Twigo Wiggo is Brad to thin.

[eireman]

Best power to weight ratio ever Wiggo says but is he strong enough.
Has his this obession with weight loss gone to far.
Running is littered with athletes who became to thin and lost their strenght and now cycling seems to be going there to.
He is still the class act of UK cycling but doesnt seem the same guy who finished 4th last year. No tan worries me undernourished maybe under acheiving yes come on Brad dont let the scientists rule.

 

[scribe]

I think there is a maximum amount of adjustment that can be made to top notch athletes. Seems like some of these guys try to stretch it too far and find they are missing the energy for the motor they presumably optimized.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Very simple. He just can't stand the heat.

 

[erader]

Best power to weight ratio ever Wiggo says but is he strong enough.
Has his this obession with weight loss gone to far.
Running is littered with athletes who became to thin and lost their strenght and now cycling seems to be going there to.
He is still the class act of UK cycling but doesnt seem the same guy who finished 4th last year. No tan worries me undernourished maybe under acheiving yes come on Brad dont let the scientists rule.

you mean his head and mouth got bigger after the '09 tour ?

wigans reminds me of chris boardman -- one trick-pony but without boardman's class.

ed rader

 

[Straßenrennen]

Very simple. He just can't stand the heat.

+1 with this. Its damn hot and face it hes from england were a hot day is 25oC, if uve read his book he was worried about the track temp in Bejing when that wasnt much more 30oC and he was only racing for a short time period.

 

[gingerwallaceafro]

Best power to weight ratio ever Wiggo says but is he strong enough.
Has his this obession with weight loss gone to far.
Running is littered with athletes who became to thin and lost their strenght and now cycling seems to be going there to.
He is still the class act of UK cycling but doesnt seem the same guy who finished 4th last year. No tan worries me undernourished maybe under acheiving yes come on Brad dont let the scientists rule.

Have to agree with you Eireman, I think Wiggo has lost too much muscle - he looks listless like a boxer who has come down in weight too much.

 

[lookkg386]

We'll see the answer during the TT ,but he reminds me of Brad McGee's weight loss when he tried to be a GC rider.

 

[forty four]

all humans have an optimum power to weight ratios some are at there best with more muscle and fat others can go leaner and do well. but all are different if you try and force your body to do something it does not like you will lose performance period thats what were seeing with endurance sport induced anorexia. the sad thing is that if you take it to far its hard to return to what you once could do physically. not to mention white blood cells immunity testosterone etc....

 

[redtreviso]

Wiggins is a prime example of a bad influence in cycling,, and that is Lance Armstrong..Wiggins believes in the transformation of a broom evading groupettoist into a tour winner. If you don't like your genetically determined place in the peloton just change it.. In his case, starve to be a different kind of animal.

 

[fatsprintking]

Really it was Bjarne Riis who started all the weight loss stuff. In his case the equation was weight loss + epo (and the rest) = goes fasty up hill. You have to remember that Indurain was never super lean, but Riis went from 80 to 68kg and won the tour so that has kinda become the template.

Armstrong and Ullrich seemed to be able to get lean and still maintain some muscle mass, but Wiggins just looks like a skinny dude who is all head. As has been stated there seems to be a limit to how much you can adjust your natural composition before it becomes counterproductive.

 

[The Hitch]

Very simple. He just can't stand the heat.

+1 with this. Its damn hot and face it hes from england were a hot day is 25oC, if uve read his book he was worried about the track temp in Bejing when that wasnt much more 30oC and he was only racing for a short time period.

-1
we have heat here as well, and i think wiggins will have cycled in high temperatures many a time. Perhaps he would really suffer on a boiling day on the equator, but a hot day in france isnt going to kill him just because hes from england, or anyone for that matter regardless where they come from. i dont think it would prove to be so detremental.

 

[Mambo95]

you mean his head and mouth got bigger after the '09 tour ?

wigans reminds me of chris boardman -- one trick-pony but without boardman's class.

ed rader

Now, you can point and laugh and say 'Ha Ha, you couldn't get on the Tour podium, what a loser'. But the fact remains that he came 4th in the the Tour and has won three Olympic gold medals and numerous World Championships.

So he's not Contador, but he's achieved a hell of a lot in cycling and maybe you should give that some respect.

Unless of course you've done better.

 

[BroDeal]

No tan worries me undernourished maybe under acheiving yes come on Brad dont let the scientists rule.

No tan?? Englishmen are genetically predisposed to being pasty white.

You might want to consider that 2009 was a fluke caused by a neutered Tour de France route and a team that was soft peddling to keep Prance Oldstrong on the podium. Once the TdF route included mountains that were actually raced, Wigans was exposed for the pretender he is.

