Wiggins, Team Sky and the Giro

[mc_mountain]

Forgive me if this has been covered elsewhere

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-targets-giro-pink-jersey

Wiggins states that he is focusing on a good performance at the Giro but not aiming for GC, but sees himself doing well at the prologue, the mountain ITT and the final stage and the team doing well at the TTT. My hope is that if he finds himself in contention that he sticks with it and rides hard in the last week, it appears he intends to ride the whole race if he is aiming at the Verona ITT.

He has pointed to Pellizotti as a favourite and of course the italian will be very motivated but also under pressure to perform. my memory of it was he went to the 09 tdf with GC ambitions but had to refocus on KOM. the other competition would be Cadel and Menchov, and possibly Sastre. i can see wiggins edging out cadel and menchov in the mountains and the time trials. i can see him losing a couple of minutes to Pellizotti and sastre on a single stage in the mountains but clawing that back on other mountain stages and the time trials.

I cannot see Wiggins ever winning the tour, and I hope he and the team are prepared to attack the Giro (i am content for them to dismiss the GC at the Giro publicly though, if it gains them an advantage). Surely going to the tour as "the Team Sky's Giro d'Italia Champion Bradley Wiggins", and for him to be referred to as such every time his name is mentioned in the build up and during the tour would achieve just as much as say another 4th place at the tour. it would take the pressure off and perhaps lead to a better performance, not only by him but by the team as a whole, at the tour. it would also bring the Giro, and the concept of cycing other than 3 weeks in july, to the wider attention in the UK

He refers to the Sastre situation for last year ie giro/tour double ends in disappointed tour but i'm not sure that fits for wiggins, there should be no reason not to attempt 2 grand tours unless he can guarantee winning the tour. I hope when he says decisions need to made they are not made too early.

has anyone figured out the likely make up of the team for the Giro? the article states Cioni will lead them at the Giro but I don't see him being a real contender. also which other big heads of state will be at the Giro.

One last issue - i had it in my head that there would be a ITT around lake como starting and/or finishing in Lecco - have i just made this up?!

 

[Sum_of_Marc]

Not gonna happen, Wiggins' season is built around the Tour, he wont be in the right shape to contend for the Giro GC

And im fairly sure it was Pellizotti's plan all along to go fot stages/KoM since he'd already done the Giro, and Liquigas has Nibali and Kreuziger there also

 

[karlboss]

It's a lie, wiggins is going all out for the giro, and pretending its all about the tour.

 

[Anonymous]

It's a lie, wiggins is going all out for the giro, and pretending its all about the tour.

AS for cioni, he has been a pretty solid grand tour rider, finished 4th overall in the giro, completed something like 15 grand tours, but always as a domestique. They obviously see something in him to think he can be a contender. sky have their weird computer analysing rider chooser thingy and his name flashed up..

 

[El Imbatido]

Wiggins states that he is focusing on a good performance at the Giro but not aiming for GC, but sees himself doing well at the prologue, the mountain ITT and the final stage and the team doing well at the TTT. My hope is that if he finds himself in contention that he sticks with it and rides hard in the last week, it appears he intends to ride the whole race if he is aiming at the Verona ITT.

I hope this too but i really don't think he is as good as alot of people have made out. No i'm not just saying this because i'm Australian. I hope he proves me wrong too but really the Tour last season had three mountain top finishes (Arcalis, Verbier and Ventoux), the other mountains were just wasted ie. Tourmalet, neutralising alot of mountains with downhill finishes and he got dropped on the stage to the Grand Bonnard as well as on Ventoux when it seemed as though Contador and Schleck were just playing with everyone and trying to get teammates onto the podium.

The Giro is harder than the tour as well so will more likely suit the explosive climber. ie. Sastre, Schleck and Contador but it is likely none of them will turn even turn up. Because of this i do agree that i would be a good idea for Wiggins to do the Giro.

He has pointed to Pellizotti as a favourite and of course the italian will be very motivated but also under pressure to perform. my memory of it was he went to the 09 tdf with GC ambitions but had to refocus on KOM. the other competition would be Cadel and Menchov, and possibly Sastre. i can see wiggins edging out cadel and menchov in the mountains and the time trials. i can see him losing a couple of minutes to Pellizotti and sastre on a single stage in the mountains but clawing that back on other mountain stages and the time trials.

Again i think your a bit over confident in B. Wiggins' climbing ability. The Dolomites are completely different to the Alps and Wiggins hasn't proved he can stay with the best when the heat is on yet.

Both Evans and Menchov are GT GC proven riders and i don't think that Wiggins will out climb either of them and especially if he is only training for the Tour. He may have a chance of out TTing them but that will probably be because he is fresher than Evans and Menchov, otherwise id call their TTing ability similar. Also i think Pellozotti and Sastre are better TTers than you give them credit for. Pellozotti won the mountaintop tt to the Plan de Corones in the 08 Giro and remember sastre's final tt of the tour in 08 he only lost 30 sec to Evans in a flatish TT

I cannot see Wiggins ever winning the tour, and I hope he and the team are prepared to attack the Giro (i am content for them to dismiss the GC at the Giro publicly though, if it gains them an advantage). Surely going to the tour as "the Team Sky's Giro d'Italia Champion Bradley Wiggins", and for him to be referred to as such every time his name is mentioned in the build up and during the tour would achieve just as much as say another 4th place at the tour. it would take the pressure off and perhaps lead to a better performance, not only by him but by the team as a whole, at the tour. it would also bring the Giro, and the concept of cycing other than 3 weeks in july, to the wider attention in the UK

I agree with you here winning or podiuming in the Giro will be better than a possible top ten in the tour (which is where i think he will probably be, even outside the ten wouldn't surprise me with the high level of competition going to the tour in 2010). But Dave Brailsford will just put good spin on it anyway. ie. something along the lines of "Just a stepping stone toward victory in 2011"

He refers to the Sastre situation for last year ie giro/tour double ends in disappointed tour but i'm not sure that fits for wiggins, there should be no reason not to attempt 2 grand tours unless he can guarantee winning the tour. I hope when he says decisions need to made they are not made too early.

