Wiggins Discussion thread.

[Maaaaaaaarten]

I really strongly dislike Wiggins as a rider in general, but his ride today was very nice! Congratulations to him! I hope he keeps this up for a few more years.

 

[memyselfandI]

Superb Wiggo! Next stop La Doyenne. It's climbers race..

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Very happy Sir Wiggo entered the race, and I'm not surprised about his performance. I think he has the fundamentals to do well in PR generally, certainly in good weather conditions.

Perhaps top 5 in 2015.

 

[pastronef]

got some tips from Flecha? bravò Brad

 

[Pricey_sky]

Hilarious!

On another note - Sky kinda failed in the end. 2 in the top 10, but no W, no podium, even being one of only 2 teams with the tactical numbers.

G waited way too long to chase.

G had spent most of the afternoon working in the front group when Boonen attacked, along with Wiggins and the 2 OPQS riders they then pulled back the Canc/Sagan group with a few K's to go. It wasn't the fact he waited too long to chase he was just tired at the end.

Anyway a super strong ride by Wiggins and Thomas, with 2 guys in the top 10 they can add that too some decent results in the one-day races this year.

 

[jens_attacks]

cheered for him all the way. very good ride. chapeau!

 

[EnacheV]

“If I say something now,” Wiggins say, “I might say something stupid.”

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...s-geraint-thomas-reflect-paris-roubaix-120216

 

[arvc40]

Thought it was a **** race. Wiggins did a good ride. Follow the guy with Trek on his Jersey and see how you end up worked a treat for him and others today.

Could not give two ****s about anyone other than the winner though. This is one of the biggest races in the world and I am not interested in good rides. I watch sport to see freak show performances.

 

[arvc40]

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...s-geraint-thomas-reflect-paris-roubaix-120216

He does say stupid things in that interview ! lol.

 

[Richeypen]

got some tips from Flecha? bravò Brad

Now thats a sprint finish I would love to see

 

[Afrank]

“If I say something now,” Wiggins say, “I might say something stupid.”

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...s-geraint-thomas-reflect-paris-roubaix-120216

Very good Wiggo, your learning.

 

[trevim]

Come on Brad, saying stupid things is your magic. Just like Cav anyway, they both have big mouths and that's very refreshing and entertaining
Congratulations on the race as well, very respectable but I certainly wasn't rooting for him (quite the opposite actually!). I'm not convinced that he has a winning move for Roubaix but he did great.
[Only a slight mistake: he should have let Boonen outsprint him in the velodrome. It's called having manners ]

 

[Jspear]

Hilarious!

On another note - Sky kinda failed in the end. 2 in the top 10, but no W, no podium, even being one of only 2 teams with the tactical numbers.

G waited way too long to chase.

I'll sorta give them a pass here. OPQS is the "classics" specialist team + there was the other big fav's. The classics haven't really been their baby, so I'd say they did pretty good.

 

[Peter von]

I'll sorta give them a pass here. OPQS is the "classics" specialist team + there was the other big fav's. The classics haven't really been their baby, so I'd say they did pretty good.

i think they did very well, with the loss of Stannard in mind and Wiggo being up there for the first time and Thomas went early on, which might be the wrong thing to do if you're in it for the WT points, but it was their best chance of victory.

 

[Ripper]

G had spent most of the afternoon working in the front group when Boonen attacked, along with Wiggins and the 2 OPQS riders they then pulled back the Canc/Sagan group with a few K's to go. It wasn't the fact he waited too long to chase he was just tired at the end.

Anyway a super strong ride by Wiggins and Thomas, with 2 guys in the top 10 they can add that too some decent results in the one-day races this year.

