

Well, yeah ... the GC race is not that tight in reality even though it is kind of close on paper. So I watch for other things. Nibali really disappointed me today ... but his descending has been suffering for a couple seasons, I think. Nico Roche's descent would have made up for it ... had the camera crews noticed that the number three rider was making a run. Hello!! Anyone awake in the booth?

Great watching the break break up and reform and I love watching the climbing--though this time I was just back from as ride and my legs felt terrible so I wasn't enjoying it like normal---when I saw the riders working hard, my legs seemed to hurt more.

There will still be plenty of good racing in this year's Vuelta. I don't see all the other teams cooperating to burn out Sky---they could, but they won't. Therefore, Froome will lawyas be that little bit fresher on the final climb of each stage, and will keep the jersey.

But hey ... he has also done his own riding and showed his strength. Not his fault if he just happens to be a phenomenal rider right now, while Contador and Nibali are a little past prime and Barguil and Aru etc aren't quite ready yet.

Not Sky's fault that the other teams don't trust one another enough to cooperate against Sky. Not Sky's fault that its riders seem to be willing to go all-out for nothing .... no recognition, no fame, no bigger role in the team. Sky's domestiques must enjoy the fat paychecks and the winning name. How many teams have such committed domestiques?

MinnMan

Porte and Froome himself come first to mind as riders who became famous as Sky domestiques.

San Pedro

That descent was fun to watch. All those hairpins and the debris and wet...

That's what I thought during the tour. At least La Vuelta head breaks succeeding, probably because there is no real sprinters race here.

Caretaker

Stage 11

Thought on that final climb that Froome was in trouble but he recovered well. Don't know if he was faking, seemed to be on the radio a lot.

gpsblake

Once again, Sky's tactics work as Froome just keeps eating seconds at a time on his competitors. It works but if Froome has one bad day.. stomach virus, whatever, he doesn't leave himself a huge margin of error although the TT gives him some insurance.

But right now, it's working to perfection.

Kevindale

Froome looked to be in a little trouble, but only relative to Lopez. Nibali didn't look any better, and every other GC contender dropped off the back. Kelderman was the other guy looking pretty good today, and even he finished behind Froome.

More intense stages coming. Should be fun.

Maelochs

I liked that people were willing to attack and defend ... Froome is just smart--- neither he nor his team waste their legs on big bursts .... it is more efficient to accelerate slowly when needed.

Caretaker

It's simple, Froome is the top GT rider of this era.

Kevindale

Certainly in the TdF, and over the last 5 years. As for all GTs, I think Nibali would argue his case pretty strongly. And over Froome's entire career, Contrador would have a say.

Doge

Only one of those with no record of banned PED use (that I could find).

Know which?

Doge

And not as fun to watch. Because the races are soooo long.

Kevindale

I know Contrador's dicey history well. I know there have been accusations of motor doping and possibly PEDs (mostly by association) towards Nibali, and I know that Froome has used TUEs.

In any event, I wrote that regarding "official" results.

Doge

Only Nibali has no record of using banned PEDs. Although the guy leading him up the hills was a user. Kind of like a clean QB with juiced up linesmen.
Fact is - banned PEDs are used by every winner's team except, so far no record for BMC-Cadel and Sastra the last 26/27 years.

Pro races are too long, they have to.

Edit Add:
Legal, not legal - it is still a banned PED. There is a reason riders are taking it.
IMO if you can't win because you are sneezing too much, you can't win.
Taking PEDs using a TUE does not make you a cheater, it just mean's you didn't win without taking banned PEDs.

Kevindale

In any event, Froome is an amazing rider, and I admire his grit and tenacity. I just wish he didn't look like a 4-legged spider riding a bike.

Caretaker

You're all just jealous because of him being an African.

bikecrate

Looks like no GC rider can put together a consistent performance day after day except Froome. Should we start a pool to see what his final minutes will be over the number two person before the final TT?

Kevindale

It's interesting that people often complain about the efficiency and strength of the Sky team in supporting their designated leader. They're clearly fantastic at it, and it does get boring seeing a line of 3-6 black-clad Sky riders leading the peloton, mile after mile, with one or two domestiques going deep into the stage in service of their leader.

OTOH, when I was watching the Binckbank Tour, Sagan had the GC well in hand till he flatted with no support (neutral or team car or teammate), and then in subsequent stages the other riders worked together to keep him from making up time or winning a stage. I read a lot of comments that he had no reason to complain - it was his team's fault, or even his fault for going with Bora-Hangrohe, and that he should go with a deep and strong team Sky-like team to get better results. Of course, if he did have that team, we'd hear that he wasn't really that good a rider, that it was all the team, that it was boring...

Anyway, stage 12 is shaping up for a nice race for the stage win by someone really hungry. As I write this they're 29 km out and about to hit the second big climb.

The sport has evolved to reward aggressive/organized team tactics. Or rather, it's always rewarded that, but Sky has dialed it in to an unprecedented degree, at least in the TdF, and in this year's Vuelta.