Wiggins Discussion thread.

[El Pistolero]

I'm not the one who constantly keeps bringing up track cycling in the road racing section. There's a sub-forum for track cycling, discuss it there. Too bad it's inactive as nobody cares for it...

Here's a photo of nobody caring about it in Ghent, where of course the sport is dead because it relies on the Olympics, and Belgium never win at the Olympics, and of course the sport only exists to win some Olympic medals.

I'm just trying to think how Eddy Merckx got injured in 1969. Can't have been, say, a track race, because a rider of Merckx's calibre would never have ridden such an insignificant race in a sport no one cares about in Belgium.

Are we still in the seventies? If so, we Belgians sure are dominating the Tour right now.

 

[TMP402]

Please don't tell me, a Belgian, what my country is into. It's certainly not track cycling.

I guess they're there for the commercials on the track.

If track cycling is so big here than why did we only send two track cyclists to the Olympics this year?

Perhaps because Belgium win world championship medals and points in the madison and points races, two non-Olympic events, but staples of Six Day racing. It's weird that Belgium are competitive at non-Olympic world championship events because as we all know, track cycling is a lame sport that would be dead if it wasn't for the Olympics, and Six Day events are taken about as serious as a post-tour crit in Belgium.

 

[El Pistolero]

The vast majority of Belgians don't even know what madison is... How many riders can make a decent career these days riding Six Day events? This isn't the seventies anymore like I said.

But hey, if you want to believe track cycling is big in Belgium then by all means...

 

[elfed68]

Re:

The vast majority of Belgians don't even know what madison is... How many riders can make a decent career these days riding Six Day events? This isn't the seventies anymore like I said.

But hey, if you want to believe track cycling is big in Belgium then by all means...

Rather than pretending to be AC's ***, how about asking the man how he rates Wiggins, I bet he'd pay him so much respect, same as Wiggins towards AC, grow up!!!

 

[burning]

If you think that Indurain and Wiggins is comperable, something is wrong with you. He has a pretty impressive career but you could easily find 10 active riders who had better careers.

 

[El Pistolero]

Yeah, I'm the one that needs to grow up here... Lol. Just saying the truth, track cycling is only taken seriously in a few countries. The British have won 4 out of 6 track events so far with an additional 2 silver medals...

Track cycling at the Olympics might as well be the Commonwealth Games. 11 out of the 18 medals handed out so far were won by Anglophones. Might as well make cyclocross an Olympic sport while we're at it.

 

[elfed68]

Re:

Yeah, I'm the one that needs to grow up here... Lol. Just saying the truth, track cycling is only taken seriously in a few countries. The British have won 4 out of 10 track events so far with an additional 2 silver medals...

Track cycling at the Olympics might as well be the Commonwealth Games. 11 out of the 18 medals handed out so far were won by Anglophones. Might as well make cyclocross an Olympic sport while we're at it.

But Wiggins isn't just a track rider...

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Yeah, I'm the one that needs to grow up here... Lol. Just saying the truth, track cycling is only taken seriously in a few countries. The British have won 4 out of 10 track events so far with an additional 2 silver medals...

Track cycling at the Olympics might as well be the Commonwealth Games. 11 out of the 18 medals handed out so far were won by Anglophones. Might as well make cyclocross an Olympic sport while we're at it.

But Wiggins isn't just a track rider...

That's why I mainly judge him by his palmares built up on the road. Good rider, one of the best, but there are quite a few who are better than him like Boonen, Cancellara, Contador, Froome, Nibali, Valverde, Sagan, etc.

 

[elfed68]

Re: Re:

Yeah, I'm the one that needs to grow up here... Lol. Just saying the truth, track cycling is only taken seriously in a few countries. The British have won 4 out of 10 track events so far with an additional 2 silver medals...

Track cycling at the Olympics might as well be the Commonwealth Games. 11 out of the 18 medals handed out so far were won by Anglophones. Might as well make cyclocross an Olympic sport while we're at it.

But Wiggins isn't just a track rider...

That's why I mainly judge him by his palmares built up on the road. Good rider, one of the best, but there are quite a few who are better than him like Boonen, Cancellara, Contador, Froome, Nibali, Valverde, Sagan, etc.

