THIS IS HARD TO UNDERSTAND! || From Froome's Best Teammate to RETIRED AT 29! 

Yes, "...the real story...".

Here's the most likely story: he used "marginal gains" to make a career for himself, had a huge win in a contract year. Sky lowballed him on the contract and Bora gave him an offer he couldn't refuse. When he signed with Bora, Sky punished him by not taking him to any grand tours that year, which is common to do in cycling when you star is signing elsewhere. Once he got to Bora with a very large contract in hand, teh pressure was off and either he couldn't get the same "marginal gains" or he chose not to use any "marginal gains" voluntarily. After his Bora contract was up, he wasn't going to get another million and a half euro contract, and the idea of signing to a team like D tier team like Qubecka for 200,000 euros was too much of an ego blow, so better to retire with a few million in the bank.

A friend of mine in Plymouth went on a few dates with JTL fairly recently. Still claims to have done nothing wrong and was booted from Sky unfairly.

@@StopTheRot He's a donkey drug cheat, tell him I told you that.

@davidoffon I only raced as a Junior back in the early 80s. I can remember some of my mates talking about taking Benadryl of all things as some kind of means of getting an edge along with cough medicine and asthma inhalers and getting the idea that among the more "dedicated" participants, a little chemical help was certainly on the table as an option. I do remember one lad in particular, Joey McLoughlin of Liverpool Mercury ( this was Merseyside ), a nephew of Phil Thomas a very prominent pro on the UK scene, suddenly started putting in amazing performances at the same time as he developed some odd facial tics. I think he was so clearly "on something" that he was eventually sanctioned. Just googled him - short pro career with a lot of injuries. I think we can probably agree that it's a fabulous past time and awful sport even though I do love to follow it.

It's a game of thrones, where you never know who survives the episode.

That's why I compare pro-cycling to pro-wrestling at least in the latters heyday before the loss of 'kayfabe'. Both are/were totally 'fake' spectacles, but the real drama, the 'reality' of the whole thing was backstage with the fall-outs, the intrigue, the politics, the back-stabbing, etc. I still think pro-cycling is full of crap even if the 'turbo' peds have been eliminated.

Yeah like Wiggins and Thomas, it's called doping

@@hugo587 They've all been doping since Fausto Coppi was around - them getting caught is just part of the fun of following cycling. Anyone who is surprised was born yesterday and anyone whose channel is called 'cycling stories' when it's only about doped cyclists is just taking advantage of other people's naivety.

@@TheHaining what's thee difference between naivety and honesty?

@@TheHaining How come only British track stars manage to become stellar climbers on the road? Very strange if you ask me.

He had a reputation for being an arrogant prick, and things like the way he treated Rasmussen for suggesting Geraint Thomas outclimbing Nairo Quintana was questionable (spoiler: he was right - no matter how disreputable Rasmussen may be, his point was legit) and the way he belittled Emma Pooley and ranted about nobody caring about women's cycling kind of suggest that he got that reputation for a reason. Afraid you'd have to wait for some genuine disgrace to hit British cycling to get a real in-depth, honest interview that would really go some way to explaining how things went awry for Pete though, far too many of the 'old boys' who were invested in the success of BC are in the cycling media so are invested in not uncovering any dirty laundry that isn't already known about,.

Name some people who didn't like him ? I would be interested

It's true, but that's not the reason he was dropped. If brailsford thought he could help froome he would have went to the tour, spoiled brat or not

@davidoffon You have a chip on your shoulder and a white saviour complex. The poorest and least accessible to education, sports like cycling etc, are white boys. This is a fact. They are neglected, have no special programmes because pricks like you don't get dopamine hits from helping them because they are white, not some other race that you can pat yourself on the back for helping.

Big up manlike Renata.

you said it, Sky.........like US Postal and Festina. (wink, wink)

Vellueux became an engineer for a Quebec bike company... (think it's argon 18) Parisien was kind of old.

@@goldenretriever6261 I have bad news for you... An engineering career doesnt pay anywhere near being on a top team... so thats not a good enough motif on my view, so probably something to do with doping...

He was on the gear. Read between the lines

Well SOMETHING went on at Sky behind closed doors......

Convicted of marginal gains?

Recall reading that Millar was being courted by Brailsford for SKY, co-incidentally his sister Fran was working for them also. Brailsford was one of the few people who 'stuck by' Millar possibly for the latter reason? I read Nicole Cooke's memoir where she also mentions the Brailsford/Millar connection in terms of Brailsford's sexist and dismissive attitude to women cycling syphoning money to the mens teams at BC. She unlike Brailsford had unsurprisingly zero sympathy for Millar.

@@bitchoflivingblah Brailsfraud was likely to have been unable to Dump DAVE Down the U bend even if he want to!!

It is entertainment, a bit of history and some context about the results. A lot of cycling fans, actually believe that professional athletes are achieving these feats solely on bread and water. In the 1990s magazines like cycle sport used to write clap trap articles about femur length being instrumental to be a top class rider. It was of course just nonsense rather like the "marginal gains" clap trap that team sky spouted. But of course the new fans of cycling lapped it up.

Excellent points

Sugar is food.

