Three days of de Panne - 29th to 31st March

[Eyeballs Out]

I get the impression all is not rosy between Sky and Wiggins

 

[Jamsque]

Motivation has always been Wiggo's biggest problem but I honestly thought he had sorted himself out in 2009. It seems he is back to the bad old days of not really caring about racing beyond one or two goals, and getting very easily discouraged.

He should have stayed at Garmin.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Brammeier has put in the only decent time so far.

 

[roundabout]

wonder why Guarnieri and Ciolek bothered starting

 

[Francois the Postman]

I get the impression all is not rosy between Sky and Wiggins

I expect Sky has learned an expensive lesson. And that's after eating humble PR pie.

 

[superconfex]

Motivation has always been Wiggo's biggest problem but I honestly thought he had sorted himself out in 2009. It seems he is back to the bad old days of not really caring about racing beyond one or two goals, and getting very easily discouraged.

He should have stayed at Garmin.

Agree jam; think he’s got the Olympics on his mind and he thinks he's made with his huge pay packet at SKY

 

[Anonymous]

Motivation has always been Wiggo's biggest problem but I honestly thought he had sorted himself out in 2009. It seems he is back to the bad old days of not really caring about racing beyond one or two goals, and getting very easily discouraged.

He should have stayed at Garmin.

youve got to wonder how sky would have done if wiggins hadnt ridden.

Swift, Sutton etc wouldnt have been sent back to get him on stage 1 so would have been in the front group with Hendo and Downing instead. Decent leadout and Hendo wins stage 1. Same on stage 2, going into the tt Henderson would be at the top of the GC and possibly a few other riders wouldnt have been eliminated.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

I expect Sky has learned an expensive lesson. And that's after eating humble PR pie.

Seems to be a two way thing. Team thinks rider isn't quite what they thought he was when they bought him. Rider thinks team isn't quite what he thought they were when he joined them.

And they're both right

 

[Christian]

To be fair Wiggins is fairly straightforward about it all, he recently said that he is "just keeping busy" between Olympics

 

[sublimit]

I am kinda glad that Wiggins wissed the cut. I would have hated to see him win this afternoon, with an attitude like that. Just leave the race glory for the guys that do show up and care.

Yeah, quite a lame statement on twitter, soft pedal for 3 days then come out with that..
I'd rather see other riders given a go, Knees, Froome, Carlstrom or anybody else motivated to ride basically.

 

[Anonymous]

Seems to be a two way thing. Team thinks rider isn't quite what they thought he was when they bought him. Rider thinks team isn't quite what he thought they were when he joined them.

And they're both right

I think sky have been everything he could have hoped for, they gave him a huge salary, a lead role in the team, and they are willing to screw up entire races protecting him like proved this week. What more does he expect?

 

[TourOfSardinia]

The new Cossack is out on the piste!

 

[Jamsque]

I don't have a problem with Wiggo prioritising the Olympics ahead of road racing, but if that is what he really wants then he should be going to track worlds instead of soft-pedalling through a race he had a legitimate chance of winning and then complaining about how tough his week has been. There are plenty of guys at Sky who would have loved to race De Panne.

 

[Jamsque]

King Canuti sets a new best time.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

You'd think that with such a small field that a whole load of guys would fancy their chances at a decent result or even a stage win. Yet so far, only Canuti and Brammeier have put in a remotely decent time.

 

[sublimit]

A bit of a step up from riding for An Post Kelly but Brammier is doing OK for HTC so far, has a lot of fight in him and trying hard which is what its about in the end.

 

[wirral]

Kirby confuses overall time with time trial time. I can't take it.

 

[roundabout]

Nice little traffic jam after Roelandts DNSed (?). Hopefully Lorenzetto won't need the car for a bit.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Oh for Christ's sake, we've still only got two halfway decent times.

 

[Roland Rat]

I don't have a problem with Wiggo prioritising the Olympics ahead of road racing, but if that is what he really wants then he should be going to track worlds instead of soft-pedalling through a race he had a legitimate chance of winning and then complaining about how tough his week has been. There are plenty of guys at Sky who would have loved to race De Panne.

Yep. He really should leave the road to the guys who care. If you don't want any responsibility, then don't be a team leader and drag everyone else's races down with you. He seems to be succumbing to the track "only the Olympics matter" attitude. And when your only event is the team pursuit, then that's pretty poor.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Ok, Kluge and Van Winden got the finger out a bit too, so now there are four respectable times.

 

[Francois the Postman]

Rain on its way by the sound of it. Sky is crying....

 

[Francois the Postman]

Owh god Kirby, enough already.

 

[skidmark]

I think sky have been everything he could have hoped for, they gave him a huge salary, a lead role in the team, and they are willing to screw up entire races protecting him like proved this week. What more does he expect?

I think maybe he was expecting Manchester United, and realized that as far as cycling teams go, you don't get much better than Wigan.

 

[Jamsque]

I get the feeling that the switch back to track is just another excuse for Wiggo. After Beijing he had three Olympic golds and six rainbow jerseys, which is everything he could have hoped for on the track barring the individual pursuit world record, and even without that he was clearly the best pursuit rider of his generation. With the IP gone from London 2012 it made sense for him to ditch the track and spend the rest of his career on the road, and for a while it looked like that was his plan.

2009 was obviously a great year for him but 2010 was a huge let-down and I think he would rather run back to the comparative comfort of the track than tough it out on the road. It's not as though Team GB is short on guys for the TP squad. Using 2012 as an excuse to not really try on the road is a big mistake, it puts a ton of pressure on him and if he doesn't lead the team to gold next year he is going to have effectively wasted more than a year of his career.