 

[Thee_chisa]

yeah, i never get why people have a go at him. he has had basically no money until he did well in the tour and he sought to maximise that by a big money transfer, to get some stability into his future. also he knows all the british cycling people very well as he spent most of his career with them. i think - money aside - he wanted to be on a team where he knew he would have all the possible advantages he could have and be based in the UK

 

[Ryaguas]

Wiggins is a prime example of a bad influence in cycling,, and that is Lance Armstrong..Wiggins believes in the transformation of a broom evading groupettoist into a tour winner. If you don't like your genetically determined place in the peloton just change it.. In his case, starve to be a different kind of animal.

I don't think so... no one has a genetically determined place in the peloton! some ppl have opportunities (and they take advantage of that) others don't... some ppl can manage the pressure others don't, some ppl are more mentally strong than others, some ppl have a better PREPARATION than others, that crap about genes is not true... if you prepare your self and if you can take advantage from the opportunities you can go really far... no one born with a mark that tells you "this guy is going to win 4 TdF, 5 giros and 8 Vueltas"...

about Wiggo...

He is pretty tired from Il Giro, also he maybe lost too much weight... 10kg was too much for him... IMO 5kg was OK... not everyone is Andy or Frank Schlek, they are really thin but they managed to keep the power... Wiggo has to realize that this form doesn't suit him and he has to recover power for the next year...

Also He has been underpressure since the start of La Grande Boucle that is taking his toll in his form, also the heat has affected him as the others riders even the Allmighty Pistolero has suffered the heat... Wiggo can't handle the pressure, is tired, his form is not good and his preparation was not the better...

 

[durianrider]

If we look at wiggo's BMI he is over the 17.5 that is considered to be clinically 'anorexic'.

At 190cm and weighing between 70-77kg depending on the time of year. Even at 70kg his BMI is still 19.4. Which isnt that low for an elite athlete.

Wiggo would have to get down to 62kg and get a BMI of 17.2 to be clinically classified as 'anorexic'.

Sure lots of riders cut weight by cutting out the junk but some ride clean and light and when they dont perform,people think its cos they are too light..

At the end of the day, only the riders themselves know what works and what doesnt for them.

Here is some photos of Tyler. During the 2003 TDF..

And here is a photo during off season, team photos.

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Ive raced in europe myself and have seen first hand the pressures riders have to be race weight and thats ok but there is a way to do it healthfully with a good nutrient dense diet/smart training and there is a way to do it via starvation and overtraining. Both yield a similar BMI but only one way lets you actually perform like you look like you should. Ive read a few of the nutritional reports TeamSky has put out and if the riders are limiting their carb intake like they say they are, then that means they are getting more calories from protein and fat and that equals heavy legs and being spat out the back when the hammer gets dropped. Why dont they have their riders riding with full glycogen tanks so they can train to that optimum BMI rather than starve and end up overtraining to reach the same BMI and then having depression due to serotonin production issues from lack of carbs and end up starting to relying on other methods to perform.

Ive spoken with Dr Ferrari (anyone can, he is an approachable guy) and even he says the biggest thing he sees with riders is not eating enough carbs to train proper.

Bottom line:When athletes start each day with full glycogen tanks and keep them full, they wont want to eat the junk that slaps on excess weight that drives the whole disordered eating/eating disorders that we see all too common in society/sports today.

Ive raced with riders that took appetite suppresants and almost went crazy from being so undercarbed. I said 'why not just eat proper and cut out the fatty, greasy,salty junk?'. Sometimes the solution is so simple, people are shocked at the answer..

Good to see Levi has worked it out over the last few years though. Wiggo should ask Levi about his diet.

 

[Hillavoider]

whatever he was on last year worked, what he is on this year hasn't, i think he has gone too hard on the thinning dope, i have forgotten its name, A something, and not hard enough on the straight EPO.

also, i don't recall wiggans riding up a hill let alone a mountain before 2009.

holy sh$t tyler looks terrible in that photo

 

[BillyFelt]

Have to agree with you Eireman, I think Wiggo has lost too much muscle - he looks listless like a boxer who has come down in weight too much.

+1. He's probably fine in the lab on a trainer, putting up good numbers but in the real show he's basically useless so far. Come on Bradleyman, eat a ham sandwich or something!

 

[scribe]

Really it was Bjarne Riis who started all the weight loss stuff. In his case the equation was weight loss + epo (and the rest) = goes fasty up hill. You have to remember that Indurain was never super lean, but Riis went from 80 to 68kg and won the tour so that has kinda become the template.

Armstrong and Ullrich seemed to be able to get lean and still maintain some muscle mass, but Wiggins just looks like a skinny dude who is all head. As has been stated there seems to be a limit to how much you can adjust your natural composition before it becomes counterproductive.

