Wiggins Discussion Thread

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movingtarget

Aug 5, 2009
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Zinoviev Letter said:
All of those statements are broadly speaking true. And all of them are utterly irrelevant when discussing the relative status of road cycling and track. Road cycling is a real spectator sport with a real fanbase of its own. Track cycling is not. Achievements on the track are worth less than achievements as an espoir in road cycling when it comes to your status in the sport.

I like track cycling, but it has to be said that it's a backwater within the sport.
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It's not as popular as it was but it's not a backwater except maybe when comparing the earnings of track cyclists to road riders. Track cycling still has a fanbase. As for people on the roadside knowing who is who and what is going on in a road race, only a minority of the thousands would know except maybe in Belgium. Who are you kidding ? A lot of French people can't stand the Tour. Unless you are including the loonies who want to be seen on TV or people who want a photo of a bike race. There would be more serious fans watching online and on TV.
 
El Pistolero

El Pistolero

Jul 16, 2010
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Gloin22 said:
Good comparison about big cycling fans, but not to the point. More people know Wiggins in Europe than Valverde, and all the other cycling stats bar Lance, Cotnador and Cav. Mostly because of his gold medals.
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You're kidding right?

Almost no one in Belgium knows Bradley Wiggins is an Olympic champion.
 
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Gloin22

Apr 10, 2011
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El Pistolero said:
You're kidding right?

Almost no one in Belgium knows Bradley Wiggins is an Olympic champion.
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Did I say Belgium ;) Most of Europe isn't Belgium ;) Countries that have track tradition and show it. The point is Wiggo is more popular.
 
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webvan

Mar 11, 2009
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Hopefully he is...I'm pretty sure most people here only had a vague idea of who he was before the 2009 Giro, I know I didn't and confused him with another prologue specialist (an Australian ?) whose name escapes me now.
 
El Pistolero

El Pistolero

Jul 16, 2010
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The point is: there isn't any more track tradition in Europe than Belgium :rolleyes:

The point is: he's not more popular than guys like Fabian Cancellara, Tom Boonen, Valverde, etc... They're are all more known.

Belgium is the only country where cycling really lives and if people don't know who the hell Wiggins is there then I can assure you they don't know him in other countries as well.
 
thehog

thehog

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Gloin22 said:
It's freeaking great :D

He speaks very impressive French though.
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In Britan at school we learn compulsory French. We also have holiday camps to France during school. Many do 3-4 month holiday stints with French families which improves your French further. A good majority of British students by the time they graduate from middle school speak fluent French.

Bradley obviously fortunate enough to ride for French teams and master it to a level of almost native - he also has the mannerisms and gesticulations perfect as well!

It also helps that most French refuse to speak English. So you're forced to speak it. You have no other choice.
 
thehog

thehog

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webvan said:
He sounds pretty good, very little accent, compared to say Mick Jagger, but he still makes huge grammar mistakes, odd!
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Hahaha! Or Bill Whyman.... Je suis en rock star?

The grammatical errors are probably learning it in a bar rather than in the class room!

I've seen footage of Armstrong speak French and that's mashing it.

LeMond wasn't bad.
 
goggalor

goggalor

Oct 16, 2009
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thehog said:
In Britan at school we learn compulsory French. We also have holiday camps to France during school. Many do 3-4 month holiday stints with French families which improves your French further. A good majority of British students by the time they graduate from middle school speak fluent French.
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Really? The Brits I saw on holiday in France were certainly not fluent, in fact their idea of communicating was speaking loudly in English and pointing.
 
H

hatcher

Jul 24, 2010
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Yeah, me and my mates are all fluent in French. Want to know where the swimming pool is, or what a croque monsieur is? We'll help you out.
 
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webvan

Mar 11, 2009
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thehog said:
Hahaha! Or Bill Whyman.... Je suis en rock star?

The grammatical errors are probably learning it in a bar rather than in the class room!

I've seen footage of Armstrong speak French and that's mashing it.

LeMond wasn't bad.
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Make that Bill Wyman and "Si si je suis UN Rock Star", not "en"! I can't say I've ever been very impressed with the French of English people and that's not going to make me change my mind ;-)
 
thehog

thehog

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cineteq said:
Almost native? Obviously your French is not that good, sorry to break the news to you :D
Brad has a good level of conversational French if anything. :rolleyes:
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It's a sad day when the Canadian pontificate about how to speak French.

They sure know how to mash a beautiful language.
 
Red Rick

Red Rick

Feb 20, 2012
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Froome19 said:
In my school and I assume all schools in Britain we learn French for 2 years until GCSE and then we have the option to take it as a GCSE or drop it (like i did) if you drop it you dont get much of an education in the language.
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That isn't much of a problem, the only French i'll ever need is on vacation and that is: deux pain et rapidement
 
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