Johan Bruyneel on Chris Froome's demise: "It looks really sad to see him drag himself"
Cycling
Chris Froome was one of the face's of cycling in the 2010's, and although he is long past his prime and currently does not race for results, he continues to be part of the peloton with a millionaire contract for years but only racing as a domestique for a ProTeam in small races. It is a scenario that baffles many including Johan Bruyneel.
"They're (Israel - Premier Tech, ed.) currently ranked 12th in points which is very good and then impressively the second division team Lotto who is 9th... But there's doing this no thanks to their highest paid rider Chris Froome who is at the Tour of Guangxi. I did not know he was racing until you text me about him," Spencer Martin said to Bruyneel on 'The Move' podcast. "He's invisible, and the amazing thing about Chris Froome is he's getting worst, every race he's getting worst than the race before".
A rough statement but one that is correct, taking into consideration the veteran's absence from action this year. A 27th place at the Tour du Rwanda is the 'best' result to mention, but this was in a race of mostly a continental field and a few ProTeam squads - with him supporting development team riders. This has been much of what the past few years with the Israeli team have been and at this point in his career it looks obvious that a Tour de France return won't happen, much less take hunt for a result in it.
"First of all whoever signed that deal for Froome, I'd say great job to his manager and to his agent; Incredibly bad job to the person who signed that deal, reportedly five-year contract, €5 million per year," Johan Bruyneel responded. "i think it was renegotiated for the last two years, but anyways that's just a bad decision. The fact that INEOS let him go so easily was I think already a red flag". Froome signed with the team into the 2021 season and the signing has been rated as one of the most notable in the sport's history, as his large salary has led to virtually no results for years on end, and the team ended up trapped in a deal they could not escape.
"We know the accident was terrible in the Dauphiné or before the Dauphiné, there's a before and after Chris Froome. To me it's just sad to see, it's sad to see a legend like Chris Froome who won four Tours, two Vueltas, one Giro, to see this now..." Froome most recently raced the Tour of Guangxi where he was part of one breakaway but was largely away from the screens. It was the end of his season, and although he will race in 2025 it's not certain what he will be racing or what role he will have in the team.
"He must like riding his bike a lot and of course you know if you get paid so much money: it's ok 'Im just going through this' every week and every day, probably saying another day on the jackpot," Bruyneel adds. "But it takes away from his legacy I think, Chris Froome is a legend and now everybody is basically looking at him and saying what is he doing." It is the result of a negotiation that seems to have largely benefited the Briton: "He keeps going next year by the way, another year of five or four or three million or whatever it is, it must drive the team owner crazy in my opinion, but there's nothing he can do he signed that deal right".
"With all the respect I have for Chris Froome but to me it looks really sad to see him drag himself, and it's not that he's dropped in big races, he gets dropped in the small races".
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What is sad about Froome overcoming the horrific crash? It's a miracle to see Froome able to walk again let alone smiling in the peloton. I'm sure his experience and the good attitude he brings to his team is worth every penny. Mind you, Bruyneel's slander is published as fact without inquiring what it is that his team values in Froome. Froome's return to the podium on L'Alpe was a huge triumph not just in context of his comeback, but in comparison with anything Bruyneel accomplished in his life. Considering what a bitter crumudgeon Johann has become since his moral failure of a career was revealed, one might suggest his sadness has nothing to do with Froome, but an overarching sense of impotence that is the life of Bruyneel who might as well give up. If anything is sad, it's propaganda like this that is basically complicit in promoting the bad sportsmanship, doping, and lies he infected the sport with by giving him a platform to keep pissing in the soup.
If we're talking about the sadness of has-beens, let's take a moment to acknowledge the tragedy of The Move, where discredited cyclists and their former managers with no relevance to modern cycling show up without preparation and bore each other, and anyone else unfortunate enough to tune in, into submission
You realise that’s an advertisement don’t you? I didn’t even really know this show but niw I’m pretty sure I can guess. Others far younger and less knowledgeable might now seek it out, was that your aim?
What is happening to Chris happens to every celebrity who have reached the pinnacle of success, and then begins the downward spiral of fame. All things must pass, as they say.. we must respect the will of the wind. No need to feel sorry for him, just appreciate what he has accomplished.
Yes it is sad to see the greatest stage racer of his generation end his career like this. It's also sad that we are still being fed articles by Bruynell.
No it's not. What we're seeing from Froome is the real Froome. The rider that finished over 30 minutes down on the winner of the 2011 TDP, Peter Sagan. What we saw after that race is the anomaly in Froome's career.
I’m pretty sure what J is doing czn be called cashing in too, just at the level he could manage.
Hopefully if he is, the cash is directed to Landis and his many other debtors.
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- That made me smile Suipedali. Nice one!Cyclingsbestfan14-03-2025
- Even if Pogi has 5s on top of Poggio, he's getting caught on descent unfortunately. And it's extremely unlikely that he will have morevappaxbipmv14-03-2025
- If Pogi can drop him, then he will winabstractengineer14-03-2025
- In that sense, those two have less in common than the link you could make between demonstrators, right handers, Hinault and Merckx.Mistermaumau14-03-2025
- "He apparently thought it was completely fine." Nothing broken and no concussion, that's as completely fine as it gets in cyclingvappaxbipmv14-03-2025
- Better safe than sorry. At least his injuries are a lot less severe than they were last year.
santiagobenites14-03-2025 - Well spotted :-)Mistermaumau14-03-2025
- One thing Jonas Vingegaard has in common with Hinault is that they are moaners, although I couldn't see Jonas giving a demonstrator a right hander!Suipedali14-03-2025
- They are surprisingly rare on the pro circuit, around our area, one in four races finishes of with a really steep 500m climb at the end.Mistermaumau14-03-2025
- Give him an uphill sprint, then he may win against pure sprinters.
KerisVroom14-03-2025