(Dis) respect for Le Maillot Jaune

[SuperH-]

nobody remembers LeMond v Hinault?
If Valverde was not up the road, Sky's DS's would have let Froome go win the stage, but that wasn't the situation. stupid to let him go if he didn't get the stage win, and it wasn't guaranteed that he would have caught Valverde. the seconds gained by Wiggo with Froome's help are way more valuable, it's the TdF, the yellow jersey means everything, another stage win for Sky doesn't mean ****.
the DS's did the right thing
Froomey did the right thing, his job
cycling is a complex sport that a lot of people really don't understand

Wiggins already had about 2"30" on nibali and nibali had dropped. How much more time does Wiggins need ? being a ITT specialist? They could clearly have let Froome go , as a reward for being such a good babysitter. "cycling is a complex sport that a lot of people really don't understand " .Understand it yourself first before saying such stuff

 

[JimPanzen]

Did Wiggo plan it all?

 

[Marcuccio]

This tour was set up for Wiggins - the team were told they'd be working to get Wiggins in to the yellow and keep him there. Froome has done an awesome job, specially considering if you asked the majority of fans who were in their top 3, it was probably Wiggo, Cadel and Nibali.

Some people are acting like Froome was riding yellow in to Paris and told to pull over and let Wiggins take it from him, like Massa used to do for Schumi back in the day.

 

[WinterRider]

Did Wiggo plan it all?

I was sure I'd see this picture posted in the forum. The smirk on his face crossing the line is so wide open to interpretation its just irresistible!

 

[kjetilraknerud]

I'd ride over the line with a smile if I knew I had won the tour too.

 

[CobbleStoner]

Wiggins already had about 2"30" on nibali and nibali had dropped. How much more time does Wiggins need ? being a ITT specialist? They could clearly have let Froome go , as a reward for being such a good babysitter. "cycling is a complex sport that a lot of people really don't understand " .Understand it yourself first before saying such stuff

guess you didn't read my post very well, or understand it

 

[Captain Sensible]

Indeed, its become super nationalistic in some areas.. All the British I know cheer for Sky and Wiggins 100%... its odd..

.

I'm 51 yrs old and I've yet to meet anyone who says their British before the country of their birth, apart from people born abroad who have a right to a British passport .
Sky have done a good job of getting people interested in cycling and do a lot of good things to encourage people to get out on their bikes which has to be good thing .So yes to many new fans to cycling they will cheer on Sky and Wiggins but hopefully if they carry on watching racing they will move on from just backing a team and rider just because he is British and watch more than just the Tour.
I'm not a Sky fan but not anti Sky either but if Wiggins goes on to win the Tour I will be happy as I never though a British rider would do that in my life time .

 

[johnnycash]

This tour was set up for Wiggins - the team were told they'd be working to get Wiggins in to the yellow and keep him there. Froome has done an awesome job, specially considering if you asked the majority of fans who were in their top 3, it was probably Wiggo, Cadel and Nibali.

Some people are acting like Froome was riding yellow in to Paris and told to pull over and let Wiggins take it from him, like Massa used to do for Schumi back in the day.

Indeed. Its not up to Sky to make the racing in this years tour interesting, they are there to bring the jersey back and that's it. If no other teams can get their act together to put in a reasonable challenge at some (any) point duing the race then its the other teams you should criticising for a poor tour. Not Sky.

They had a plan, and are going stick to it to the bitter end, if that means they miss out on the odd stage win, or ruffles the feathers of their domestiques, so be it. They won't get a better chance to secure yellow.You can't change leader mid-tour, Froome was too un-proven to be considered a leader.

I think people around the world underestimate just how important Wiggo winning in Paris would be for british cycling, other countries have had GT winners, world champions and classics winners, Brits have had pretty much nothing until Cav and Wiggo starting winning on the road.

 

[fatsprintking]

Indeed. Its not up to Sky to make the racing in this years tour interesting, they are there to bring the jersey back and that's it. If no other teams can get their act together to put in a reasonable challenge at some (any) point duing the race then its the other teams you should criticising for a poor tour. Not Sky.

They had a plan, and are going stick to it to the bitter end, if that means they miss out on the odd stage win, or ruffles the feathers of their domestiques, so be it. They won't get a better chance to secure yellow.You can't change leader mid-tour, Froome was too un-proven to be considered a leader.

I think people around the world underestimate just how important Wiggo winning in Paris would be for british cycling, other countries have had GT winners, world champions and classics winners, Brits have had pretty much nothing until Cav and Wiggo starting winning on the road.

Not sure what Tom Simpson would think of that. Hoban and Boardman were not bad either. I know they are Irish but I would have thought there was at least a bit of reflected glow from Kelly and Roche, but anyway there you go.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I'd ride over the line with a smile if I knew I had won the tour too.

