To INEOS. Or did INEOS say goodbye to Froome?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/sports.yahoo.com/amphtml/chris-froome-leave-ineos-end-100213861.html
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Ineos is like Man Utd in the 90’s nobody is bigger than the team and Froome is 35. That said - at his BEST he is a different level of Grand tour rider to Thomas has every been and Bernel is at present …future who knows in his case. So if he could get to his best (and nobody trains like Froome on his own and if his body will let him he will do it) he could be seriously dangerous to Ineos especially if being at a new team forces him to race more aggressively - Giro 18 style. But then again can you outrun father time…unless you are Chris Horner and he was just very fresh after a light season when he won the Vuelta. Who knows…that is why sport is so great …we will find out. This year I am going for Roglic in the Tour - he is the most talented even if it took so long for him to find that out in cycling.
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Will be cool to have Froome and Dowsett on the same team. Makes it a bit easier to decide who I’d like to win. Really want Froome to get a 5th TDF just to annoy Hinault
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This!
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yep - Eddy Mercx seems very relaxed about the generations that came after…Hinault - well as far as he’s concerned nobody before or after him has any right to call themselves a cyclist! 
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He clearly thinks he will have enough horses around him to contend for another Yellow jersey. I don’t know, but it seems unlikely.
Just don’t see him having the firepower in the team - if he wins a GT after the move it will be his most impressive (even including the Giro).
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It always makes me sad when a champ like Froome retires out of their regular team/jersey. It’s like Brady leaving the Patriots.
Froome isn’t a team player like Thomas. He’s hungry to tie the record of 5 TdF wins.
Honestly, I wonder what Thomas thinks about his situation which is similar to Froome’s. He couldn’t even really defend his yellow jersey last year because they brought on Bernal. Maybe Thomas is just very practical? -‘Ride out the career making millions at Ineos which has stable funding and maybe get lucky and get another TdF win. And if not, who cares, my bank account is fat.’
Sounds like Froome still expects to ride TdF this year. Oh, please let that happen! That will make the race a lot more interesting.
But if not, give ISN a year to tool up that team around a real GC threat. I love Dan Martin but he’s not a real Grand Tour GC threat. Next year we could have a real barn burner between Ineos, ISN, and Jumbo Visma.
BTW, is Richard Carapaz still alive? Let’s get him in he mix, too! 
After Hinault, he is right!
Not sure if that paints him in the best light, rainbow stripes and gold medals on the track means he has to be competitive and driven. Might just think a powerful team will give him the best chance to get another GC win.
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Seems that way. Stars and moon aligned once for the win. He seems very likable, pragmatic and professional.
Bernal is a phenom. Look at his training, commitment and racecraft. Dude is a stone cold killer. It’s really fun to see riders like him come along and then see how long they can maintain.
Hey - we’re talking about bike racing again on a webforum so that is fun!!
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I don’t think it paints him in a poor light. Not every cyclist needs to be the alpha. I’m just saying that maybe he has a realistic viewpoint. Maybe he never thought he could beat Froome but after many years he got his win. At his current age, sticking with Ineos and collecting millions of pounds per year for as long as he can is probably a great financial move. And if Bernal crashes out or has a bad day he could potentially win again.
Maybe Thomas likes the best man gets to win approach of the team?
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that’s what all the old guys say…it was so much better in my day…I occasionally watch some old TV or play some old remastered playstation games for a bit of nostalgia and I’m afraid it wasn’t! …apart from Resident Evil 2
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That’s the trouble with nostalgia, it ain’t what it used to be …
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I don’t think Froome necessarily needs a whole team built around him to succeed. Especially not as he will know exactly how INEOS rides.
Him, Roglic, Dumoulin and a few others will be right there at the selection points and then it comes down to who is the fittest.
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I think where the team really helps is ensuring that when it comes to those key selection points on the big mountain days that you’re still in contention and haven’t lost a load of time already, or burned a load of matches keeping yourself in contention because you don’t have the team to do it for you. Without a good team it’s more likely that you lose time through being the wrong side of a split on a cross wind day, or because you don’t have the horsepower to look after you when you’ve got bad legs, or do get you back to the pack after a puncture or a crash.
I do also think that the marginal benefits of having a really well drilled team to look after you in the pack even on the easy days are overlooked. GTs are about energy management over 3 weeks, and having guys around you who know how to protect you, keep you in the right part of the peleton, hide you from the wind, etc can save quite a bit of both mental and physical energy if you add it up over 21 stages. That’s where Sky/Ineos have had an edge, just going all in with a GC team where all 8 riders know what the job is and are 100% committed to looking after the leader(s), not hedging their bets by trying to chase stage wins or get in breaks.
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You’re right of course. No one can win the TdF entirely on their own. Positioning and saving energy are key every single day.
My point was more that not everyone needs a team strategy like the Sky/INEOS one. It’s possible to have a few team mates looking after a top rider and getting them into position, without them necessarily piling people on the front and dictating the pace.
Disagree, Sky/Ineos have won 7 of the last 8 Tours with 4 different riders thanks to that team strategy. You can win a Tour with a couple of team mates looking out for you if you’re the strongest rider and you get a healthy dose of luck. Having a whole team looking out for you and setting the pace to suit your strategy takes a lot of luck out of the equation.
Edit - I think Froome on top form could win without a strong team if he avoided any bad luck like punctures or being the wrong side of a crash. In his prime he was such a complete rider that he doesn’t need a whole lot of support (though having it made nigh on unbeatable unless he crashed like in 2014). I just think it’s questionable whether he can hit that form again at 35/36 after a career threatening injury. Nobody has beaten the Ineos A team since 2011 (2014 they beat themselves when Froome abandoned) and some very good riders like Contador, Quintana, Dumoulin, have tried.
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That was my point. I’m not saying it’s optimal but given where he is in his career and the team he’s going to, he won’t be able to rely on what he was previously used to.
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