Wiggins Discussion thread.

[b.broadhurst]

No Kennaugh.I think he might get a GT this year.Not sure what they will do with JTL

There is only space for 1 flat dom on each team and I think Stannard/Thomas are the fav for those positions

JTL won't ride GT this year, will b given 1 target only and that is the Ardennes Classics

 

[b.broadhurst]

Those two almost never get split. I think Dombrowski will ride the Giro since he's already a baby giro winner.

Dombrowski will ride Vuelta in a free role with no pressure as dom duties etc.

 

[b.broadhurst]

Vuelta Squad

Uran
Henao
Dombrowski
Boswell
Lopez
Kennaugh
Zandio
Swift
?

 

[The Hitch]

Funny? he seems to have said exactly what webvan quote, namely:
"I'll be at the start (of the Tour de France), that's for sure. Whether or not, I defend......
My priority is the Giro d'Italia."

Great to see a TDF winner treat the Giro with the true respect it deserves.
Given that we all rate the Italian epic more highly than the overly-commercialised Tour, this should be music to our ears.
Were it any other top rider, I'm sure he would be applauded.

For a guy who rides like a calculating machine, this is quite the enigmatic decision.
Gambling his season on the unpredictable Giro.

I applaud wiggins for it though i don't believe he is doing it out of any love for the giro - which he previously claimed he doesn't care for, but because he can't lead the tour as its froomes turn.

Don't see how.its a gamble. Going up against nibali and kreuziger is more of a gamble than going against al.and andy ?

Also lets not act as if this is some once in a lifetime moment the tour winner going for the giro. Its happened in 3 of the last 5 giros.

 

[El Pistolero]

I applaud wiggins for it though i don't believe he is doing it out of any love for the giro - which he previously claimed he doesn't care for, but because he can't lead the tour as its froomes turn.

Don't see how.its a gamble. Going up against nibali and kreuziger is more of a gamble than going against al.and andy ?

Also lets not act as if this is some once in a lifetime moment the tour winner going for the giro. Its happened in 3 of the last 5 giros.

Wiggins is the only Tour defender in history that willingly will not defend his title(unless he's lying right now).

 

[The Hitch]

Be afraid Wiggins, be very afraid. Cause shark weeks coming...The shark is hungry...

...And Wiggins is on the menu.

If nibali suddenly finds some.climbing for to smash wiggins in the mountains, id never forgive him for.not having it when it mattered.

Not that i expect nibali to find it. He's a great climber but never really had that edge to drop someone like wiggins for minutes.

 

[The Hitch]

Wiggins is the only Tour defender in history that willingly will not defend his title(unless he's lying right now).

How is he doing anything different to sastre in 09?

And its nott willingly. He made a deal with froome. Deal was froome gets this years tour in return for being his personal ***** for 3 weeks ( and in most peoples minds now, forever). its a great deal but now he has to give froome the leadership for a tour he was not going to win nor probably had it in him to really go for. Big deal.

 

[Ferminal]

There is only space for 1 flat dom on each team and I think Stannard/Thomas are the fav for those positions

JTL won't ride GT this year, will b given 1 target only and that is the Ardennes Classics

Kennaugh can climb, although may need some racing under his belt before he regains his previous road legs. Same for Thomas.

Both good enough to do an EBH type role (can't match his power but could match his endurance) during the first 100km of mountain stages.

 

[Afrank]

Dombrowski will ride Vuelta in a free role with no pressure as dom duties etc.

Dombrowski shouldn't be doing any GT's in his first year. He's only 21 years old and entering the world tour and right away going to a 3 week race would be a mistake IMHO.

If nibali suddenly finds some.climbing for to smash wiggins in the mountains, id never forgive him for.not having it when it mattered.

Not that i expect nibali to find it. He's a great climber but never really had that edge to drop someone like wiggins for minutes.

I think Nibali will be better at the Giro then he was at the Tour. He will have more support, he will have the help of Vino D), and I am not convinced we will see a 2012 Wiggins in 2013. Plus I think he will be more motivated at the Giro then he was at the Tour, I think he would have rather gone for the Giro win then the Tour this year, but couldn't because of Basso.

 

[will10]

this has the be the most idiotic post currently on cn.com forums, which is a feta of itself considering all what is posted in the clinic

Cmon Ryo, why respond to sockpuppets?

I'm pretty amazed bernie's eyesore hasn't been banned yet to be honest. Although he pops up so rarely perhaps he stays under the radar.

 

[Jelantik]

Sky has Dombrowski, Cataldo, Kiryienka, Rodgers, Henao, Porte, Sivtsov and Uran(8!!!) as climbing domestiques so surely they shouldn't need any of them riding both? They're just as stacked on the flats plus they won't have to worry about Cav. Sky's depth is almost sickening. Plus Wiggins very well might ride in support of Froome at the Tour as well.

