“I think it’s time”: Chris Froome says 2025 could “potentially” be his last season and suggests retiring at Vuelta would be a “nice way to close the circle”; UN Road Safety Ambassador Tadej Pogačar using phone on the bike?! + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
“Are the days of the pure sprinter dead?”: Cycling fans react to 2025 Vuelta a España route, with only one flat stage and four “very likely” to have bunch sprint finish
Is this the most brutal Grand Tour stage map… since the last Vuelta?
Perhaps not, but in case you missed it last night, the route for 2025 La Vuelta has been announced, and besides a surprising start in Torino, Italy and a snub to Andalucía (more on that in a minute), it seems that sprinters have been given the short end of the stick for the next year, with only one truly flat stage and maybe four which have the possibility of ending in a bunch sprint.
What was even confusing is that no one seems to be sure how the stages have been classified. The official Twitter of the Spanish Grand Tour account initially posted a video writing: “one flat stages [sic], 13 hilly and mountain stages, five hilly stages (2 with a high finish), one ITT, and one TTT.”
However, the post has been updated and now reads: “Four flat stages (one with a high finish), six hilly stages, five mountain stages, three hilly stages with high finish, one ITT, and one TTT.”
Other people also commented on the blurred lines between stage distinctions. I love how we commenters can’t agree on how many uphill/summit finishes are here. I don’t know myself. Each time I count, I get a different number. Nine, 10, 11, 13?” one person wrote, adding: “Definitely Roglič time.”
If you ask your live blog host (who’d like to think of possessing decent arithmetic skills), he’d count 10 uphill finishes in total. What’s he most excited about, you ask? Well, L’Angliru’s back baby!
🔥 #LaVuelta25 🔥
🛣 4 flat stages (1 with a high finish) / 4 etapas llanas (1 con un final en alto)
⛰ 6 hilly stages / 6 hilly stages
🏔️ 5 mountain stages / 5 etapas de montaña
〰️ 3 hilly stages with high finish / 3 etapas onduladas con final en alto
⏱ 1 ITT / 1 CRI
⏱ 1… pic.twitter.com/v6gRE4syhY— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) December 19, 2024
But what seemed to disappoint and bother most fans was the lack of flat stages favouring bunch finishes and going easy on the sprinters legs. Essentially, I can just see the first, eight and the last stage offering some respite to the those who struggle on the climbs, with a plausible likelihood of a sprint finish on stage 15 as well.
“‘One flat stages’ I’M CRYING… The sprinters shouldn’t even bother with this,” wrote Mihai Simion. Although, he added: “It’s not that bad for the sprinters actually. I count at least 4 stages which are very likely to end in a bunch sprint.”
However, some (looking at you, sprint stage haters) seemed to not mind it too much. “Sprinters are over. No one likes flat stages in 2024 and following. Stages should at least be hilly,” said one such sprint stage-hating fan. I’d like to vehemently express my disagreement.
Meanwhile, The Fantasy Cycling Podcast pondered: “Groves handled hilly days better than I thought he would this year. Milan as well at the Giro. Are the days of the pure sprinter dead?”
And yet some fans remained unimpressed: “Your average Vuelta, maybe even a tick harder with a bigger number of hard mountain finishes and fewer shorter/easier climbs. I like how the Angliru stage is longer. Probably could use a bit more ITT-ing though.”
But of course, the big question, does this abundance of uphill stages mean Tadej Pogačar, who has is yet to decide between doing the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta this year, come to Italy anyway for the third and final Grand Tour of the year? And if he does so, how many stages is he destined to win?
On the other hand, there’s always Roglič, who tends to excel in these hilly/mountainous conditions, and after a relatively convincing victory last year, would anyone want to bet against the four-time Vuelta winner in defending the red jersey?
Let us know your thoughts about the route, how many sprint and uphill finishes do you think there will be, and of course, what are your predictions for the winner in the comments.
“Jonas would never do this”: UN Road Safety Ambassador Tadej Pogačar using a phone while cycling???!
Imagine what the kids would make of this?! The men’s world champion using a mobile phone while cycling? And the UN Ambassador for Road Safety Campaign too?! If he did that in Japan, he could be imprisoned for six months! How will the UCI react to this?! With a yellow card?!!
Outro treino z2 para Pogacar pic.twitter.com/pc4QsZYagY
— O País Do Ciclismo (@opaisdociclismo) December 18, 2024
“Are they playing southern Spain is lava?”: Fans disappointed with 2025 Vuelta route avoiding over half of Spanish communities, but does it mean no more 1,000-km transfers from one side of the country to another?
