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I agree with Adam - his motivation is solely to win another Tour. (Whether he or not is another thing entirely after last year's horrific crash.) And he is not guaranteed to be #1 at Ineos. So going to another team with aspirations and loads of €€€ is not a difficult decision.

As for ISN's owner, he is not short of change. He can afford to spend as much as he likes on his team. He is an Israeli/Canadian property developer/philanthropist.
 

Cathryn

Legendary Member
I'm pretty out of the loop ref pro cycling but his new team's links to Katusha make me uncomfortable.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
A cycling team promoting the state of Israel makes me uncomfortable.
A cycling team promoting any state makes me uncomfortable but there's a heck of a lot of them around (Kazakhstan, UAE, Bahrain, France, Belgium and arguably even Ineos with its deep British Cycling connections) and has been for a while. Probably some saw how well it worked for the US Federal Government through US Postal and wanted to emulate Lance's success... and now they want to better it ;)
 

RobNewcastle

Senior Member
Froome‘s form for this tour and moving into next year will be intriguing to say the least. On balance his days of winning another grand tour are probably numbered but if anyone could pull it off he can. Moving to Israel is a no brainer and makes senses for Ineos and Froome. A lot will depend on who is brought in to help him on the climbs (Porte, Nieve mooted). Will that even be enough, who knows but I imagine discussions over other riders must have taken place. He’ll probably have to do some piggy backing off other teams and do more of the opportunistic Contador type stuff and hes certainly shown a knack for opportunity before to nick time.

The dynamics within Ineos assuming he’s going to the tour ( cycling podcast say he’s in the Tenerife training camp next week) will be very interesting. Likelihood is a 3 pronged attack will become two going into the final week due to form/crashes/misfortune etc. Just be interesting to see who the two are. I think his form might be a lot better than people think but where that gets him who knows, he could get dropped early in the race before he finds some form but then with this period of uncertainty and lack of racing that could happen to a lot of riders. Either way moving forwards the races will be interesting next year seeing Froome go up against Ineos and trying to crack their ”fortress” that once served him so well.
 

SWSteve

Guru
Location
Bristol...ish
... Either way moving forwards the races will be interesting next year seeing Froome go up against Ineos and trying to crack their ”fortress” that once served him so well.
I cannot believe Froome will cope well being on the outside of that fortress. He’s used to being able to dictate the pace from a distance to crack the GC rivals, how will he get on when they’re tearing his team apart for a change. I’m not saying the ISN riders aren’t of the same standard as Ineos’, but Ineos have a lot of experience disrupting less aligned, and weaker, squads.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
I cannot believe Froome will cope well being on the outside of that fortress. He’s used to being able to dictate the pace from a distance to crack the GC rivals, how will he get on when they’re tearing his team apart for a change. I’m not saying the ISN riders aren’t of the same standard as Ineos’, but Ineos have a lot of experience disrupting less aligned, and weaker, squads.
On the other hand, Froome knows when the Sky train came close to derailment and might have ideas about what would have done it. He's also done okay when isolated a long way out. I think it's a tall order but I think hiring Froome and disrupting would be a better tactic than trying to emulate Sky, which is basically what Jumbo and Michelson have tried... Maybe Movistar too but it's often hard to fathom what they were trying to do after their 8 team leaders have mangled the tactics!
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
In other words, I think we might see less steamrollering and more racing next year.

Also, how much has the death of Nico Portal encouraged this move? Did that lose Froome a key supporter at the management table?
 
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Adam4868

Adam4868

Guru
I'm that much of a Froome fan that I think he'll get his fifth tour and also negotiate peace in the middle east....
Back to reality,I'm not that sure he was ever that close to the Sky,Ineos management in a way.Hes a odd cookie so to speak and knows exactly where he's at.
Fitness wise I very much doubt he's not back to something close to where he was,surely Israel cycling academy have looked closely at that before committing to him.
As a team leader there's not many out there better as we've seen in the past ten years.
Downsides are his time away from races and the obvious effect of that crash.
The Dauphine should be a good test of him,the problem for me at the Tour if they take him and I'm not.convinced they will is....
I can't see him being a domestque for Bernal or Thomas.His biggest strength is his one track mind of winning.Itll be tough,but I'd never write him off.
 