He will be wary of this and so will a few other candidates ie. Menchov, Evans(if they get an invite), Sastre, Pellozotti. But it is all about listening to their body as they are the ones that know it best. I also agree with the contenders doing 2 GTs as well. Contenders used to compete in multiple GTs before this complete "one race focus" came into play.

Has anyone figured out the likely make up of the team for the Giro? the article states Cioni will lead them at the Giro but I don't see him being a real contender. also which other big heads of state will be at the Giro.

Dario Cioni is actually quite a good rider, stage of the Vuelta, 4th in the Giro in 04 so the Giro is probably his seasons focus along with possibly being a domestique at the Tour for Wiggins. I think he could possibly top ten but that is about it

One last issue - i had it in my head that there would be a ITT around lake como starting and/or finishing in Lecco - have i just made this up?!

Don't have a clue...

 

[Anonymous]

Dario Cioni is actually quite a good rider, stage of the Vuelta, 4th in the Giro in 04 so the Giro is probably his seasons focus along with possibly being a domestique at the Tour for Wiggins. I think he could possibly top ten but that is about it

technically impossible if we are to beleive that every single rider is riding one grand tour this year..

 

[El Imbatido]

technically impossible if we are to beleive that every single rider is riding one grand tour this year..

I don't know that much about Team SKY so if each rider is only doing one Gt, then i guess Cioni is focusing on the Giro

 

[Galic Ho]

Wiggins states that he is focusing on a good performance at the Giro but not aiming for GC, but sees himself doing well at the prologue, the mountain ITT and the final stage and the team doing well at the TTT. My hope is that if he finds himself in contention that he sticks with it and rides hard in the last week, it appears he intends to ride the whole race if he is aiming at the Verona ITT.

He has pointed to Pellizotti as a favourite and of course the italian will be very motivated but also under pressure to perform. my memory of it was he went to the 09 tdf with GC ambitions but had to refocus on KOM. the other competition would be Cadel and Menchov, and possibly Sastre. i can see wiggins edging out cadel and menchov in the mountains and the time trials. i can see him losing a couple of minutes to Pellizotti and sastre on a single stage in the mountains but clawing that back on other mountain stages and the time trials.

I cannot see Wiggins ever winning the tour, and I hope he and the team are prepared to attack the Giro (i am content for them to dismiss the GC at the Giro publicly though, if it gains them an advantage). Surely going to the tour as "the Team Sky's Giro d'Italia Champion Bradley Wiggins", and for him to be referred to as such every time his name is mentioned in the build up and during the tour would achieve just as much as say another 4th place at the tour. it would take the pressure off and perhaps lead to a better performance, not only by him but by the team as a whole, at the tour. it would also bring the Giro, and the concept of cycing other than 3 weeks in july, to the wider attention in the UK

He refers to the Sastre situation for last year ie giro/tour double ends in disappointed tour but i'm not sure that fits for wiggins, there should be no reason not to attempt 2 grand tours unless he can guarantee winning the tour. I hope when he says decisions need to made they are not made too early.

Good for you. But I don't think Wiggins can win any GT, let alone podium. Better than Cadel and Menchov in the hills? The respective palmares are against your belief. They'll both spank Wiggins in the Giro. Better yet, if EBH and Loqkvist are not given room to perform, I can see Wiggins getting the cold shoulder come the Tour and finding little support in the mountains.

Wiggins to perform strongly in two consecutive GT's? I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know that much about Team SKY so if each rider is only doing one Gt, then i guess Cioni is focusing on the Giro

Management have said every rider will get to do one grand tour..

26 riders, brad riding giro and tour, thats 27 altogether..
9x3 = 27

so nobody gets to do two..

 

[mc_mountain]

In reply El Imbatido, i think we agree on a few points and only mildly disagree on a few others.

I agree that the majority of my initial post assumes that Wiggins is a serious player in the GTs and that tdf wasn't a flash in the pan. Just to clarify Wiggins, in the article quoted, is basically saying he will ride the whole of the Giro but no go for the GC.

I am not suggesting that Wiggins will ride away from Cadel and Menchov (Ballan's assertion that he will ride the Giro has been seen as a sign that BMC will be there) although it would be great if he could. i am merely speculating that it is possible he will be able to edge them out, covering their moves and perhaps gaining seconds here and there to go with a few more seconds from TTs. I am also not expecting Wiggins to take minutes out of Pellizotti and Sastre in the TTs but hoping that he gains enough time on several stages (mountain and tt) to offset a possible big gain by either or both on one stage. this assumes that Sastre and Pellizotti don't ride perfect races and that wiggins can compete with Cadel and Menchov. but if those assumptions turn out to be true, i hope he and the team don't miss the opportunity when the very best Contador and Andy Schleck aren't there.

Can see Cioni doing well but can't seem he beating the big guns, while albeit through rose tinted glasses i can see wiggins being right at the front of the race.

Sum - yes may well be the case.

 

[mc_mountain]

Wiggins to perform strongly in two consecutive GT's? I'll believe it when I see it.

i am not suggesting that he will ride away from evans and menchov...
I accept it will need to be seen to be believed but who believed he would finish 4th at the tour. i am enjoying speculating...