The 2025 Vuelta route is garnering a lot of reactions from fans, and what is a Friday road.cc live blog without some good old fan reactions?
Besides the lack of flat stages for sprinters, there was another glaring omission from the route presented by the organisers last evening — the entirety of southern Spain.
In fact, not only are regions like Andalucía and Murcia snubbed, the southern-most point the Grand Tour will be visiting is Madrid — an egregious decision at best if you ask your live blog host. However, with the mercury likely to rise up to 40 in late August and early September, there’s chatter they didn’t want to put the peloton through treacherous conditions, making it especially alluring to riders whose Kryptonite is heat, *ahem* like Tadej Pogačar.
Or, they perhaps didn’t any deer crashing into the peloton…
Fans nonetheless seemed to be disappointed. One person wrote: “Are they playing Southern Spain is lava? Well in August, that might be true. I wonder if that could be a factor in their decisions.”
Another person wrote: “Tour de France route often gets people angry for not doing all French regions but that’s something else here.”
Meanwhile, one fan suggested: “Looks like the ‘Pogi, please come do the Vuelta’ edition of the race,” but another replied asking: “Not that I disagree with you, but at this point, what does a ‘Pog-unfriendly’ route even look like? Does it exist? Isn’t he still basically the favourite for literally every conceivable Vuelta route, barring, y’know, some kind of stupid 200km ITT nonsense?”
Another person said: “Heat and altitudes above 2000m have been his [Pogačar’s] traditional achilles heel. He seems to have addressed the heat issue, but this year’s Tour only had the Galibier, Tourmalet, Bonette, and (narrowly) Isola as climbs above 2000. Two of those came in the middle of the stage where they did little. So I don’t think we got a good sense whether he can still be vulnerable at high altitude. On the Galibier stage he at least ‘only’ put 35s into everyone.
“Maybe they should do 10 repeats of Col de la Loze in a row. He didn’t have much luck on that climb in 2020, and things famously went even worse for him in 2023.
“We have also never seen how well he deals with genuine rampas like the Angliru has where it’s just crazy steep for long stretches.”
Finally, there are also suggestions that the Vuelta organisers actively took such a decision to address sustainability issues, after they were accused of ill-planned transfers this year, costing them a terrible look in the commitment to reduce pro cycling’s carbon footprint.
The worst transfer for the riders and the teams, came after the stage nine, as the riders finished in Granada at 5:30pm in the evening and embarked on a “travelling circus” taking them 1,000km away to the north-west in the Galician town of Ponteareas — a move which was questioned by many at the time for not considering the environmental impact of such a transfer.
Huge puddle almost got a cyclist hit by a driver on a protected cycle lane, as council promises to carry out works next year
The drainage issues on the supposedly ‘protected’ cycle lane – previously described as a “good initiative badly implemented” – have been raised by cyclists throughout 2024, with the council promising to carry out works in the new year
The bike industry bad news roulette continues: Custom bike specialists Spoon and WyndyMilla enters liquidation
Moral of the day? No middle finger to officials during races!
What are we? Some sort of association football athletes?
Emma Finucane named BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
After much ado about the BBC neglecting cycling as a sport, and cyclists as sportspersons, there looks like there’s been a recent course correction at the public broadcaster’s HQ.
After fans were left “aghast” as Mark Cavendish was completely snubbed for the title of BBC Sports Personality of the Year, the Manx Missile who broke the record for the most Tour de France stage wins in his final season this year was awarded the “special” BBC Lifetime Achievement.
And now, BBC Cymru Wales has named Olympian Emma Finucane as its Sports Personality of the Year for 2024 — the 21-year-old from Carmarthen winning the title for the second consecutive year.
Finucane was one of the star performers for Team GB at the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning gold in the team sprint alongside Katy Marchant and Sophie Capewell in a new world record time, besides adding the keirin and individual sprint bronzes at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome.
The feat made her the first woman to win three medals at a single Olympic Games in 60 years, since British former track and field athlete Mary Rand achieved the same heroics at Tokyo 1964.
“When I heard the news I couldn’t believe it,” Finucane told BBC Sport Wales. “Obviously after winning my first one last year that was such a massive achievement for me, to be amongst so many names.
“I remember looking at the trophy last year, I was in awe of the names I was next to.
“Then to win it the next time… I think that’s crazy and I’m so honoured to be recognised by the whole of Wales. It’s such an honour to be a Welsh athlete and a Welsh rider – I’m just privileged to win this award, thank you.
“The Olympics was the best week of my life; honestly it was challenging, I challenged myself mentally and physically – it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do – but to come away with a gold and two bronzes, I couldn’t have done anything more.”