RobNewcastle

Senior Member
On the other hand, Froome knows when the Sky train came close to derailment and might have ideas about what would have done it. He's also done okay when isolated a long way out. I think it's a tall order but I think hiring Froome and disrupting would be a better tactic than trying to emulate Sky, which is basically what Jumbo and Michelson have tried... Maybe Movistar too but it's often hard to fathom what they were trying to do after their 8 team leaders have mangled the tactics!

I’d guess it’d be bring in a few solid climbers to help him and then use ambush tactics or just hanging in with the other trains and attacking. Be interesting to see it develop whatever happens.
 

RobNewcastle

Senior Member
I'm that much of a Froome fan that I think he'll get his fifth tour and also negotiate peace in the middle east....
Back to reality,I'm not that sure he was ever that close to the Sky,Ineos management in a way.Hes a odd cookie so to speak and knows exactly where he's at.
Fitness wise I very much doubt he's not back to something close to where he was,surely Israel cycling academy have looked closely at that before committing to him.
As a team leader there's not many out there better as we've seen in the past ten years.
Downsides are his time away from races and the obvious effect of that crash.
The Dauphine should be a good test of him,the problem for me at the Tour if they take him and I'm not.convinced they will is....
I can't see him being a domestque for Bernal or Thomas.His biggest strength is his one track mind of winning.Itll be tough,but I'd never write him off.

Thats an interesting point about his form. I‘d agree even though there’s a risky element in signing him they wouldn’t be shelling out that money on a completely busted rider?? Analysis and conversation must’ve taken place.
 
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Adam4868

Adam4868

Guru
Thats an interesting point about his form. I‘d agree even though there’s a risky element in signing him they wouldn’t be shelling out that money on a completely busted rider?? Analysis and conversation must’ve taken place.
I remember reading a interview which Ned Boulting did with Froome back before lockdown.( posted the link if your interested)
He's a pretty remarkable character to come back from that crash,lockdown probally suited him hours on end on a turbo ! They'll be no doubt where his fitness is at.His mental strength aswell,I'd say is probally his biggest asset.
https://journal.rouleur.cc/the-rouleur-longreads-podcast-chris-froome-and-the-seventh-seal/
 

RobNewcastle

Senior Member
I remember reading a interview which Ned Boulting did with Froome back before lockdown.( posted the link if your interested)
He's a pretty remarkable character to come back from that crash,lockdown probally suited him hours on end on a turbo ! They'll be no doubt where his fitness is at.His mental strength aswell,I'd say is probally his biggest asset.
https://journal.rouleur.cc/the-rouleur-longreads-podcast-chris-froome-and-the-seventh-seal/

He certainly trains like an animal. No doubt he was destroying himself at home during lockdown for months, I remember seeing some of the videos clips. What is intriguing is just what kind of shape he can get back into with these extra two months to train. Smart money is Roglic or Bernal but if he defies logic and gets into tour winning shape I think he’ll win it on mental toughness and the desire to prove everyone wrong. Those stages from 15-18 are brutal and will decide things with the TT sitting at the end.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
I’d guess it’d be bring in a few solid climbers to help him and then use ambush tactics or just hanging in with the other trains and attacking. Be interesting to see it develop whatever happens.
You may be right. Sky riders (Porte especially) were accused of still occupying their usual roles in the train even after they changed teams, so I wonder if Froome will take up his usual position as "train driver" behind his former Ineos teammates, maybe sending some of ISN's climbers into breakaways for later slingshot after an attack... I also wonder how Ineos will handle that, as the obvious would be their usual co-leaders doing one-two punches to try to wear Froome down chasing, but that won't work if ISN can indeed sign someone as good as Nieve so Froome and Nieve can mark one each.

Oh, I really hope Froome is as opportunistic as he's seemed at times during the last couple of years and as stubborn as he's often looked. I'd really like to see what someone like that could do with recent inside knowledge of Ineos if they tried to fark them up. I think he'll stop short of a Movistar-style attack while Ineos's leader is crashed but that's about it.

Nevertheless, I expect lots of bland interviews from both INS and ISN about how everyone is still good friends right up to the day where Froome tries something cynical.
 
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