I think that is right. Some believe Armstrong benefited from the stripped mass as well. And I think this is entirely correct with the right chemistry administration. I think Armstrong got the mixture wrong this year as it looks something like this: age+weight loss+reduced program with the swirling investigation=15+minutes behind the leaders.

I also think Cancellara should never try to re-adjust his genetic disposition. It is wise that he continues to clobber the classics and 1 day events, ITTs, and possibly the hour record, and his contribution to Saxo at GTs cannot be understated in the least. It would be a career ruining adjustment to try to climb based on the weight ratio.

 

[durianrider]

Here are some more photos of how riders weights naturally differ depending on the season.

Lance during retirement. In 2008. Looks pretty fit for a retired person! Lance just works hard all the time and for certain times of the year, works harder/recovers more. Lance's nutritional advisor is Rip Esselstyn. Look him up.

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

And now photos of Lance with his cyclist body/legs.
Jan 2009

[/IMG].

July 2009.

[/IMG]


Carmichael says that Lance himself only holds that 'razors edge' for 4 weeks of the year otherwise its just too much on his immune system. When I went out training with Lance 5 months before that photo was taken, he for sure wasnt that ripped.

So for people looking to emulate pro athletes by trying to be super light, cut and fit 52 weeks of the year..heck not even the top pro's are and they do it full time. Having realistic goals and basic understanding of human physiology, whether we are a pro or a weekend warrior, is the healthiest and fun way to be athletic.



Cos at the end of the day, if it aint fun, it aint sustainable..

 

[the vagabond]

Don't think it's the weight. How many riders have you ever heard say they were too light and it affected their performance? Have you ever felt you were too light and it affected your performance? I've honestly never heard it in 20 years of cycling and bike racing - everybody seems to equate their best periods with their lightest periods.

As for Tyler, he's definitely thinner than Wiggins there, but he rode fine at that weight, won a stage that year and delivered the race winner, even if he was a bit juiced. How 'bout Schleck? Where's his muscle tone? He'd be laughed off most beaches. And Lance is definitely not too light.

Strange to me that society seems always to be obsessed with anorexia when it is so rare (especially among males), compared with being overweight, which is an out-of-control epidemic.

 

[The Arab]

Anorexia is just another addiction! Wiggo needs to make amends with his father "The Wig"!
signed
The Arab
(Downunder)

 

[scribe]

Don't think it's the weight. How many riders have you ever heard say they were too light and it affected their performance? Have you ever felt you were too light and it affected your performance? I've honestly never heard it in 20 years of cycling and bike racing - everybody seems to equate their best periods with their lightest periods.

As for Tyler, he's definitely thinner than Wiggins there, but he rode fine at that weight, won a stage that year and delivered the race winner, even if he was a bit juiced. How 'bout Schleck? Where's his muscle tone? He'd be laughed off most beaches. And Lance is definitely not too light.

Strange to me that society seems always to be obsessed with anorexia when it is so rare (especially among males), compared with being overweight, which is an out-of-control epidemic.

So you think Hincapie can go from the 170s and drop 40lbs down to Contador weight and do just fine? That's pretty much your understanding?

 

[fatsprintking]

Don't think it's the weight. How many riders have you ever heard say they were too light and it affected their performance? Have you ever felt you were too light and it affected your performance? I've honestly never heard it in 20 years of cycling and bike racing - everybody seems to equate their best periods with their lightest periods.

As for Tyler, he's definitely thinner than Wiggins there, but he rode fine at that weight, won a stage that year and delivered the race winner, even if he was a bit juiced. How 'bout Schleck? Where's his muscle tone? He'd be laughed off most beaches. And Lance is definitely not too light.

Strange to me that society seems always to be obsessed with anorexia when it is so rare (especially among males), compared with being overweight, which is an out-of-control epidemic.

A few years ago a number of the sprinters tried to thin down, cause they thought it would help them with races like MSR and with their initial jump, but the truth seemed to be that if you lost much weight you stood the chance of also giving up power and the effort to loose the weight often means that training quality suffers.

As has been stated a grand tour contender might maintain an unnaturally low weight for a few weeks, but to some extent I think you are rolling the dice and it does seem like Wiggo might have lost this bet.

 

[erader]

Now, you can point and laugh and say 'Ha Ha, you couldn't get on the Tour podium, what a loser'. But the fact remains that he came 4th in the the Tour and has won three Olympic gold medals and numerous World Championships.

So he's not Contador, but he's achieved a hell of a lot in cycling and maybe you should give that some respect.

Unless of course you've done better.

oh phleeez .

hey, talent-wise i've compared wigans to chris boardman! do you know who that is? wigans and team sky were in serious denial if they thought he could compete for the GC in this TDF...sorta like garmin with VDV.

last year's TDF was controlled by astana. this year is reality, and wigans is a bust.

erader