Wiggins, Clinic respect?

[noddy69]

What, you mean the few seconds that Nibali and a few others lost at Peyragudes. Evans finished with Wiggins at La Planche des Belles Filles. Nibali finished with Wiggins at the other stage in the Alps. It was hardly a bloodbath.

Really what your suggesting is Wiggins is good enough clean to beat riders who are doped ?

or you dont believe any top riders dope?

either way it doesn't add up i'm afraid.

 

[martinvickers]

Roche is not a threat. Quintana is. Sky should be worried about him.

I don't think roche is a threat. But he's well capable of towing quintana away, and Sky suddenly having to pull with no help from Saxo or Movistar. He's a useful second jab, lets put it that way.

 

[thehog]

True, but what dio you do if you're down to Froome and porte, and you have both Valverde and Qunitana and Contador and Roche - and suddenly Roche and Quintana shoot up the road - do you burn out Porte knowing both Valverde and Contador, and possibly Purito are lurking?

Roche - shooting up the road?

Riiiiiight.

Is this before or after Sky decimate the entire pelo(e)ton?

 

[Non Grimpeur]

Really what your suggesting is Wiggins is good enough clean to beat riders who are doped ?

or you dont believe any top riders dope?

either way it doesn't add up i'm afraid.

In a TT, I believe a clean Wiggins can beat a lot of dopers because most of them are climbers who can't TT.

So you believe that most of last year's TDF top riders were dopers? I'm not saying you are wrong. But tell me what type of average TT speed or mountain performance do you believe is evidence of clean riding?

 

[hrotha]

The big difference between Wiggins and someone like Boardman (who finished 2nd in Dauphine and Romandie) is that some way or another Wiggo could recover and last three weeks.

No, the difference is that Boardman demonstrated his climbing skills almost right away on the road.

 

[Non Grimpeur]

No, the difference is that Boardman demonstrated his climbing skills almost right away on the road.

No he didn't. In 1994, his first year as a continental pro at the age of 26, he could not climb with the best riders.

It wasn't until the 1995 Dauphine Libere that Boardman showed he could climb really well. A time when he had pretty much decided on pursuing a road rather than a pure track career at age 26/27.

Wiggins just decided to do the same at 29.

 

[the sceptic]

In a TT, I believe a clean Wiggins can beat a lot of dopers because most of them are climbers who can't TT.

So you believe that most of last year's TDF top riders were dopers? I'm not saying you are wrong. But tell me what type of average TT speed or mountain performance do you believe is evidence of clean riding?

Do you think a clean Wiggins could climb with juiced Contador and Armstrong?

 

[Non Grimpeur]

Do you think a clean Wiggins could climb with juiced Contador and Armstrong?

Are you referring to the 2009 tour and saying that Wiggins must have been doped to stay with them? Not in the third week he couldn't.

 

[the sceptic]

Are you referring to the 2009 tour and saying that Wiggins must have been doped to stay with them? Not in the third week he couldn't.

He beat Lance on Verbier. Thats all i need to know.

Also, if he can beat doped opponents in the ITT, why did he never do it before 2012?

 

[Non Grimpeur]

He beat Lance on Verbier. Thats all i need to know.

Also, if he can beat doped opponents in the ITT, why did he never do it before 2012?

He beat Armstrong in 2009 at Annecy.

 

[hrotha]

No he didn't. In 1994, his first year as a continental pro at the age of 26, he could not climb with the best riders.

It wasn't until the 1995 Dauphine Libere that Boardman showed he could climb really well. A time when he had pretty much decided on pursuing a road rather than a pure track career at age 26/27.

Wiggins just decided to do the same at 29.

Whoa, it took him a whole season! How does that compare to Wiggins's 8?

 

[Non Grimpeur]

Whoa, it took him a whole season! How does that compare to Wiggins's 8?

Just a matter of priorities and focus.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

2009 was a bit of a fluke for Wiggins. He decided to lose some weight and climbed with the front group in the Giro for a couple of weeks.

No he didn't.

He lost 30" and was 34th in the San Martino di Castrozza stage which was basically a sprint of the elites. Better than he'd managed before, sure. He was 21st on Alpe di Siusi, and caused David Harmon to have a coronary as he rode past Cunego, which was his crowning glory, but that was a 125km one-climb stage on a tempo climb, and he still lost 1'47". In the 260km Cuneo-Pinerolo stage with Moncenisio, Sestrières and Pra Martino, he was last in the group that came in 12 minutes down, hardly climbing with the front group.

Those were the only mountain stages in the first two weeks, so please point to me where this great climbing potential was shown?