Maybe they do watch some cycling…
Mad Hatter turns writer: Luton Town fan launches book about cycling to every away game last season, with portion of proceeds going to charity
The man, the myth, the legend…
Mark Crowther, the “mad hatter” Luton Town FC fan who took up the challenge of cycling to every away game of his newly promoted team the 2023/24 season has released a book detailing his chronicles and sharing his experiences with mental health, with portion of the booksale proceeds going to Samaritans and MIND.
The 57-year-old has a knack for undertaking mammoth cycling challenges, and he had already raised over £25,000 for multiple charities by cycling to 116 football stadiums across the country in the span of five weeks.
With last season’s endeavour, he managed to raise £38,000 for various charities. Crowther said: “I’ve struggled with mental health for 20 years, and back then, it was like a bit of a taboo. It’s like you weren’t allowed to say that you’re struggling. I’m still on that journey, and I never consider it to be a journey where you reach the destination.
His book, titled Hatters Hills & Heroes, is on sale now for £16.99 and includes a foreword penned by Luton manager Rob Edwards and the team’s centre-back Tom Lockyer, reports the MKCitizen.
Crowther added: “Years ago, I just used to go to football, not speak to anyone, come home, because no one knew who I was. I even now struggle with less self esteem, self confidence, self worth.
“Everybody is so full of praise and so complimentary. It took me a while to embrace the compliments and the acknowledgements. I always thought subconsciously they were talking about someone else, so I struggled to take the compliments.
“But it just helps knowing that it’s the start of a conversation, and so many people have come up to me and said it’s helped them so much so knowing that I’m doing some good and trying to help raise the awareness.
“I really opened myself up to sharing my honest thoughts in the hope that it would help one person. The response was just amazing. I’m brutally honest about what I’ve been through, what I’m going through, because I just feel if it helps one person, then it’s been worth it.”
“It feels like we’re getting short changed”: Bike diversion route to send cyclists into “crowds of kids and parents” on “mud path” outside school
The bike path’s lack of progress has sparked safety fears, after the route was proposed as a diversion for cyclists due to an upcoming roundabout closure.
Be afraid, be very afraid… Tadej Pogačar obliterates famous Strava KOM
“I think it’s time”: Chris Froome says 2025 could potentially be his last season and suggests retiring at Vuelta would be a “nice way to close the circle”
We all knew it was coming, but it seems that one of the sport’s most accomplished riders is ready to finally call the curtains on his racing career.
Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome, attending the unveiling of the Vuelta a España route event, casually dropped the answer that was perhaps on everybody’s minds. Speaking to Eurosport, he said: “This is the race for me where it all began in 2011, in terms of riding of Grand Tours and I’ve got some really special memories and it was great to see all the history, all the past winners, and then of course to see the route presentation for next year.”
He said that he’d “very much” like to come back to the race which he first won with Team Sky 13 years ago, sparking a career that would embed him as a British cycling great and an overall icon of the sport, but also adding that if he does end up on the starting line in Piedmont for Israel-Premier Tech in August next year, it could very well be the last time.
“Next year would potentially be my last season racing and to finish at the Vuelta could be a really nice way to close the circle, having started at the Vuelta, to finish at the Vuelta as well. That could be very special,” he said.
“I think it’s time. Next year I’m going to be 40. It was always my goal to be racing until the age of 40, so I’m getting closer to that goal. I can be very happy with everything that I’ve been lucky to achieve in the sport.”
He continued: “Age is just a number! But we’re definitely getting a lot of really young riders, who are getting younger and younger it seems, the average age in the peloton.
“It’s great to see where the sport is going, and just how fast the sport is evolving.”
Froome added that the sport has changed a lot, “especially the last five years”. He said: “We’ve seen the sport really move forwards, especially in terms of the technological advances, the material, everything’s just getting faster. As I said, the average age of the peloton is also changing, we’re getting much, much younger riders turning professional and actually able to win races from a very young age.”
“It’s been really cool to witness it, not so easy sometimes. But especially after my accident in 2019, I’m really glad to have continued in the sport and had an opportunity to continue doing what I love.”
From his very public distaste for disc brakes and set-up and equipment issues, one involving where his bike was off by “centimetres” to frequent injuries, the last few years haven’t been kind to Froome. Earlier this year, there were rumours of a rift within the team and even a power struggle, which were denied by the two-time Vuelta winner. But despite his efforts, he was once again not selected for Israel-Premier Tech’s Tour de France squad.
Just a couple months ago, former Danish pro-turned-journalist and pundit Michael Rasmussen blasted Froome as “the worst signing in cycling history” after a disappointing performance at the Tour of Guangxi, which summed up his 2024 season — something the British rider will be hoping changes as he prepares for one last hurrah on the bike.