I think Valverde is the only rider out of those who you can sort of compare to Wiggins, the others are ridiculously talented in their own field, but never diversified, Valverde was just unfortunate to be born too late, otherwise he'd be talked about with Hinault.

If Wiggins would have purely concentrated on Road, could he have been Indurain 2.0? I think the wattage is there, he just seems to lack the motivation to stick to one discipline

 

[burning]

Re: Re:

Yeah, I'm the one that needs to grow up here... Lol. Just saying the truth, track cycling is only taken seriously in a few countries. The British have won 4 out of 10 track events so far with an additional 2 silver medals...

Track cycling at the Olympics might as well be the Commonwealth Games. 11 out of the 18 medals handed out so far were won by Anglophones. Might as well make cyclocross an Olympic sport while we're at it.

But Wiggins isn't just a track rider...

That's why I mainly judge him by his palmares built up on the road. Good rider, one of the best, but there are quite a few who are better than him like Boonen, Cancellara, Contador, Froome, Nibali, Valverde, Sagan, etc.

I think Valverde is the only rider out of those who you can sort of compare to Wiggins, the others are ridiculously talented in their own field, but never diversified, Valverde was just unfortunate to be born too late, otherwise he'd be talked about with Hinault.

If Wiggins would have purely concentrated on Road, could he have been Indurain 2.0? I think the wattage is there, he just seems to lack the motivation to stick to one discipline

He was never in contention to win any GT by the third week before and after 2012. There is no way that he would be close to Indurain, he is more comparable to a guy like Riis.

I just remembered that I got him around 35th pick in the clinic fantasy draft, while Indurain was the 1st pick for everyone even though the draft was about a single GT, tells a lot about his abilities.

 

[elfed68]

Re: Re:

Yeah, I'm the one that needs to grow up here... Lol. Just saying the truth, track cycling is only taken seriously in a few countries. The British have won 4 out of 10 track events so far with an additional 2 silver medals...

Track cycling at the Olympics might as well be the Commonwealth Games. 11 out of the 18 medals handed out so far were won by Anglophones. Might as well make cyclocross an Olympic sport while we're at it.

But Wiggins isn't just a track rider...

That's why I mainly judge him by his palmares built up on the road. Good rider, one of the best, but there are quite a few who are better than him like Boonen, Cancellara, Contador, Froome, Nibali, Valverde, Sagan, etc.

I think Valverde is the only rider out of those who you can sort of compare to Wiggins, the others are ridiculously talented in their own field, but never diversified, Valverde was just unfortunate to be born too late, otherwise he'd be talked about with Hinault.

If Wiggins would have purely concentrated on Road, could he have been Indurain 2.0? I think the wattage is there, he just seems to lack the motivation to stick to one discipline

He was never in contention to win any GT by the third week before and after 2012. There is no way that he would be close to Indurain, he is more comparable to a guy like Riis.

I just remembered that I got him around 35th pick in the clinic fantasy draft, while Indurain was the 1st pick for everyone even though the draft was about a single GT, tells a lot about his abilities.

If Bradley goes on to team management, and Riis would have been a world class time triallist as well as a world class pursuitist, then yes, you may have an argument...

 

[burning]

Riis was a world class TT'er and a ridiculous climber for a short period of time. Wiggins was the best TT'er and very good climber for a short period of time. His pursuit ability doesn't have much significance in overall picture.

Theae guys are very comparable but I know that it is pretty much impossible to argue with a British guy.

 

[elfed68]

Re:

Riis was a world class TT'er and a ridiculous climber for a short period of time. Wiggins was the best TT'er and very good climber for a short period of time. His pursuit ability doesn't have much significance in overall picture.

Theae guys are very comparable but I know that it is pretty much impossible to argue with a British guy.

Good try, but streets apart. .

 

[El Pistolero]

Winning Olympic Gold in the Team Pursuit is so important to Wiggo that he has already lost his medal. :lol:

 

[Gigs_98]

What is the value of the team events in track cycling? Are Wiggins's wins in the team pursuit worth as much as his wins in the individual pursuit, because I think in most sports a team event wouldn't even count almost as much, but still when people here talk about his track results nobody really makes a difference between team and individual event.

