Wiggins Discussion thread.

[willbick]

Yeah cos post 2009 Wiggins really struggles with climbs doesn't he.

He doesnt have the big explosive power for short sharp Flanders type climbs. Long drags suit him much better

 

[Gloin22]

Yeah cos post 2009 Wiggins really struggles with climbs doesn't he.

didnt know Mount Ventoux was a 400 metres 25% climb..

Thx mate for letting us know

 

[theyoungest]

Ok. I just don't see why. He's just a packfilling domesqique now. It's like discussing where Maarten Wynants finished.

It's just fun to see Wiggo up front on the climbs in Flanders, he seems totally out of place and yet he doesn't. And given his Giro antics last year, I'd have expected him to be too afraid to even finish this race.

 

[The Hitch]

didnt know Mount Ventoux was a 400 metres 25% climb..

Thx mate for letting us know

Cuena las Cabres is 24 %

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Ok. I just don't see why. He's just a packfilling domesqique now. It's like discussing where Maarten Wynants finished.

Maarten Wynants actually finishes arround 10th place in PR quite often.....

 

[pastronef]

Yeah cos post 2009 Wiggins really struggles with climbs doesn't he.

sorry wise man, I should've said Bergs, Flandrian cobbled 18% bergs. I beg your pardon.
I don't know if you re-read your posts, but ANY sentence not including something negative about Wiggo, is immediately replied to and corrected.
wow, amazing.

by the way, Wiggo was 32nd, 18 sec behind Sagan, and in front of some good riders more suited for these kind of races like Paolini, Phinney (yes I know Taylor was tired after being in the break) Quinziato, Hushovd, Boom (yes I know Boom injured his elbow) Hayman, Trentin etc.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Yeah cos post 2009 Wiggins really struggles with climbs doesn't he.

Well he does with these short, sharp cobbled climbs! Completely different to the gradual ascent he likes, or at least used to like.

Not bad from him today, I expected a DNF. Maybe it's possible he could actually top 10 in PR.

 

[JRanton]

I see Sky will be riding for EBH at Roubaix:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/thomas-frustrated-with-performance-at-tour-of-flanders

That'll end well...

 

[Ripper]

sorry wise man, I should've said Bergs, Flandrian cobbled 18% bergs. I beg your pardon.
I don't know if you re-read your posts, but ANY sentence not including something negative about Wiggo, is immediately replied to and corrected.
wow, amazing.

by the way, Wiggo was 32nd, 18 sec behind Sagan, and in front of some good riders more suited for these kind of races like Paolini, Phinney (yes I know Taylor was tired after being in the break) Quinziato, Hushovd, Boom (yes I know Boom injured his elbow) Hayman, Trentin etc.

Wiggo was packfill, the others, for the most part, played a role in the actual race.

 

[Ripper]

I see Sky will be riding for EBH at Roubaix:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/thomas-frustrated-with-performance-at-tour-of-flanders

That'll end well...

It will end better than if they ride for Wiggs.

 

[spanky wanderlust]

wow. this is a lot of attn paid to a rider who finished in 32nd place.

am i missing something here?

 

[arvc40]

wow. this is a lot of attn paid to a rider who finished in 32nd place.

am i missing something here?

Everyone wishes he would stop talking **** !. Win a race for once.

 

[CycloAndy]

wow. this is a lot of attn paid to a rider who finished in 32nd place.

am i missing something here?

People (myself included) doubted his ability for PR based on an inability to handle the cobbles. Whilst 32nd place isn't amazing, he showed a decent ability on the cobbles that could mean a decent placing in PR, which suits his other characteristics much better.

I still don't expect him to win PR but a finish or a long spell out front with the leaders seems possible at least.

 

[arvc40]

32nd place today. Good job.

Yes, good job. 32nd is a good effort. His Nan will be proud. No use for the Team at all today. Good luck next week Sir Wigg

 

[karlboss]

Hilarious. What a perfectly Wiggins ride from Wiggins. Did nothing, showed nothing, ended nowhere. Rode like he has decent form just doesn't give a ****.

 

[Nuash65]

wow. this is a lot of attn paid to a rider who finished in 32nd place.

am i missing something here?

No, because you came to this thread so you wouldn't miss a chance to belittle Wiggo and fans.

 

[hatcher]

It's like people didn't even watch the race.

He was with Thomas the entire way round, sheltering him, getting him to the front at the important times, and doing a great team job. After the big crash he did a lot of riding on the front getting Thomas back to the front group.

 

[hatcher]

wow. this is a lot of attn paid to a rider who finished in 32nd place.

am i missing something here?