Froome also shared his thoughts about the 2025 Vuelta route as well, saying: “Like every Vuelta, it’s extremely hard, but I think next year, it’s especially difficult. Not just the final climbs, but during the stage there are so many really hard mountains, so it’s going to be a really tough Vuelta. Not so many time trial kilometres, only two shorter time trials. But like always, the Vuelta never disappoints. It’s always going to be spectacle.”
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Latest Comments
Oh sir! sir! Johnnys riding his bike without a helmet, he’s going to die when he falls off!, Yes what a silly boy he is ! Anyway jump in the car we’re going to be late for school and I hope no one gets in my way especially bleeding cyclists!! I wonder if AI will see what fools we are..
It's more about the nomex suit, car helmet and five point harnesses (with HANS), but "reply" ain't what it used to be...
'Gotten' ? The word is 'become', as in, I have become sick of seeing 'gotten'.
OK, all the stuff I said elsewhere on this thread in defence of helmets, I take it all back. I'd sooner be seen as an anti-lidder than be associated with that heap of steaming ordure.
Exactly my thoughts. A real shame, they're amazing bikes, same as Islabikes. Really sad to hear the news. Having said that, we probably didn't do enough to help them. My son had one Islabike and two Frogs, all second hand that we resold for about the same amount.
I couldn't agree more, and when we have all that everywhere I might think about leaving off the helmet, but until then if I have to share the road with huge fast-moving chunks of metal, many of them piloted by persons of limited intelligence and even less self control, I'm going to keep the lid, which even Burt agrees can "probably" offer some protection from injury.
And the irony is that helmet promotion and mandation kills lots of people and they don't reduce the death rate of cyclists. The benefits of cycling vastly outweigh the risks, and helmet promotion and mandation deter cycling (the only proven effect) so those deterred lose those benefits and die earlier.
I see Mont Pythons upper class twits have been replaced by male anti helmet twits who probably ride under 10000 km/year while wearing bike gloves, ladies bib capris, power meters to register the watts they dont produce ,gps because they are easily lost on a tiny island, a mobile phone to call the wifey in case the ride gets too hilly or wet or fast or windy, all while complaining their tushy hurts. They always ask for proof..you could crash a few times on purpose without and with a helmet and send us the pictures. Do pros complain about helmets?..if you rode in a country with sun you would know that styrofoam actually keeps your head cool.. Ps ice hockey players say they dont need mouthguards..ask them to smile
If it saves one life...
Pro cyclists wear helmets as it is mandated. Before it was mandated, very few wore them. Infrastructure, separation, 20 mph, traffic calming are far more important.
25 thoughts on ““I think it’s time”: Chris Froome says 2025 could “potentially” be his last season and suggests retiring at Vuelta would be a “nice way to close the circle”; UN Road Safety Ambassador Tadej Pogačar using phone on the bike?! + more on the live blog”
> The men’s world champion
> The men’s world champion using a mobile phone while cycling?
How does anyone think he films his jaunty little clips for his socials?
Quote:
? Last I heard, last week, he said he would make a choice between the Giro and the Vuelta once he’d seen the routes, have I missed something?
ETA – very cheeky editing without acknowledging the mistake!
Lets face it – if you could
Lets face it – if you could buy Chris Froome at the supermarket you could sue Tesco under the Trades description act – this racer can’t race.
I cant believe IPT were actually stupid enough to sign him without some kind of break clause before now.
He’s a delusional embarrisment to himself.
Doesn’t really matter to IPT
Doesn’t really matter to IPT though does it, they’ve only ever been a sportswashing outfit for Israel.
Slartibartfast wrote:
They are owned by an Israeli-Canadian, nothing to do with the Israeli government.
the little onion wrote:
They are owned by an Israeli-Canadian, nothing to do with the Israeli government.— Slartibartfast
Some folks never let facts get in the way of a good rant.
Sure.
Sure.
“Since moving to Israel in 2016, Adams has dedicated himself to strengthening and promoting the Jewish state’s positive global image, calling himself a “self-appointed ambassador-at-large for Israel.” He aims to show the world what he calls “normal Israel,” countering its often-negative portrayal in the media by revealing the country’s true beauty to large audiences worldwide. Adams has promoted this “normal Israel” and strengthened Israel’s international standing by bringing world-class cultural and sporting events to the country.”
If not sports washing for a genocidal state then what is it?
Unfortunately, you are right
Unfortunately, you are right sir.