 

[TMP402]

What is the value of the team events in track cycling? Are Wiggins's wins in the team pursuit worth as much as his wins in the individual pursuit, because I think in most sports a team event wouldn't even count almost as much, but still when people here talk about his track results nobody really makes a difference between team and individual event.

I'd say team pursuit is a closer competition. Australia didn't look great against GB and were down to 3 men for a while before GB lost their fourth man, yet still recorded a time good enough to beat the world record that had lasted for the four years since the 2012 Olympics. In the individual pursuit, if one guy has a bad day, then it looks rather one-sided.

 

[El Pistolero]

What is the value of the team events in track cycling? Are Wiggins's wins in the team pursuit worth as much as his wins in the individual pursuit, because I think in most sports a team event wouldn't even count almost as much, but still when people here talk about his track results nobody really makes a difference between team and individual event.

I honestly don't think there should be team events when there is also an individual event. Someone's nationality shouldn't have such a big effect on whether you can win gold or not...

I'm talking about the relay races in swimming, Athletics and track of course. Team-based sports such as basketball, rugby and hockey should remain in.

I rate Wiggo's team pursuit win about as high as Tom Boonen's win at the WC TTT.

 

[Pantani_lives]

What is the value of the team events in track cycling? Are Wiggins's wins in the team pursuit worth as much as his wins in the individual pursuit, because I think in most sports a team event wouldn't even count almost as much, but still when people here talk about his track results nobody really makes a difference between team and individual event.

Throwing the individual pursuit out of the Olympics remains one of the worst decisions the UCI has ever made. GB considers the team pursuit very important, not just an extra medal. Proper credit should go to the other three riders: Ed Clancy, Steven Burke and Owain Doull.

It keeps baffling me how road cycling fans often don't care for the track and vice versa. Cycling commentators have called Wiggins a one-hit wonder, completely ignoring his Olympic achievements. In the U.K. darts and cricket remain more popular than road cycling.

Wiggins is an exceptional cyclist for being top in both disciplines. If people choose to ignore half of his career that's their choice.

 

[TMP402]

What is the value of the team events in track cycling? Are Wiggins's wins in the team pursuit worth as much as his wins in the individual pursuit, because I think in most sports a team event wouldn't even count almost as much, but still when people here talk about his track results nobody really makes a difference between team and individual event.

Throwing the individual pursuit out of the Olympics remains one of the worst decisions the UCI has ever made. GB considers the team pursuit very important, not just an extra medal. Proper credit should go to the other three riders: Ed Clancy, Steven Burke and Owain Doull.

The only man to ride LBL and win a World Cup medal in the team SPRINT.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Rationality says that track cycling is of a much lower level than road cycling.

I don't dislike Wiggo, I just think his palmares is incredibly overrated. He had one amazing year, that's it.

The reason for road cycling getting all the attention now is money. Track cycling used to be huge and there was good money to be made. Salaries for good road riders did not increase much until Lemond, Anderson and others started pushing for changes and better money and sponsors started getting behind the non Europeans who were not too successful before then. Even Merckx used to ride six Day Races and get paid big money. Most young riders now just use the track to make the transition to the road same with mountain biking. All of the money is in road racing. Track cycling champions now don't get much attention anymore but they were superstars before.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Rationality says that track cycling is of a much lower level than road cycling.

I don't dislike Wiggo, I just think his palmares is incredibly overrated. He had one amazing year, that's it.

The reason for road cycling getting all the attention now is money. Track cycling used to be huge and there was good money to be made. Salaries for good road riders did not increase much until Lemond, Anderson and others started pushing for changes and better money and sponsors started getting behind the non Europeans who were not too successful before then. Even Merckx used to ride six Day Races and get paid big money. Most young riders now just use the track to make the transition to the road same with mountain biking. All of the money is in road racing. Track cycling champions now don't get much attention anymore but they were superstars before.

I know track cycling used to be bigger, I run past het Kuipke on a daily basis. Been to the event numerous times and know all about Patrick Sercu and also the achievements of Merckx on the track. But this is 2016 and track cycling is only popular with a few Anglophone countries and only because of the Olympics. I don't think that's a healthy spot to be in as a sport.

I think 10 medals for a niche sport as track cycling is way too much. If track cycling is Olympic, so should cyclocross be...

