Wiggins Discussion thread.

[Rollthedice]

If Wiggins is overestimated what do you call Andy Schleck ? Froome was stronger in the mountains in 2012 Tour on some stages but it was no certainty he would have won the race. The route was a good one for Wiggins. Wiggins is not targeting GTs at the moment so why do people keep bringing it up ? He has admitted that all year.

Cadel Evans has not done much either since his 2011 Tour win and his third in last year's Giro. He probably could have ridden the Ardenne classics instead and maybe the shorter stage races but BMC has Gilbert and Evans has always seen himself at a GT rider.

Schleck has done absolutely nothing since coming second to Evans in the 2011 Tour. Wiggins should be able to pick his program and if he wants to ride classics and the track one last time so be it. He always said he was not sure whether he could make the sacrifices he did to win the 2012 Tour all over again. His Giro was a failure and he has since moved on.

I didn't mention Andy because this is not an Andy thread. I think it's getting clearer by the day that Andy is on his way out unless some magic happens. But Wiggins is still overhyped for a guy who is just starting his one-day races career and he's way down on a Sky list with potential winners in these kinds of races.

 

[dlwssonic]

Im actually starting to like the fact that sky has been dominating the tour for the past two years.
Now good cycling channels such as GCN cycling and incycle are producing high quality videos which are pretty interesting and furthermore they are in english!

 

[red_flanders]

Im actually starting to like the fact that sky has been dominating the tour for the past two years.
Now good cycling channels such as GCN cycling and incycle are producing high quality videos which are pretty interesting and furthermore they are in english!

Armstrong had a similar effect in the states. Got the SF Grand Prix a ton more attention than it would have otherwise, much more TV time, etc.

Lots of bike shops sold a lot more Treks (bad in that you can hardly find a decent maker with the Trek overload) and the Armstrong era pretty much put mountain biking on the back burner in the US.

I'm no Armstrong fan, but some good was done for sure. Along with a lot of bad.

 

[dlwssonic]

Armstrong had a similar effect in the states. Got the SF Grand Prix a ton more attention than it would have otherwise, much more TV time, etc.

Lots of bike shops sold a lot more Treks (bad in that you can hardly find a decent maker with the Trek overload) and the Armstrong era pretty much put mountain biking on the back burner in the US.

I'm no Armstrong fan, but some good was done for sure. Along with a lot of bad.

Yeah for sure he certainly made cycling and the tour much more well known in my region which hardly knows anything about pro cycling other than langkawi
Lots of the spectacles shops had oakley posters of armstrong but nowadays they have all been replaced by posters of cavendish and lemond

 

[argyllflyer]

He is overestimated and overhyped by the media and by his own team, failing to deliver since 2012. What do you expect? And when you consider that in the 2012 Tour Froome was stronger you have the underestimation picture complete. On the other hand PR was the race in quite a while since he showed that he can still put up a fight regardless of his abilities. Maybe he can become a classics rider with a limited success but my take is that his GT days are over and I don't think he'll be a domestique.

Runner up in World TT (Martin has that in the bag for years to come) and winner of Tour of Britain, albeit clinched on the TT. Not a totally disastrous 2013. If he'd done more stage races with ITTs in them, he may have fared better, but he avoided them.

 

[argyllflyer]

If Wiggins is overestimated what do you call Andy Schleck ? Froome was stronger in the mountains in 2012 Tour on some stages but it was no certainty he would have won the race. The route was a good one for Wiggins.

A hefty chunk of Froome's time loss came after his puncture on stage 1. Take that out and it's only a 1m56s deficit which *could* have been doable. At least two stages, if riding for himself, would have seen Wiggo lost.

 

[webvan]

2 minutes, where ?! Peyragudes stage, Wiggins had to chase down Nibali on Peyresourde so tops 15 seconds on the short final kick. Touissuire...same thing, Froome was shot before he surged...possibly because he had pulled, 30 seconds? Anyway if he wanted to turn the tables it was in the first ITT, not in these stages where it looked totally unprofessional, and he couldn't do it.

 

[Pippo_San]

Aren't we over yet with the FroomeDog vs Knight debate?
Sir Wiggo CBE won the Tour, get the **** over it. It's done. He was the best cause he won. Ifs, buts don't matter a ****.
End of the story.

The guy's a British cycling legend. Have some ****ing respect FFS.

 

[yespatterns]

Aren't we over yet with the FroomeDog vs Knight debate?
Sir Wiggo CBE won the Tour, get the **** over it. It's done. He was the best cause he won. Ifs, buts don't matter a ****.
End of the story.

The guy's a British cycling legend. Have some ****ing respect FFS.

Lol, because knighthood is deserved by riding a bike? Respect is demanded because he's a British cycling legend? Lol. Seriously? He's a complex person , and a decent rider, but nothing to get your keyboard sticky over. Unless that's your thing. Which, granted, it seems to be.

