Wiggins Discussion thread.

[webvan]

He might as well have saved his breath then given the end result. I suspect Bertie will have a hard time coming back and crushing the competition like he did in 2009 or at the 2011 Giro (not sure that counts when you see #2 was Scarponi who's neither a good ITTer nor a great climber), don't they say it takes 3x the time of the ban to come back to your previous level ?

Anyway, talk is cheap, but the one who wins calls the shots, so let Wiggo do the talking right now. BTW I never heard him say he'd wasted his time between 2008 and 2012, he's probably multiplied his net worth by 10x for a start.

 

[El Pistolero]

He might as well have saved his breath then given the end result. I suspect Bertie will have a hard time coming back and crushing the competition like he did in 2009 or at the 2011 Giro (not sure that counts when you see #2 was Scarponi who's neither a good ITTer nor a great climber), don't they say it takes 3x the time of the ban to come back to your previous level ?

Anyway, talk is cheap, but the one who wins calls the shots, so let Wiggo do the talking right now. BTW I never heard him say he'd wasted his time between 2008 and 2012, he's probably multiplied his net worth by 10x for a start.

Yeah because there were so many time trial kilometers during that Giro...

Scarponi is a better climber than Bradley Wiggins, so yeah that result ****ing counts. A lot more than beating Lieuwe Westra and Andrew Talansky.

 

[Swifty's Cakes]

He might as well have saved his breath then given the end result. I suspect Bertie will have a hard time coming back and crushing the competition like he did in 2009 or at the 2011 Giro (not sure that counts when you see #2 was Scarponi who's neither a good ITTer nor a great climber), don't they say it takes 3x the time of the ban to come back to your previous level ?

Anyway, talk is cheap, but the one who wins calls the shots, so let Wiggo do the talking right now. BTW I never heard him say he'd wasted his time between 2008 and 2012, he's probably multiplied his net worth by 10x for a start.

Realistically his ban is 6 months out of competition and 18 months of results written off. So by that measure he should be not far off top form in summer 2013.

 

[Angliru]

Think he had a huge attitude adjustment after 2010; credit to Brailsford (or was it Shane Sutton?) for reading him the riot act. It seemed, to this unqualified psychologist, that until he won the Dauphine he didn't really believe in his ability to do so. Now he's going into races expecting to win. We're still to see how he reacts when adversity really hits, though today was a decent glimpse.

I thought his reasoning behind his 2010 failure at the Tour was that he foolishly altered the preparation and races that led to his success in the 2009 Tour?

 

[will10]

I thought his reasoning behind his 2010 failure at the Tour was that he foolishly altered the preparation and races that led to his success in the 2009 Tour?

He later said he hadn't put the work in in 2010 compared to 2009 (and 2011).

 

[Angliru]

some more from today's l'equipe:
the feeling is he has nothing against alberto but against the situation(which we all know is 90% uci's fault)

he's nostalgic for the cycling of the past.says at his first pro race,tour med he didn't dare to attack guys like virenque,moreau,museeuw.the hierarchy was respected.nowadays the youngsters have no fear and go around like "fucc contador","fucc wiggins". lol true that.

he says the most stylish guys on a bike are ll sanchez and cancellara

reiterates that tommy simpson is his absolute hero.

nice interview,too bad cyclingnews and other sites pulled out of the context those headlines.i'm absolutely sure he has nothing against alberto.

That's awfully curious considering his recent statements. As more than one person has told me in the past, you can't have it both ways.

 

[Angliru]

He might as well have saved his breath then given the end result. I suspect Bertie will have a hard time coming back and crushing the competition like he did in 2009 or at the 2011 Giro (not sure that counts when you see #2 was Scarponi who's neither a good ITTer nor a great climber), don't they say it takes 3x the time of the ban to come back to your previous level ?

]Anyway, talk is cheap, but the one who wins calls the shots, so let Wiggo do the talking right now. BTW I never heard him say he'd wasted his time between 2008 and 2012, he's probably multiplied his net worth by 10x for a start.

I doubt that applies if your time away from competition is only 6 months.

 

[Froome19]

Contador said he would quit if he was banned.

Let us just be clear: Wiggo will never win the tour down under.

............

 

[webvan]

I doubt that applies if your time away from competition is only 6 months.

Yes I meant 6 months in that case, but 3x that's still 18 months.

Scarponi a better climber than Wiggins ? OK, please remind me where Scarponi ever dropped Wiggins? Not at the Vuelta 2011 for sure...Wiggins' got the cadence and the power, I really don't think there are too many better "climbers" than him currently in the peloton, i.e. GC guys who can drop him on a 10k Cat 1 climb. The Angliru really means zilch, it's a freak climb where his biggest problem was not having the proper gearing.

 

[spalco]

That's awfully curious considering his recent statements. As more than one person has told me in the past, you can't have it both ways.

Meh, let a man have his heroes. If that's hypocritical there's nobody on this forum who's consistent.

 

[jamiephillips]

I remember when after doing something like a 100km lone break in the 2007 tour Wiggins claimed that he had no idea that it was the 40th anniversary of Simpson's death.
Strange that Tom Simpson is now his ultimate cycling hero? Maybe he has only recently read the biographies and decided. I don't know?

 

[Angliru]

Yes I meant 6 months in that case, but 3x that's still 18 months.

Scarponi a better climber than Wiggins ? OK, please remind me where Scarponi ever dropped Wiggins? Not at the Vuelta 2011 for sure...Wiggins' got the cadence and the power, I really don't think there are too many better "climbers" than him currently in the peloton, i.e. GC guys who can drop him on a 10k Cat 1 climb. The Angliru really means zilch, it's a freak climb where his biggest problem was not having the proper gearing.

Shouldn't your second paragraph be directed at Webvan and not me?

