Wiggo admits that 4th place was a fluke?

[perico]

Huh...


http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-admits-last-year-was-a-fluke

Wiggins admitted that his fourth place in the 2009 Tour de France was a fluke.

"It was fluke in the sense that it wasn't planned. I fell into superb form and was riding on cloud nine for most of the race and held onto fourth place," he said.

"This is huge learning curve. This is the first year I've tackled it like this full on. It's easy to think you can improve and get it right. I recovered well from the Giro and did some good stuff in training that suggested it was all pointing in the right direction but obviously it's another thing producing it in racing and holding it day in day out. Is another thing all together. Then you can't account for what everyone else is going to do."

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

At least he has some good self-knowledge

Look at 9 and 10 in last years tour, Kreuziger and Le Mevel. They finished 29 and 30 in the mountain stage today...

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Lol and how much money has Sky invested in him and lovkvist?? the 2 biggest failures.

 

[Wiesmier]

I think Mr Wiggins is being very hard on himself. Its just the form has not been there this year at the right time. A set back not failure.

 

[La Pandera]

Huh...


http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-admits-last-year-was-a-fluke

Thanks Wiggo. Tell us something that we didn't already know even before the Tour began...at least some of us.

 

[Rob_Roy]

Lol and how much money has Sky invested in him and lovkvist?? the 2 biggest failures.

Well,considering that Löfkvist usually cracks in the heat I have to say that he has been stunning this TdF...

He has never managed to end among the top 40,so place 16 is a huge step for him,but then,he has got a few more stages to endure before we know if he really is better this year or not.

 

[La Pandera]

I think Mr Wiggins is being very hard on himself. Its just the form has not been there this year at the right time. A set back not failure.

It's a huge failure for Sky considering the huge dollars he received under the pretense that he was going to be a Tour contender. He was even talking himself up as competing with Contador with his training behind accelerating motor vehicles in the mountains as a means to mimic Contador's accelerations. Last year was a race controlled by Astana and as such was quoted by a certain DS with Wiggins' former team, they "soft-pedalled" in the mountains. This year's Tour is much more mountainous AND you have more riders contending for the podium, well at least the final podium spot, that either weren't in the race (Samu Sanchez and Joaquin Rodriguez), weren't in top form (Menchov) or crashed out (Leipheimer). I believe we have seen the last of Wiggins being talked up as a podium contender.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Lol and how much money has Sky invested in him and lovkvist?? the 2 biggest failures.

You seriously need to chill out on whatever orgy of sky hate you're going for. In what universe is Lofkvists performance a failure in any sense, let alone one of the biggest failures.

I'm amazed he's going to crack top 20, possibly better.

 

[ttrider]

At least he now sees the truth
Congragulations for taking sky to the cleaners with your contract!!!

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

he's no failure in my book but Sky considered him a top gt contender for the future. I have no hate against sky I just question the riders they invest in.

 

[Cobblestones]

I said it in another thread before, Wigan's huge salary will be bad for team morale in the future. When there's riders in his own team which perform better, but only get a fraction of the dough Wigans rakes in, it's just an all around bad situation. I don't know what DB was thinking, but Wigans will be an ongoing catastrophe for Sky, kind of like the BP gusher in the Gulf.

 

[Publicus]

At least he is able to engage in a bit of honest self-talk.

 

[Delicato]

Well, you can say that Astana soft-pedalled in the mountains, but Verbier, for instance, had a fastest VAM in the history of the Tour climbs. And Wiggins was actually pretty good on that stage.

 

[The Sheep]

I said it in another thread before, Wigan's huge salary will be bad for team morale in the future. When there's riders in his own team which perform better, but only get a fraction of the dough Wigans rakes in, it's just an all around bad situation. I don't know what DB was thinking, but Wigans will be an ongoing catastrophe for Sky, kind of like the BP gusher in the Gulf.

How many years does he have left on his contract?

 

[Cobblestones]

How many years does he have left on his contract?

IIRC he's in the first of 4 years.

 

[Ibanez]

I actually give Wiggins a lot of respect for his self awareness. He has always been quite honest like that.

