Froome out of the Tour due to Dauphine Crash (Update: He's back)

[jlwdm]

I am an avid follower of the TDF and the lack of Froome in the field makes this year's race less interesting to me.

Very few riders can ride consistently at a level to win the Tour - it is more demanding than any other race. As the favorite it is very exhausting to deal with the press and other obligations every day. It is also a lot of pressure when your team is expected to lead the peloton day after day. The mental demands are huge.

Almost every year we see a rider pace a strong teammate up a climb, and people say the rider pacing should end up being the team leader. But there is a big difference between pacing a star on a few climbs and resting at other times versus being a strong team leader who cannot afford to lose time to other favorites on any stage.

Froome will be missed by me. I can easily picture the attack with Sagan on the flats with their two teammates or the attack just over the climb on the downhill finish with his top tube riding position. They did not result in a lot of time but each one made a statement.


Jeff

[fignon's barber]

Sorry news and sympathy goes out to Froome. The Tour is lesser without him.

[Matthew]

That's terrible. Wish him the best in his recovery.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by Dino Suegiù

Sure....

Do you speak for everyone here?
Do you have a really witty retort like that for Black Dog too?
https://forums.thepaceline.net/showp...0&postcount=31

I never pretended to, but I didn't see anything here that was unduly celebrating the injury to the man personally, more his absence from the upcoming Tour might make it a more unpredictable race and by extension more enjoyable to watch by whatever personal criteria people use to watch a three week bike race. I do see a fair bit of "there but by the grace of God go me..." gallows humor, and I include myself in that assessment.

I don't have a retort for the other post you're referencing, that's just garden variety concern trolling and not terribly interesting to engage with.

[RonW87]

Originally Posted by ryker

Based on my own experience breaking a femur in a bike crash, I'd say his days leading the field are over. Hopefully I'm wrong and his superior health care yields superior results.

Not in my experience. I broke my femur four years ago. I was on the trainer within 6 weeks after surgery (titanium rod) and on the road (gingerly) in eight weeks. Pretty much good as new after a year or so. And I certainly am not a pro-level cyclist with access to advance rehab, etc.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by RonW87

Not in my experience. I broke my femur four years ago. I was on the trainer within 6 weeks after surgery (titanium rod) and on the road (gingerly) in eight weeks. Pretty much good as new after a year or so. And I certainly am not a pro-level cyclist with access to advance rehab, etc.

Was it a closed or open fracture? Froome's was reported to be an open fracture, which can be very serious and messy indeed (and in some cases, life threatening, although apparently not in Froome's case).

[macaroon]

Originally Posted by pdmtong

A potentially career ending injury. Sympathy to him.

Yes he is robotic and awkward on the bike and in interviews. I never cared for his style but the TdF a few years ago (2016?) changed all that. He runs up mont ventoux. He gains time sitting on his top tube going downhill. He makes the selection into the wind with Sagan. wow - now thats racing with your head heart and guts.

I get that the team is polarizing. But this is devastating news for the sport.

Well said.

For some cycling fans, a hatred of Froome seems to be the "in thing".

Did no one watch the Giro that Froome didn't race this year? Absolute snooze fest.

[ntb1001]

At least Thomas will get full team support right from the beginning of the race. It might make for a more exciting race this year being more open.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fignon's barber]

Originally Posted by ntb1001

At least Thomas will get full team support right from the beginning of the race.

….until the first climb, when Bernal will take over.

[sailorboy]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Was it a closed or open fracture? Froome's was reported to be an open fracture, which can be very serious and messy indeed (and in some cases, life threatening, although apparently not in Froome's case).

this

in particular with elbow and femur fractures, with a lot of bleeding around the site, myositis ossificans is a worrisome complication. Your body basically gets confused by a large collection of blood near the broken bone and damaged soft tissue and decides to start filling the void with bone material. Very painful and limiting complication of traumatic fractures like this. I hope for the best for him.

[sjbraun]

The BBC adds a broken hip to the list of injuries.

The four-time Tour de France champion, 34, has suffered a fractured right femur, a broken hip, a fractured elbow and fractured ribs and lost consciousness following the crash.

Speaking to Radio 5 Live's BeSpoke podcast, Brailsford said: "He's been operated on to make sure that first phase of medical care is as optimal as possible and we will manage it from there. It's an evolving situation. It is concerning, there is no doubt about that.

"He's not in great shape. There are crashes and bad crashes and this was a bad crash."

"We have had a look at his data, he went from 54km/h to a dead stop."

These are very serious injuries. While its way too early to predict his recovery, it's not an exaggeration to describe his injures as career ending.

[Burnette]

Holy cow. At the bottom if the descent going about 37 mph, he takes his hands off the bars to blow his nose and the wind takes the wheel. Nightmare.

I have a hill that I can get to 45 mph going down. It's a blast. You try and not focus on consequences of a fall.

I hope his medical treatments go well.

[zmalwo]

From his age and the severity of the injuries this is the end to his career for sure...

[Seramount]

wishing Froomie a quick recovery.

that's all that needs to be said, whether you root in races for him or not.

have some class.

[ultraman6970]

Forgot they had this race... :/