 

[hatcher]

I thought his reasoning behind his 2010 failure at the Tour was that he foolishly altered the preparation and races that led to his success in the 2009 Tour?

Probably a combination of a whole raft of things that Wiggins and/or Sky got wrong that year, but his attitude since that failure of a season has definitely changed for the better.

Regarding the 2010 Tour it was actually the opposite, in that he foolishly kept the same prep races. Riding the Giro was definitely an issue (Cummings and Barry were also strong in the Giro, and very weak in the Tour).

He went into 2011 saying he was going to try and have more fun on the bike, including riding Paris-Roubaix, and it really seemed to work for him. He has now had a season and a half of almost constant positive reinforcement from his performances. Mindwise he seems in a much better place.

 

[LaFlorecita]

How can anyone appreciate Wiggo? Why does this thread even exist? He is such a boring rider and he says such bad things about Alberto that I can do nothing else than hate him.

 

[El Pistolero]

Yes I meant 6 months in that case, but 3x that's still 18 months.

Scarponi a better climber than Wiggins ? OK, please remind me where Scarponi ever dropped Wiggins? Not at the Vuelta 2011 for sure...Wiggins' got the cadence and the power, I really don't think there are too many better "climbers" than him currently in the peloton, i.e. GC guys who can drop him on a 10k Cat 1 climb. The Angliru really means zilch, it's a freak climb where his biggest problem was not having the proper gearing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQW30DO2DwU

Come back to me when Wiggles ever does something close to that.

Scarponi only became a great climber after his ban and since then has only ridden the Giro. So obviously he didn't drop Wiggins: well except in ALL THE FREAKING CLIMBS OF THE GIRO 2010.

The Angliru means zilch and so does Wiggles. Apparently.

Even Froome and Cobo outclimbed Wiggles. And no one sees them as the best climbers in the world

 

[LaFlorecita]

He might as well have saved his breath then given the end result. I suspect Bertie will have a hard time coming back and crushing the competition like he did in 2009 or at the 2011 Giro (not sure that counts when you see #2 was Scarponi who's neither a good ITTer nor a great climber), don't they say it takes 3x the time of the ban to come back to your previous level ?

Anyway, talk is cheap, but the one who wins calls the shots, so let Wiggo do the talking right now. BTW I never heard him say he'd wasted his time between 2008 and 2012, he's probably multiplied his net worth by 10x for a start.

Uhm... not really. Alberto is just awesome and will continue to crush the opposition. How funny would it be to hear Wiggo whine about "credibility" if Alberto wins the Tour next year.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Poor Sastre. He gets disrespected by Armstrong, ignored by the press when defending his title, the Schlecks start spreading hateful lies about him and bear grudges and now years down the line he's being punked out by Wiggins.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

Poor Sastre. He gets disrespected by Armstrong, ignored by the press when defending his title, the Schlecks start spreading hateful lies about him and bear grudges and now years down the line he's being punked out by Wiggins.

More overlooked than punked out. Assuming punked out doesn't mean overlooked.

 

[webvan]

Uhm... not really. Alberto is just awesome and will continue to crush the opposition. How funny would it be to hear Wiggo whine about "credibility" if Alberto wins the Tour next year.

And with good reason since your idol has been convicted of a doping offense. Not the place to talk about Bertie but I'm not sure you should expect him to be his usual self when he comes back...psychological damage and of course he'll have to be more careful because the next time he gets popped he's gone for good.

@ElPistolero : http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/scarponi-eyes-overall-success-at-the-vuelta-a-espana

Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) said he will be targeting overall victory at the Vuelta a Espana after carefully preparing for the final Grand Tour of the season at altitude in Livigno.

Fast forward to -> http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/scarponi-quits-vuelta

Scarponi had lost over 20 minutes to his GC rivals on stage 13 and was sitting in 37th position, 24:10 behind race leader Bradley Wiggins (Sky).

What a champ ! Don't mention Scarponi in my presence again please.

 

[Jaunty Monty]

As a spectator I love to see attacking cyclists who animate races but that doesn't mean they are necessarily the cyclists who I am a fan of. I'm a fan of cyclists who consistently leave everything on the road regardless of their style. Why should I dislike someone who grinds when thats the way their genetically built?

 

[spalco]

the Schlecks start spreading hateful lies about him

What do you mean by that?

 

[Froome19]

What do you mean by that?

*sigh*
please........ dont get them started AGAIN

 

[Libertine Seguros]

What do you mean by that?

How he apparently screwed them over by going out and winning the Tour, because Fränk totally wouldn't have lost the jersey to Evans in the ITT if Sastre had sat in the pack like a goon.

 

[Duartista]

Fast forward to -> http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/scarponi-quits-vuelta
Quote:
Scarponi had lost over 20 minutes to his GC rivals on stage 13 and was sitting in 37th position, 24:10 behind race leader Bradley Wiggins (Sky).
What a champ ! Don't mention Scarponi in my presence again please.

That's about as valid an argument as using Wiggins' 2010 TDF as evidence that he is likely to be thrashed by (for example) Ryder Hesjedal the next time they meet in a GT.

 

[nowhereman]

You know what I love the most about "wiggo"? He's got a sour attitude most of the time, and he is, by no stretch of the imagination, a "cutie". Yet he insists on that ridiculous hair style, pulling gobs of hair forward, over his sideburns! And then he fastens his helmet straps over that mess (to keep it in place?!). When he takes his helmet off and pulls a baseball hat over that mess he still makes sure that those bunches of hair are pulled forward, as if to frame his face. UGH! Doesn't he ever look in a mirror? He really ought to update that lame look. Then again, I don't think Stefan Schumacher realizes how insanely bizarre his shaved noggin looks, at the other extreme.