 

[Siriuscat]

I'm nt a massive fan of Sir Bradders but he really surprised me last weekend and he has my respects for actually still being at the pointy end of the race when it hit Roubaix.

The Knighthood seems to be getting a bit of a bashing...lets be honest it wasn't just awarded for the Tour. It was awarded due to cumulative achievements and for his contribution to what made Britain tick in 2012, the changes in the country were palpable and im and the rest of the olympians that year made a big contribution to that....

I;'ll explain... I left the UK for the Falklands in early June and the place was as depressing as it always is, when i got back in September the joy of the whole country was incredible. Only people can have that effect on the morale of a country and Brad was a big part of that. Winning the Tour the week before the Olympics was exactly what was needed to get the country bouyant in terms of its morale and everything else. The honours system may be a joke...but in t=his case I think it was deserved

 

[ILovecycling]

it made (olympics and all that) changes in british society,what,im really confused
I dont understand british people,I think in most countries it wouldnt make no difference

 

[elfed68]

Anyone know what role Bradley Wiggins is doing in the Trentino?

Is he riding for someone else for support in other races or as leader and fallen off the pace?

 

[Gloin22]

He's not a climber anymore... His GC days are over .His goal is gaining weight for Track in rio and Roubaix ( and he achieved that however that goal is still obviously going )

10characters.

Anyway, he's just here to ride, for the craic I guess.

 

[webvan]

I watched the delayed coverage on Rai Sports 2 (why don't they just do it live ?!) and it was really bizarre as Wiggo was setting a high tempo on the last climb...so high that he rode everyone off his wheel at maybe 3k to go and then signaled for the others to pass him and then dropped off the pace!

 

[CycloAndy]

I watched the delayed coverage on Rai Sports 2 (why don't they just do it live ?!) and it was really bizarre as Wiggo was setting a high tempo on the last climb...so high that he rode everyone off his wheel at maybe 3k to go and then signaled for the others to pass him and then dropped off the pace!

Practice for when he has Froome to finish everyone off after. Sadly he had no one to ride for today.

 

[Skibby the bush kangaroo]

I watched the delayed coverage on Rai Sports 2 (why don't they just do it live ?!) and it was really bizarre as Wiggo was setting a high tempo on the last climb...so high that he rode everyone off his wheel at maybe 3k to go and then signaled for the others to pass him and then dropped off the pace!

Apparently he was working for Cataldo and Siutsou. http://cyclingquotes.com/news/wiggins_shows_flashes_of_climbing_form_in_trentino/

 

[webvan]

Thanks, that explains it. Cioni implies that he led the pack until 1K to go (7-6)? Doesn't sound quite right, I'd say about 3km. Regardless, he seemed to be going so well that it was surprising to see him stop all of a sudden.

 

[elfed68]

10characters.

Anyway, he's just here to ride, for the craic I guess.

I hope that's not the case, be nice to see him get some results this season as Chris Froome is just too clean cut and corporate to get the emotions stirring, unlike controversial love him or hate him Wiggins

 

[phanatic]

Bradley's going to be dropping everyone but Froome and Bertie by the time July comes round.

 

[elfed68]

Bradley's going to be dropping everyone but Froome and Bertie by the time July comes round.

No, let's have a re run of the Hinault LeMond showdown, where Froome can't live with Bradley and Contador's form has dipped!

 

[pastronef]

I missed this nice tweet from Gerard Vroomen


Gerard Vroomen @gerardvroomen
OK, so Wiggins didn't win it, but did he ever show the naysayers. I'll take a second hat off to him


Gerard Vroomen
‏@gerardvroomen Hats off to Wiggins for going for it at Roubaix, most exciting pro cycling news this year. Can he win? Why not. Or good prep for next year

 

[CycloAndy]

I think Wiggins has been taking the criticism on here to heart so has decided assaults on Paris-Roubaix and riding everyone off his wheel is the only way to gain respect. Credit to him. Shame he's so unlikeable in every other sense though!

 

[elfed68]

I think Wiggins has been taking the criticism on here to heart so has decided assaults on Paris-Roubaix and riding everyone off his wheel is the only way to gain respect. Credit to him. Shame he's so unlikeable in every other sense though!

Oooooh, so harsh

 

[Cookster15]

Wiggins 49th @ 3.17 in today's stage. Probably taking it easier after giving it a bit of stick yesterday. Does anyone know how he looked or rode today at Trentino ?

 

[elfed68]

Wiggins 49th @ 3.17 in today's stage. Probably taking it easier after giving it a bit of stick yesterday. Does anyone know how he looked or rode today at Trentino ?

It's very strange this race isn't getting any TV coverage.