I wonder... even if wiggin rides as a support for froome at the tour, how useful he can be? Basso was pretty useless in this TDF tour. If he targets the giro, there's no way he'll be saving himself to be a support rider for TDF. Unless, he just didn't tell us that he was hoping… he'll be the first one to achieve Giro/Tour double after so many years

 

[cineteq]

I wonder... even if wiggin rides as a support for froome at the tour, how useful he can be? Basso was pretty useless in this TDF tour. If he targets the giro, there's no way he'll be saving himself to be a support rider for TDF.

He will honor his word with his presence in the Tour. He's a gentleman, and soon-to-be knighted.

 

[del1962]

He will have more support, he will have the help of Vino D),

Has he decided no to retire?

 

[El Pistolero]

How is he doing anything different to sastre in 09?

And its nott willingly. He made a deal with froome. Deal was froome gets this years tour in return for being his personal ***** for 3 weeks ( and in most peoples minds now, forever). its a great deal but now he has to give froome the leadership for a tour he was not going to win nor probably had it in him to really go for. Big deal.

Of course it's willingly.

That deal is the biggest load of bull I've ever heard.

Sastre went in the Tour of '09 as a leader.

 

[cineteq]

Of course it's willingly.

That deal is the biggest load of bull I've ever heard.

Sastre went in the Tour of '09 as a leader.

So did Cobo for this year's Vuelta.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

So did Cobo for this year's Vuelta.

what kind of stupid comparison is that?

 

[cineteq]

what kind of stupid comparison is that?

Are you ever going to read the posts properly? It's not a comparison per se, it's a statement. He was designated as the leader of 2012 Vuelta when everybody knew it was Valverde.

 

[William H]

Wiggins is the only Tour defender in history that willingly will not defend his title(unless he's lying right now).

What about Hinault?

He said he was working for Lemond, no?

 

[The Hitch]

Of course it's willingly.

That deal is the biggest load of bull I've ever heard.

Ok Pistol said its not true, so it cant be true

I mean when Froome was not allowed to go for the stage vs valverde and his squeeze complained sky were out in a flash saying that next year would be froomes turn and wiggins would repay froome for the work he put in.

But pistol said its not true so none of that ever happened.

 

[El Pistolero]

If he made a deal with Froome he did it willingly. Froome doesn't have more power in Sky than Wiggins. If Wiggins wanted, Froome was his ***** again next year.

You do know they lie a lot in cycling by the way?

 

[The Hitch]

If he made a deal with Froome he did it willingly. Froome doesn't have more power in Sky than Wiggins. If Wiggins wanted, Froome was his ***** again next year.

You do know they lie a lot in cycling by the way?

You didn't think that through did you ? Froome worked for wiggins last year on the promise that he gets this year. If wiggins decided to do the same this year he'd have no reason to work for him.

 

[Afrank]

Has he decided no to retire?

He has, but he will be taking up a management position at Astana, and I think Nibbles will just got better with vino's coaching.

 

[Altitude]

Pellizoti is coming back from a suspension, so even assuming a high natural level we aren't likely to see him at it. Basso is past it. Scarponi and Nibali are well within Wiggins range.

Pellizotti will be sharp.

 

[wwabbit]

You didn't think that through did you ? Froome worked for wiggins last year on the promise that he gets this year. If wiggins decided to do the same this year he'd have no reason to work for him.

The "promise" has been implied by Wiggin's quote here http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/18877975 saying "He will win this race one day and I will be there to support him do that".

Looking at the context at which the quote was being made, I doubt that a promise was actually made to Froome, at least not before Stage 11. Nobody really saw Froome being more than a super-domestique, not even Froome himself, especially not after the performances at the lead up races to the Tour. More likely, if such a promise was made it was done at the Stage 11 debrief in order to get Froome to behave, or on the spot during that mentioned interview in order to reduce the pressure from the press.

In any case the "promise" wasn't for Wiggins to support Froome in the 2013 Tour, but in one of the future tours.

 

[Mellow Velo]

You didn't think that through did you ? Froome worked for wiggins last year on the promise that he gets this year. If wiggins decided to do the same this year he'd have no reason to work for him.

You make it sound as if Sky is a liberal democracy, not a tightly managed cycling team.
As pointed out, there was no pre-race agreement. Any cooperation promise evolving mid-Tour was not specific.
Wiggins talked of tackling the Giro immediately after the Tour and has remain unequivocal about this goal.

Of course, this is Wiggins we are talking about.

Normally, a current TDF winner opting for the Giro over the Tour would not be so faintly praised, as to be damned. (again)