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Chris Froome was injured for this years race and it wasn't the same without him this year. The 4 time champion was missed and I think it made the race closer than what it would have been. Froome was in no shape and his list of injuries show you how bad his accident was.A broken neck,femur,hip,elbow and ribs is really messed up, but he is ahead of schedule on his recovery.
Team Ineos formerly Team Sky has dominated the Tour de France over the last decade and looks to continue dominating into the future. Seven wins in the last 8 years with 4 different champions. Wiggins,Froome,Thomas and now Bernal. The scary thing is they would have had Froome had he not crashed a few weeks before the Tour started. Froome I think is stronger than Thomas and Bernal from what I have seen this year. Bernal and Thomas were hesitant to take the race by the scruff of the neck whereas Froome would have attacked a week before already.
What must the other teams think as they only have one realistic rider who can compete in the yellow jersey competition. This is the difference form the team that have and the have not's and it is showing in the results. Team Ineos is backed by the richest man in England and this is his new marketing tool. unless the other teams can find someone with deep pockets they have no chance.
The one good thing is the CEO and founder of Ineos, Jim Ratcliffe has publicly laid down the law to the team and it's management. No doping will be tolerated and if caught they will pull out of cycling altogether. I wish more teams would lay down the laws to the teams as cycling needs a face lift and a new image.
There are nine racers in the team who compete at the race and Ineos is now looking at adding one more rider to strengthen the team. Movistar 's Richard Carapaz is rumored to be moving to Ineos for 2020 which would give them 4 members out of 9 that could all be fighting for yellow. Will Froome ,Thomas and Bernal be happy with not being the leader of the team and deciding to support who is leading going into the last week.
Team Sky's strength in the past was the supporting roles given to the leader. firstly when Wiggins won ,Froome looked stronger that year and he stayed supporting his teams captain. When Thomas won last year Froome backed down as team leader and supported Thomas so it is possible, but having 4 possible winners in one team could lead to issues. I wouldn't want to play second fiddle to others if I could possibly win. Froome has to be number one when they start and if they support him properly he will win again. The 4 time champion I feel would have won this year and the podium would have had 1,2 and 3 all from Ineos.
Managing a team of superstars will be a juggling act and one that wont be easy. Next year I look forward to seeing a team consisting of three former champions. I just hope it doesn't become to boring and someone with deep pockets takes on team Ineos in 2020.