Giant Penis?

Let me guess... did he end his career at Cantina Tollo?

What is a "looser ?"

@@peterwest5525 I guess it should have been 'loser'. Not everyone is a native English speaker here.

@@GFSagredo You are correct, in this case. But, unfortunately, more and more English people are writing "looser" instead of "loser." It really annoys me.

Indeed, any sport at a high level requires considerable mental robustness. Few of us have it, although coaching can help develop whayt we have.

Lets be honest: Wiggins was not a broken toy in my eyes. He dominated the Tour 2012 and then fades away silent.

Edmonson

@@FrittenFriseurLPs Dope once and get out, that's how the smart one's do it

@@FrittenFriseurLPs Wiggins didn’t dominate the 2012 tour. Froome would have smoked him if he was was allowed to race him.

@@marcelboogaard3809 yeah but He wasnt so Wiggins has dominated.

A good shower is not enough these days.

No.

Probably

Yes, as múltiple riders you didn't remember

Ben, Not sure if you're familiar with Tommy Simpson? He died from Heart failure ascending Mont Ventoux in 1967!! his Autopsy revealed he had Amphetamines (also known as speed, I take it by prescription for ADHD) Alcohol, and diuretics, the hot weather and the fact he had Diarrhoea (He actually didn't feel well enough to race that day but was "persuaded" to do so by the TM) but it was commonly used then as doping of late. They even found packets of Amphets in his room AND his jersey. It's both really interesting watching these Doping "Reveals" lol, but at the same time learning the truth about the unbelievable achievements of my past Inspirations turns out to be exactly that UNBELIEVABLE 😏

@Ben Cycling is about as clean as a bodybuilder on synth oil. I just take it as a given, that what I'm seeing isn't real, but you're right it would be interesting just to make it legal. See what people are taking and what the negative affects are. The same with runners they all on the gear, just need some transparency.

It is allowed, it’s just another story has to be presented to the mainstream audience

Yeah he's the Les Grossman of team GB bribe em with a G5 airplane and lots of money, Player, Player.

Everybody else is doing it, so why can't you.

@@jnavonoD because of…. Lots of reasons.

@@jean-jacqueslavigne3109 no look I agree; all the blokes I was racing back in the day were on the juice...

@@jnavonoD their call. I hope you still enjoy your cycling and got a few wins in the bag, nonetheless.

@@jean-jacqueslavigne3109 Thanks mate - enjoyed, and yes went OK but never at a pas normal level haha.

Maybe he can The Pogues to score it

Back dat ass up.

You're pretty

Google Bahrain victorious wins in 2021. A pure sprinter out climbing in the Tdf

Yeah, very usual winning a difficult stage in Dauphiné to dissapear later. Padun did it too.

@@cyclingstories Padun was good in La Vuelta and he might have kept up his form if he was selected at the Tour de France, Hindley was terrible throughout 2021 and we all questioned whether he was a one timer but hes up there in the Giro at the moment.

But, at least, no Irish rider ever doped !

@@peterwest5525 haha! Ain't that the truth

He also lapped the riders in a junior worlds on the track, winning gold. He was wild when he took off.

Well, we got pretty close to the bottom of Armstrong and he turned out to be an arch arse!!

Sky have to said it not us

Let's see...older and almost died when he hit a wall ..that will kind of put pay to any thoughts of winning again, no matter what you won before

Team manager

Nah, it's digging on Sky, not Kennaugh

actually he went from donkey to at least second in any the GT he finished until his crash during TT recon, after his recovery he went straight back to his pre-sky level. Team Sky and British Cycle announced a program to win a TdF within 5 years, they happen to turn Wiggins into a winner a found accidentaly the best GC rider of the decade in the span of 3 years... Suspicious. Half of the descent british riders have won a GT over the last 10 years. Neither Belgium, Italy, Spain nor France can tell much since cycling went international.

@@simonrano8072 Well done on completely overlooking Wiggins achievements before his TdF win, the development and vast amounts of money that was pumped into GB Cycling and Team Sky for over a decade and also all the brilliant continental European riders who have taken many victories throughout this period

@@livingthroughtv like a single top 10 finish on a TdF with a lot of TT ? 2012 had a custom course for him because UK bought a Grand Depart with millions for 2014. And still he kept hi flat TT power loosing 15 lbs, had a lot of TUE and the suspicious package case... there is also the famous special training sessions for brits nationals and Porte only at Sky... not to mention froome TUEs, Salbutamol abuse, doping products delivered to BC HQs, the fact that UK riders dominated GT in the 2010q like even Spanish riders nevered dreamed of when massively blood doping, the fact that UK had an unreal progression in endurance sport for the 12 olympics, Mo Farah s coach is banned for life, UK with Coe led the charge against Russia doping program, yet they lost against "clean" Brirish athletes before the ban took effect... shall I continue ?

@@simonrano8072 Oh god, I can't believe the fucking internet truthers have begun bothering sport of all things with their "talents". Never mind carrying on, give it a rest and find a hobby and some solitude, Si.

I don’t think Froome was ever a donkey. His post-crash for is not surprising given the severity of his injuries and his natural ageing. Sadly that happens to everyone.