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

Rationality says that track cycling is of a much lower level than road cycling.

I don't dislike Wiggo, I just think his palmares is incredibly overrated. He had one amazing year, that's it.

The reason for road cycling getting all the attention now is money. Track cycling used to be huge and there was good money to be made. Salaries for good road riders did not increase much until Lemond, Anderson and others started pushing for changes and better money and sponsors started getting behind the non Europeans who were not too successful before then. Even Merckx used to ride six Day Races and get paid big money. Most young riders now just use the track to make the transition to the road same with mountain biking. All of the money is in road racing. Track cycling champions now don't get much attention anymore but they were superstars before.

I know track cycling used to be bigger, I run past het Kuipke on a daily basis. Been to the event numerous times and know all about Patrick Sercu and also the achievements of Merckx on the track. But this is 2016 and track cycling is only popular with a few Anglophone countries and only because of the Olympics. I don't think that's a healthy spot to be in as a sport.

I think 10 medals for a niche sport as track cycling is way too much. If track cycling is Olympic, so should cyclocross be...

Many riders went to Japan for the Keirin racing and gambling was a big deal on those races. It used to be very big, but I never hear much about it now and the Japanese don't seem to have the top line track sprinters anymore either. Maybe that has died out as well or at least lost popularity. Cyclocross should be an Olympic sport. BMX was an Olympic sport ! Sercu was a superstar on the track. I think he still holds the record for the most wins in Six Day Races. Sometimes he partnered Eddy. Very unfair that ! They got quite a few wins together.

 

[MatParker117]

Re: Re:

Rationality says that track cycling is of a much lower level than road cycling.

I don't dislike Wiggo, I just think his palmares is incredibly overrated. He had one amazing year, that's it.

The reason for road cycling getting all the attention now is money. Track cycling used to be huge and there was good money to be made. Salaries for good road riders did not increase much until Lemond, Anderson and others started pushing for changes and better money and sponsors started getting behind the non Europeans who were not too successful before then. Even Merckx used to ride six Day Races and get paid big money. Most young riders now just use the track to make the transition to the road same with mountain biking. All of the money is in road racing. Track cycling champions now don't get much attention anymore but they were superstars before.

I know track cycling used to be bigger, I run past het Kuipke on a daily basis. Been to the event numerous times and know all about Patrick Sercu and also the achievements of Merckx on the track. But this is 2016 and track cycling is only popular with a few Anglophone countries and only because of the Olympics. I don't think that's a healthy spot to be in as a sport.

I think 10 medals for a niche sport as track cycling is way too much. If track cycling is Olympic, so should cyclocross be...

UCI want to add it to the winter games.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Rationality says that track cycling is of a much lower level than road cycling.

I don't dislike Wiggo, I just think his palmares is incredibly overrated. He had one amazing year, that's it.

The reason for road cycling getting all the attention now is money. Track cycling used to be huge and there was good money to be made. Salaries for good road riders did not increase much until Lemond, Anderson and others started pushing for changes and better money and sponsors started getting behind the non Europeans who were not too successful before then. Even Merckx used to ride six Day Races and get paid big money. Most young riders now just use the track to make the transition to the road same with mountain biking. All of the money is in road racing. Track cycling champions now don't get much attention anymore but they were superstars before.

I know track cycling used to be bigger, I run past het Kuipke on a daily basis. Been to the event numerous times and know all about Patrick Sercu and also the achievements of Merckx on the track. But this is 2016 and track cycling is only popular with a few Anglophone countries and only because of the Olympics. I don't think that's a healthy spot to be in as a sport.

I think 10 medals for a niche sport as track cycling is way too much. If track cycling is Olympic, so should cyclocross be...

UCI want to add it to the winter games.

I hope they succeed, the sport needs to grow. We Belgians would win less if it became Olympic, but I'd gladly take that if it means the sport can become bigger and more international. It's a fun sport to watch and very easy to understand.

 

[Thepirateisgood]

Well relay events count for a lot in most sports. For the "value of an olympic medal" - question, I believe all such discussions are futile. Leave the olympics out of the equation. At one time Poetry was an olympic discipline for crissake.

Wiggins however, is a great athlete nevertheless - I kind of like him what with all the mudslinging from people dissing him.