If Froome and Quintana had of swapped teams for this year's TDF?

sxt

Would there have been any difference in outcome?

Eamonnator

G. Thomas would be in yellow.

lennymc

Eamonnator wrote: »

G. Thomas would be in yellow.

Froome made his own time - most of his time came in TTs. He attacked on his own on the descent, he attacked with Sagan (and thomas) on a sprint stage, and got time, he hasn't made that much time on the mountains. I think even had he not been given the same time as Mollema on the crash stage he would still be ahead based on his TTing.

pelevin

Whatever about when he's at his best, Quintana hasn't had the form to win this year whatever imaginative shuffling of possibilities one comes up with. I think someone quoted Bjarne Riis roughly saying Froome's 'competitors' wouldn't even have made the Sky team as his domestiques on this Tour's form. Porte the closest to someone who could have done so - who the other TdF wins of Froome was his domestique.

The mountain stages have been so awful to watch this Tour understandable anyone would want things to be different, but regardless there's absolutely no questioning who's the strongest rider. It would make of course though the action a lot more interesting were Froome not backed up by the Sky machine in terms of the nature of the racing.

Raymzor

Yes Froome has stepped up at the TT's and on other occasions but this freshness must be attributed in some way to the great work his team have done.

What if Porte/ Martin had support in the mountains. Look at yesterday's final climb. Sky had 4 riders, Movistar had 2 and all the rest were solo!

lennymc

sure most of the GC contenders have been sat in behind sky anyway and havent been working. What's the difference between froome sitting behind 4 sky riders, and quintana/porte/yates/whoever sitting behind froome? Sky are taking the wind, the other GC contenders can sit in (:)) following sky.

The GC riders dropped the ball on the descent attack. The GC riders dropped the ball on the cross winds. Both of those stages were early when everyone should in theory be fresh.

Porte would have had a cracking tour had he not had that puncture at the start.

harringtonp

lennymc wrote: »

sure most of the GC contenders have been sat in behind sky anyway and havent been working. What's the difference between froome sitting behind 4 sky riders, and quintana/porte/yates/whoever sitting behind froome? Sky are taking the wind, the other GC contenders can sit in (:)) following sky.

The GC riders dropped the ball on the descent attack. The GC riders dropped the ball on the cross winds. Both of those stages were early when everyone should in theory be fresh.
Porte would have had a cracking tour had he not had that puncture at the start.

Just going to write something like this before reading it. It's not like the sky riders were popping of the front one by one and forcing the others to chase it down. They just wind it up gradually.