What the Giro showed was that he wasn't a total klutz in the mountains, not that he was some kind of great climbing talent just waiting to be unlocked.

 

[Non Grimpeur]

No he didn't.

He lost 30" and was 34th in the San Martino di Castrozza stage which was basically a sprint of the elites. Better than he'd managed before, sure. He was 21st on Alpe di Siusi, and caused David Harmon to have a coronary as he rode past Cunego, which was his crowning glory, but that was a 125km one-climb stage on a tempo climb, and he still lost 1'47". In the 260km Cuneo-Pinerolo stage with Moncenisio, Sestrières and Pra Martino, he was last in the group that came in 12 minutes down, hardly climbing with the front group.

Those were the only mountain stages in the first two weeks, so please point to me where this great climbing potential was shown?

What the Giro showed was that he wasn't a total klutz in the mountains, not that he was some kind of great climbing talent just waiting to be unlocked.

So why couldn't he take some confidence from the Giro climbs to the Tour? History shows that the Giro can help riders build form for the Tour. Lemond in 1989 and 1990 is a good example of this,

 

[hrotha]

There's a bit of myth surrounding Wiggins's actual weight anyway.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

So why couldn't he take some confidence from the Giro climbs to the Tour? History shows that the Giro can help riders build form for the Tour. Lemond in 1989 and 1990 is a good example of this,

I'm not saying he couldn't. He could. I'm saying that your statement that he climbed with the front group for two weeks at the Giro is an exaggeration, because he quite demonstrably didn't.

 

[Non Grimpeur]

No he didn't.

He lost 30" and was 34th in the San Martino di Castrozza stage which was basically a sprint of the elites. Better than he'd managed before, sure. He was 21st on Alpe di Siusi, and caused David Harmon to have a coronary as he rode past Cunego, which was his crowning glory, but that was a 125km one-climb stage on a tempo climb, and he still lost 1'47". In the 260km Cuneo-Pinerolo stage with Moncenisio, Sestrières and Pra Martino, he was last in the group that came in 12 minutes down, hardly climbing with the front group.

Those were the only mountain stages in the first two weeks, so please point to me where this great climbing potential was shown?

What the Giro showed was that he wasn't a total klutz in the mountains, not that he was some kind of great climbing talent just waiting to be unlocked.

Show me the evidence that Wiggins is doped? I don't see him blasting away in the mountains climbing with his mouth shut. I know there is good reason to question all cyclists these days but he has the motor and carries less weight.

This is not rocket science. Hinault and Lemond started their seasons overweight and lost the kilos before the Tour.

Has Wiggins lost weight through drugs? I don't know. It is possible and I can't deny that. He has the power though. His depressive personality reminds me of Lemond. I don't think Wiggins could cope with being exposed as a cheat.

 

[Non Grimpeur]

I'm not saying he couldn't. He could. I'm saying that your statement that he climbed with the front group for two weeks at the Giro is an exaggeration, because he quite demonstrably didn't.

That's fair enough. i stand corrected here.

 

[JimmyFingers]

There's a bit of myth surrounding Wiggins's actual weight anyway.

It's up there with Nessie and Roswell

 

[Gregga]

There's a bit of myth surrounding Wiggins's actual weight anyway.

Do you mean that as LA he's not that light and actually didn't lose 8kg ?
(I remember reading Armstrong was actually lighter in 93 than 99-05)

 

[Benotti69]

And your point is exactly?

Your claim to Wiggins being able to climb with the front group down to weight loss. The guy was skin and bone in 2001!

Wiggins dopes. The weight story is crap.

 

[BroDeal]

Your claim to Wiggins being able to climb with the front group down to weight loss. The guy was skin and bone in 2001!

Wiggins dopes. The weight story is crap.

Yup. He is pulling an Armstrong. It is taking off-season, out of shape weight in a fat year and comparing it to Tour weight in a good year.

Take a look at Wiggums when he was racing for the French teams. Eight kilograms? Give me a break.

 

[Ferminal]

Roche - shooting up the road?

Riiiiiight.

Is this before or after Sky decimate the entire pelo(e)ton?

You're underestimating Barnie's resourcefulness.

 

[gooner]

So much for Stephen Roche saying Riis helped improve Nicolas's TT by adding 25 watts to his power output. I have seen nothing of the sort so far. He'll be powerless against Sky.

 

[Ferminal]

Whoa, it took him a whole season! How does that compare to Wiggins's 8?

He was pretty good in the '94 Dauphine, although the route may have been a bit weak. In that race he won an elite prologue, elite TT and a hilly road stage (breakaway?), took Wiggins 11 years to tick off those three.