Secret_squirrel wrote:
I dunno – he had a horrendous crash that he was lucky to survive. I mean, he is nothing physically like the rider he was, but I do like his attitude to at least try.
“Chris Froome says 2025 would
“Chris Froome says 2025 would potentially be his last season”.
His contract ends on 31 Dec 25. Save for a miracle of biblical proportions, 2025 will very much not ‘potentially’ be his last year.
Would be cool if he rode his
Would be cool if he rode his last race on a rim brake bike.
Just found this government
Just found this government petition on CUK forum. It’s a petition for presumed liability. Not a panacea but a step towards getting the law to match the highway code, in this case the hierarchy of responsibility.
I’ve signed and here is the link in case any one else would like to.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/700451
Just found this government
Just found this government petition on CUK forum
Well done for publicising this, and I signed it immediately- I hope many others follow suit. It was notable in the blurb about this particular petition that when ‘you’ are KSI’d, you’re not there to fight your corner, whereas the killer is right there with ‘I didn’t see him’, ‘I didn’t mean to do it’, ‘he just shot out in front of me, I didn’t stand a chance’ etc. which they spout to a highly receptive audience, the police. The police, in turn, are ready with their series of dodges- essentially they are: if you’re not KSI’d it wasn’t important, and if you are there’s insufficient evidence that it’s not the cyclist’s fault. You know this well from the Gloucestershire Dodge: no matter how close the close pass, the worst that can happen is the joke advice letter which is a source of pride to a BMW/ Audi (other nutter drivers are available) driver.
Signed – it’s put in a form
Signed – it’s put in a form which might possibly be considered eg. proposing this for *civil* claims rather than criminal cases. Same as in countries which do have “presumed liability” eg. NL.
Signed and promoted in a
Signed and promoted in a couple of my networks.
Chris Froome should retire
Chris Froome should retire immediately before more people forget how brilliant he was. A better climber and time trialler than pogacar (although it would be interesting to see what pogacar could do in a world champs TT if he made it a specific goal).
Mr Blackbird wrote:
That statement is not borne out by any comparison times between the two on significant Tour or training climbs or time trials, Pogacar is faster in almost every side-by-side comparison. Froome was brilliant, the best of his era, but Pogacar is probably the best of all time. It’s simply nonsense to claim that Froome is superior in either discipline but especially in climbing.
I agree that pogacar is
I agree that pogacar is probably the best all rounder of all time. And is potentially the best of all time. His breakaway performances to win stages and one day classics are amazing. He is better than Froome on shorter explosive climbs. However, I believe Froome was stronger on long mountain climbs. I think Pogacar has to win medals in world champs and olympic tts before he can be considered better at the discipline than Froome (it would be interesting to see what he could achieve if he made them a specific goal).
Pogacar’s performances in
Pogacar’s performances in this year’s Tour surely give the lie to the idea that he is inferior to Froome on long climbs, e.g. KOM on the Galibier and the astonishing time on Plateau de Beille; look back to last year and he took the KOM on the Tourmalet. He is objectively faster than Froome on any type of climb, including the longest high altitude ones. In terms of TTs, Froome has two Olympic bronzes and one WC bronze, pretty good but hardly marking him out as an all-time great in the discipline. He has four ITT stages from the twenty-one GTs he’s entered, a record Pogacar has already matched with four from seven races. Pogacar is also a triple winner of his national TT, beating the likes of Roglic, Polanc, Mohoric and Tratnik in the process.
And good chat! I’m going on
And good chat! I’m going on Zwift now. Have a good weekend.
Good points on the climbs.
Good points on the climbs. Winning any sort of medal in world or olympic tts is a huge step up. It means competing against specialists who have prepared specifically for the one-off event. Froome competed against Cancellara, Dennis, Wiggins, Martin, Demoulin. Pogacar has the likes of Ganna, Affini, Evenapoel, Van Aert and even Josh Tarling to contend with. I am not saying that he wouldn’t equal or better Froome’s record, but until he does well in these tts, I don’t think he can be considered the greatest ever.
I also think that both Froome
I also think that both Froome and Pogacar would have been world class 5000m and 10000m runners if they were runners. With Pogacar being better at 5000m and Froome having potential to be better at the marathon.
Merry Christmas from all Audi
Merry Christmas from all Audi drivers
Dave Walker
Dave Walker
https://diagramclub.substack.com/p/022-have-a-happy-christmas-everyone
What do we want?
What do we want?
More Cars
When do we want them?
Now !
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cje9k9399glo
Police have urged developers to “design out crime” ahead of hundreds of homes being built….to incorporate crime prevention measures, such as gated car parks, fewer paths in
I don’t know where to start with this one…