No doubt he was tired. He still waited too long. He did end up jumping and chasing, so he was certainly not completely overdone. Anyhow, it is easy to reflect in hindsight and I am sure he is doing that. His performances have improved and even better, he is not crashing nearly as much

 

[Pricey_sky]

No doubt he was tired. He still waited too long. He did end up jumping and chasing, so he was certainly not completely overdone. Anyhow, it is easy to reflect in hindsight and I am sure he is doing that. His performances have improved and even better, he is not crashing nearly as much

Yeah it always helps now he's learned to stay upright most of the time!

3 riders in the top 13 today, Sky would have taken that I reckon.

 

[Pippo_San]

You know what: after this Paris-Roubaix I want to take a Sir Bradly Wiggins CBE avatar.
He won me, and that's it.

 

[alspacka]

For ego purposes, you understand...

I know mocking Wiggins is the done thing, with some justification, but I think he might surprise a few people here.
He hasn't got much experience on cobbles, but he's had some ok rides, PR 2009, Tour 2010, as a skinny GC rider.
He's been training for it and put on weight, still TTing well. And we know when he trains hard with a goal in mind he's a quality rider.
He may be riding primarily for EBH or Thomas, but I'm backing him for top 10.

Seriously.

 

[martinvickers]

Wiggo truly impressed me today- Will he dedicate solely to the classics from now on?

If you looked at him just off the track all them years ago, becoming a very decent Roubaix style rider wouldn't have been all that difficult to believe. It's bizarre he went through a big GC stage first.

 

[Ripper]

If you looked at him just off the track all them years ago, becoming a very decent Roubaix style rider wouldn't have been all that difficult to believe. It's bizarre he went through a big GC stage first.

Well, perhaps we can forget to whole GT thing ever occurred. Somewhat like forgetting certain movies ever took place (Exorcist II anyone?)

The whole significant weight loss, improving on power/aerodynamics (for short and long TT performance), year long winning at a high level while, even though unnaturally thin for his body type, not getting sick or injured. I'd prefer to think of it like a bad dream.

I could see Wiggs as a classics guy. And with enough practice, even cobbles in the rain would not be a death knell. I'm pretty disappointed to hear G is now focusing on GTs.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Hilarious!

On another note - Sky kinda failed in the end. 2 in the top 10, but no W, no podium, even being one of only 2 teams with the tactical numbers.

G waited way too long to chase.

G not that good i think for all the hype he usually gets during the cobbles.

 

[JRanton]

G not that good i think for all the hype he usually gets during the cobbles.

Pros for Thomas:

Has the endurance for classics
Looked much more comfortable on the cobbles than last year

Cons:

Crashes a lot
Has no winning move (sprint, acceleration)
Possibly a bit light at just 70 kgs


He gets hype because this is an Anglophone website and he's currently the best Anglo rider for these races but he's unlikely to ever win RVV or PR. I've noticed that none of the big favourites even mention him as a contender. They don't rate his chances.

 

[Don't be late Pedro]

Pros for Thomas:

Has the endurance for classics
Looked much more comfortable on the cobbles than last year

Cons:

Crashes a lot
Has no winning move (sprint, acceleration)
Possibly a bit light at just 70 kgs


He gets hype because this is an Anglophone website and he's currently the best Anglo rider for these races but he's unlikely to ever win RVV or PR. I've noticed that none of the big favourites even mention him as a contender. They don't rate his chances.

I agree that he has no winning move in the sense that he cannot ride away like Boonen or Cancellara and will get beaten by a Sagan.

Sky as a team have a distinct lack of these kind of riders that can win a one race. They are all 'grinders' for lack of a better word. This means that their options as a team are lacking even though the overall standard is good.

I can see them getting a lot of top tens. However, other teams will be happy to just follow them knowing that in the last few kms they will have the upper hand most of the time.

That said if Thomas was fresher i.e. not in the break and working for other riders I would fancy him to chase down Terpstra.

 

[memyselfandI]

If Sky had third man in that last mix yesterday they could have done same what Terpstra did but not with two men. Not enough sprint power for the line so same recipe only solution but not this time..

 

[simoni]

That would have possibly been Stannard.