To tell the truth, I’m not surprised about Froome, But G … 2nd last year, won the year before…
They both looked way off the pace in the Dauphine so not a massive surprise. I wasn’t 100% sure whether Froome was actually struggling for form or if he was trying to hide where he was at, especially when he gave that thumbs up while dropping off the front.
Looks like the most vulnerable Ineos have been for years and shaping up to be an exciting Tour!
Somehow I didn’t expect Carapaz there. I thought they bought him mostly for Giro/Vuelta. But makes sense if your two Tour winners are not in shape enough.
I now need to work out who I am going to support 
They should have used plan builder 
Can’t say I’m surprised at this, it feels like a changing of the guard across a number of teams with the younger riders showing it’s now potentially their time. Genuinely excited about the next few months
Little sidetrack: Do you guys think Froome will still manage to get his 5th tour win at some point? 
No, I think he is capable of a podium finish but not the win.
Age and his injuries are against him, but you can’t write off someone with his ability and experience. Although how his new team gels together will also have a huge bearing
TLDR: No
Same for Thomas, I would like to see him go back to targeting the monuments
Neither G or Froome looked that great recently so perhaps the extra time will give them a chance to build towards a grand tour. It’s impressive to see where Froome has got back too, but I do think it’s too much of an ask to see him win a grand tour again.
Go Egan!!!
I think Ineos are still good to win the tour even with jumbo looking incredible. May depend on how well they recover from their injuries to whether than can knock Ineos off their perch.
Sepp Kuss is an absolute machine. And at only 59kg surely a future tour winner.
I think Froome is more likely to win another one than Thomas. Thomas winning in 2018 was really a surprise - fully deserved win and he was undoubtedly the strongest rider in that race, but prior to that he’d always looked like a superdomestique who was very comfortable in that role and didn’t have the burning desire/ego to be leader. I was super impressed with his second place as defending champion (especially after the amount of celebrating he did after the win!) but he always struck me as a “one and done” kind of winner.
Froome is cut from a different cloth, he’s a decent enough guy that he’ll ride in support of a team mate if he knows he doesn’t have the form to win himself, but he’ll never be satisfied with that. He’ll keep raging against the dying of the light until such time as he no longer believes he can win. Might not get there, but Vuelta could be very unpredictable this year given the truncated season, wouldn’t rule him out.
I would guess Bernal and Carapaz will be Co Leaders. Whilst they are both great for the mountain stages, I dont think they have a top level TT in their legs to challenge Roglic. TJV to win the Tour this year for me.
I would agree although Thomas could of won last year too if they’d backed him. Although they were right not to.
Even if he is not at his best, Thomas in his current form is of more use to INEOS than some of those going.
Froome isn’t a huge surprise (although I thought they would take him, TBH) but Thomas getting stiff-armed and the. Carapaz getting the nod are huge surprises. Carapaz has not looked great in his warm-up races, but no one cared because the Giro was still 6 weeks away.
And if I was either of those guys, I’d be pissed. Thomas never got the support of Ineos, even when he won, let alone as defending champ. And now kicked to the curb.
Carapaz doesn’t get to defend his title and is back to a support role…after leaving Movistar to have a shit at leadership.
It’s not all that surprising if you watched the Dauphine, however it still feels weird. Ineos going to the tour without a British leader for the first time is just…strange.
Can we refrain from calling him G?
As far as I know we’re not his mates.
This is also being discussed here:
But I’m also not super surprised about Froome since they said his spot was contingent on his performance at the Dauphine and the only shots I ever saw of him were at the back of the group or falling off the back of the group.