It's not a smile. Wiggo never smiles. Duh.

 

[hrotha]

Nothing much. The only thing he said about Nibali is that they knew he wasn't going anywhere with his attacks on stage 16. I don't get what the controversy is about... he was just being honest.

If you read between the lines, and combined with his wife's tweets, everything he's said about this race comes across as incredibly smug. Saying that Nibali and Van den Broeck can try all they want, because they'll just bring them back, and then saying again that they *knew* Nibali wasn't going anywhere days later... Of course, it's a subjective interpretation, but it's pretty clear to me.

 

[johnnycash]

Not sure what Tom Simpson would think of that. Hoban and Boardman were not bad either. I know they are Irish but I would have thought there was at least a bit of reflected glow from Kelly and Roche, but anyway there you go.

Tommy Simpson died over 40 years ago and people still talk affectionately about him, i think that highlights how big a win for Wiggo (or Froome for that matter) at the tour would be.

its like football fans going on about when we won the world cup, I hardly think England could be considered a nationally sucessful side based on this single achievement a long long time ago.

 

[BroDeal]

like Massa used to do for Schumi back in the day.

It is way worse than that. Schumi was better than Massa. He just needed points for the championship. Here we have Froome not only being ordered not to win stages (races) but being prevented from winning the overall (championship) when he could easily do both. Massa was never in that position.

Wiggins has no more credibility than Pereiro.

 

[stampedingviking]

It is way worse than that. Schumi was better than Massa. He just needed points for the championship. Here we have Froome not only being ordered not to win stages (races) but being prevented from winning the overall (championship) when he could easily do both. Massa was never in that position.

Wiggins has no more credibility than Pereiro.

Utter b*llocks, Froome has PROVED nothing.

 

[Apollonius]

I suspect the only reason Froome didn't attempt a big move across the last few weeks is because he lacks self belief. He'd rather play the martyr and act like a petulant child than go out and put his name on the line.
I personally don't believe he'd have the legs to put out a sustained attack, he'd get reeled back over the course. It's easy for him to say he could have done this or he might have done that but in the end he did absolutely nothing. If he really did have it in him to go out and win then he's an absolute disgrace and should be ashamed of himself but it's more likely he knew that a little push here and there at the end of a stage is the best he could have done.

Either way he comes across as a complete moron.

 

[johnnycash]

I think people are being a bit harsh on both Wiggo and Froome.

You're wrong, Froome has proved he is the best GC climber in this years tour, its a no-brainer. Plus he's in 2nd, so he has proved enough. But all his quick accelerations and looking back is just a blatant publicity stunt to get guys like us saying he is better than Wiggo, which at high climbing, he is.

But Wiggo beat him on the hilly TT and may yet still destroy the flat TT. Froome has looked cooked on a number of occasions, no-one (will ever) know how much time he could have put into Brad on these climbs but does it matter? If he's so good he'll lead a team and win the next tour. Sky have invested far too much in Wiggo to drop him now. They couldn't have concluded Wiggo was weaker after the Vuelta as he was just back from injury and screwed up his ITT.

 

[Carols]

The Tour is not just about the climbs, and Wigans has been stronger in the ITTs so far, and on certain climbs has actually looked better than Froome. I wouldn't say Froome was definitely stronger without having seen them go on an actual duel. All we saw is that Froome has a better acceleration.

Yes you're correct. In the heat of the moment having just finished watching the stage and screaming at the tv...'Let Him Go' I was emotional

We'll never know since Froome was shackled.....at times he has certainly appeared to be able to drop Wiggins in the mountains. But dropping and cracking are 2 different things.

Tomorrows ITT will tell a lot. If Wiggo dusts him good it won't be to much of a debate.

Hopefully we'll get to see them as rivals at some point and both with the same form

 

[webbie146]

 

[Anonymous]

I disagree entirely. Wiggins was the best anyway and might not have lost more than a minute or so all told (and the word is 'might').

I am convinced Bradley would reel in any brief breakaway by Froome.

He'll rub that in on the time trial.

 

[JimPanzen]

I suspect the only reason Froome didn't attempt a big move across the last few weeks is because he lacks self belief. He'd rather play the martyr and act like a petulant child than go out and put his name on the line.
I personally don't believe he'd have the legs to put out a sustained attack, he'd get reeled back over the course. It's easy for him to say he could have done this or he might have done that but in the end he did absolutely nothing. If he really did have it in him to go out and win then he's an absolute disgrace and should be ashamed of himself but it's more likely he knew that a little push here and there at the end of a stage is the best he could have done.

Either way he comes across as a complete moron.

Co-Sign.....