You're missing the fact it's a Tour de France winner who based the front of his season around Paris-Roubaix. That is not a common occurrence, and this was the first test of his form. The fact that he was with the front group the final time up the Kwaremont is noteworthy. Especially as he was riding for someone else, and wasn't even in the team until a few days ago.

 

[spanky wanderlust]

he finished between jan barta and some guy named andrey bakkazhakova, who i've never even heard of.

i'll have to google him because he is clearly now a favorite for pr. i mean, since he finished 33rd in flanders!

(rushes off to post in the bakkazhakova appreciation thread. wait, what? where is it? did someone delete it?)

sorry. i'm being snarky. i'll stop.

good ride wiggo!

 

[Nuash65]

Hilarious. What a perfectly Wiggins ride from Wiggins. Did nothing, showed nothing, ended nowhere. Rode like he has decent form just doesn't give a ****.

Are you mates with G to have this insight?

Elsewhere I've read (Sam Hocking http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/thomas-frustrated-with-performance-at-tour-of-flanders ) "Top ride by Wiggins apparently who did a lot of work to get Thomas back to the Cancellera group after Thomas smashed into the central reservation" but you obviously have confirmation that this wasn't the case ...

Or did you base your post on nothing more than your prior prejudice against him?

 

[karlboss]

It's like people didn't even watch the race.

He was with Thomas the entire way round, sheltering him, getting him to the front at the important times, and doing a great team job. After the big crash he did a lot of riding on the front getting Thomas back to the front group.

I watched the coverage start to finish, and you're definitely overstating it. Wiggins and Thomas are easy to spot with the union flags on their sleeves and were often not together. The one time he may have really helped was after the big crash there was a lone sky rider aiding the chase to bring the favourites back, but I couldn't tell you if it was Wiggins or not because we didn't get a close up. I'd assume it was.

 

[arvc40]

No Win today. No Win next Week. End

 

[The Hitch]

sorry wise man, I should've said Bergs, Flandrian cobbled 18% bergs. I beg your pardon.
I don't know if you re-read your posts, but ANY sentence not including something negative about Wiggo, is immediately replied to and corrected.
.

People say Wiggins can't climb. Their being negative
I say he can climb, I'm being negative.

Make up your ****ing mind.

You've clearly paid no attention to what I actually wrote and are attacking me purely for comments I made about Wiggins in other non related threads. If I was on the opposite side of the discussion and saying that Wiggins can't climb you would make the exact same accusations at me.

You may notice that this - the Wiggins appreciation thread, was started by none others than me - the hitch, so no I do not have any pre bias against Wiggins, I have merely over the years been repulsed by some of his bullying and otherwise disgusting behavior, like insulting Garmin, not giving froome his prize money, making offensive jokes at a charity event etc.

None of which I mentioned in my post. I commented on the discussion pointed out that Wiggins was a world class climber. He came top 5 on Angliru afterall.

To get back to the discussion instead of the personal stuff you sidetracked it with, you say cobbled climbs are not the same as mountains, no they aren't. But neither are the flat cobbles of Paris roubaix. Why should the cobbles of roubaix suit him more is what I was getting at. your first post suggested that they would. The point I was trying to make is that Wiggins in the flandrian classics is going up against 80kg sprinters and flat domestiques. No, the 18% gradients might not be ideal for him. But they sure as hell suit him more relative to flat cobbles than the likes of Degenkolb or van summeren.

Who do you think is going to be more relieved that the cobbles are on flat roads now? The guys who''ve never in their lives finished in the lead group of a race with so much as a categorized climb in it, or a guy who outclimbed Nibali in 2 successive gts?

 

[karlboss]

Are you mates with G to have this insight?

Elsewhere I've read (Sam Hocking http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/thomas-frustrated-with-performance-at-tour-of-flanders ) "Top ride by Wiggins apparently who did a lot of work to get Thomas back to the Cancellera group after Thomas smashed into the central reservation" but you obviously have confirmation that this wasn't the case ...

Or did you base your post on nothing more than your prior prejudice against him?

Brad Wiggins, Tour de France champion, one of the best TT riders in the world, rides himself to 32nd, and he dragged Thomas up after an early crash, when the break was established and the convey was infront of him? You never know, it was before coverage, so maybe the cars all got off the road, not helping at all, and Wiggins really did have to shield him from the wind to pull back the minutes that were lost, but as near as i can tell there his contribution ended. When he really would have been needed, after Thomas fell back on the Taainberg where was Wiggins? I'm sure he would have helped if he were there, but it was the fact he looked comfortable on the final climbs and wasn't there that lead to my comment. Well that coupled with his early racing efforts in 2014.

Edit: so yes it is my prejudice that influenced my comment

 

[jaylew]

I admit, I'm not a fan of the guy but I thought it was a good ride and I give him props.