 

[Rob_Roy]

he's no failure in my book but Sky considered him a top gt contender for the future. I have no hate against sky I just question the riders they invest in.

I understand your point,but Löfkvist is as you say Considered a top GT contender for the future.
He is still learning to cope with the heat,last year in the Giro he performed very well,until it become 40C and the roads started to melt.

For me he is really good this time,and it pleased me that he didnt have to wait for Wiggins today.

 

[La Pandera]

Well, you can say that Astana soft-pedalled in the mountains, but Verbier, for instance, had a fastest VAM in the history of the Tour climbs. And Wiggins was actually pretty good on that stage.

If I recall that supposed fact was not accurate and also there were too many variables involved in being able to make that statement with any confidence.
Additionally as I stated earlier there is much stiffer competition for Wiggins to deal with than last year. Finally you can't have much of an argument in support of a fellow whose chief domestique is out riding him without the excuse of injury or crash.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I understand your point,but Löfkvist is as you say Considered a top GT contender for the future.
He is still learning to cope with the heat,last year in the Giro he performed very well,until it become 40C and the roads started to melt.

For me he is really good this time,and it pleased me that he didnt have to wait for Wiggins today.

What future? Lövkvist is already 27 as it is.
If he has super form and can somehow keep it for 3 weeks, he might, just might, be able to ride top 10 in the Giro or the Vuelta.
But he is no future GT contender of any sort.

If Sky wanted to invest in a future GT contender (Giro/Vuelta/Tour), they should have gone for other names.

 

[Anonymous]

If Sky wanted to invest in a future GT contender (Giro/Vuelta/Tour), they should have gone for other names.

And no doubt they will invest as well as bringing through their own riders, lofkvist, kennaugh etc. It is year one.

At least brads performance has put pay to the rumours that cant be talked about here.

 

[David Suro]

Wiggins should be applauded for his honesty and hunility. He isn't making any kind of lame excuse.

He mentioned that it took him years to perfect his training program for the track pursuit. That event lasts a few miinutes.

He also mentioned that he intends to change his program for next year's TdF. Given his performance, I would call that a smart choice.

As for Sky's investment, there is always a risk when sponsoring an athlete. I would suggest Sky has gotten a good return given the magazine spreads and other exposure Wiggans has brought. At least he hasn't been implicated as a cheater, gotten into a fight, been a whiny loser, or anything else that could tarnish the image of a sponsor.

 

[Rob_Roy]

What future? Lövkvist is already 27 as it is.
If he has super form and can somehow keep it for 3 weeks, he might, just might, be able to ride top 10 in the Giro or the Vuelta.
But he is no future GT contender of any sort.

If Sky wanted to invest in a future GT contender (Giro/Vuelta/Tour), they should have gone for other names.

I cant say I am a sky fan but if I dont recall wrong there was a 37 year old biker on the podium last year! That leaves 10 years for Lövkvist to learn how to ride in the heat..

 

[Cobblestones]

What future? Lövkvist is already 27 as it is.
If he has super form and can somehow keep it for 3 weeks, he might, just might, be able to ride top 10 in the Giro or the Vuelta.
But he is no future GT contender of any sort.

If Sky wanted to invest in a future GT contender (Giro/Vuelta/Tour), they should have gone for other names.

I think it is a terrible mistake for a newly formed team to aim straight for the biggest prize of them all. Instead of Wigans with all the misplaced GC hopes, they should have gone after Cavendish. Yeah, stage wins and green jersey might mean less publicity, but if you screw up sometimes (which you invariably will as a new team) there's always a new chance tomorrow for a sprinter. This should get you over the first 1-2 years with sufficient success and gained experience that you can start to think bigger.

 

[hrotha]

The more I read about Wiggins, the more I like him.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I understand your point,but Löfkvist is as you say Considered a top GT contender for the future.
He is still learning to cope with the heat,last year in the Giro he performed very well,until it become 40C and the roads started to melt.

For me he is really good this time,and it pleased me that he didnt have to wait for Wiggins today.

lovkkvist is 26 and can't do anything past 1 week. he's overrated beyon even brajkovic.