wiggo

[michaeld05]

yes bradley!

good on you son, you hung on 'till the end

now all we brits needs is a cav win tommorow to top off a great tour

 

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All around satisfying finish to the race today for me. He did great to mark all the accelerations.

 

[ilillillli]

yes bradley!

good on you son, you hung on 'till the end

now all we brits needs is a cav win tommorow to top off a great tour

dudes, there's already a wiggins thread.

 

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Dur forum police.......

 

[michaeld05]

dudes, there's already a wiggins thread.

where?

there one about a pay rise and his chainring, or am i blind?

my bad, one on page 7, you really must of looked for that one, how much spare time do you have?

 

[autologous]

yeah, you might have knocked the other wiggo thread to page 8 - oh, the horror

 

[michaeld05]

yeah, you might have knocked the other wiggo thread to page 8 - oh, the horror

dont worry, its still there

 

[ilillillli]

where?

there one about a pay rise and his chainring, or am i blind?

my bad, one on page 7, you really must of looked for that one, how much spare time do you have?

it's not spare time, it's being here for a few weeks and not starting 10 new threads every day. it was no page 1 a few days ago.

 

[Billy Boy]

Not sure what the problem with another thread is!

Great ride by Wiggins. From arguably the best endurance track rider in the world to equalling Robert Millar's 4th place in a year is an immense achievement.

 

[mherm79]

Not sure what the problem with another thread is!

Great ride by Wiggins. From arguably the best endurance track rider in the world to equalling Robert Millar's 4th place in a year is an immense achievement.

+1

this guys is definitely going to be a force in future GT's

 

[Sewer Rat]

The dude got lucky. The race route played to his strengths - The first TT and then TTT kept him around the GC. All he seemed to do then was follow the VDV blueprint of 08 and surf the wheels of the good guys.With no TTT and one or two more mountain finishes top 30 is about his spot.
To be a podium contender, you need to be more than just a follower. I can see him hanging around the top 10 for a year or two, but he isnt a spring chicken or a true climber, both of which will limit his GT performances.

 

[lanternrouge]

The dude got lucky. The race route played to his strengths - The first TT and then TTT kept him around the GC. All he seemed to do then was follow the VDV blueprint of 08 and surf the wheels of the good guys.With no TTT and one or two more mountain finishes top 30 is about his spot.
To be a podium contender, you need to be more than just a follower. I can see him hanging around the top 10 for a year or two, but he isnt a spring chicken or a true climber, both of which will limit his GT performances.

Over a three week grand tour if you are there at the end its not down to luck. Fact is he can time trial with the best of them and was always in the select group on the climbs. Used to to work for cuddles quite well.
If you said to wiggo he was lucky after turning himself inside out on that mountain yesterday I suspect he would be tempted to punch you in the face!

 

[uphillstruggle]

Over a three week grand tour if you are there at the end its not down to luck. Fact is he can time trial with the best of them and was always in the select group on the climbs. Used to to work for cuddles quite well.
If you said to wiggo he was lucky after turning himself inside out on that mountain yesterday I suspect he would be tempted to punch you in the face!

It's not luck, he rode brilliantly for three weeks, as you have to to get a top 5 finish in a GT but I don't think he will finish as high again, mainly because the route suited him to a T. The mountain weren't as killers as they have been in the past and he gained time on everyone bar the astana brigade in the TTT. If Prudhomme designs another route like this again then maybe he will do well again; Wiggins would not do well in the Giro for example but this tour played to his and his teams strengths. I suppose in the end you can only ride the route they give you and he came forth.

To be honest though Wiggins has been the highlight of the tour for me.

 

[dienekes88]

I think "luck" was probably the wrong word.

A couple of the summit finishes were shorter climbs (Arcalis, Verbier). All of the summit finishes and the Queen Stage had at least some tactical stuff that slowed down the race.

He was FORTUNATE that there were competing interests that helped him on his weakest point. It also helped that he had some big motors to help him drive that TTT.

However, he was unfortunate in that there was only one longer TT. If there were 2x 50k TTs... he might've finished on the podium. If a Grand Tour decides that they want to design a Grand Tour for him by making it flat as heck with significant TTing, supposedly the case in the 1998 Vuelta for Abraham Olano, then maybe he can stand on the top step.

 

[tifosa]

A bit more climbing and ITTs will make Wiggins a force to be reckoned with. Well, that and maybe a different team (Sky?) He has grown exponentially as a cyclist. Next year's Tour should be right racing!

 

[Señor_Contador]

Wiggins is a future winner of the TdF, in my opinion of course.

 

[Wicklow200]

Wiggins is a future winner of the TdF, in my opinion of course.

You've got a lot to learn

 

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You've got a lot to learn

Wow. That stings! I love that quote.

 

[Anonymous]

You've got a lot to learn

just watch!

 

[runninboy]

A bit more climbing and ITTs will make Wiggins a force to be reckoned with. Well, that and maybe a different team (Sky?) He has grown exponentially as a cyclist. Next year's Tour should be right racing!

I agree. Alot of people couldn't believe what he was doing this year. his first at this lower weight. I must admit i didn't believe he could hang in the last week. but he fought back over & over, he always came back. It could be he is fine tuning his climbing motor because not once was he ever completely blown. With a FULL year of training at his new weight his climbing will improve...
Happy for him.

 

[Anonymous]

really good article here on brads improvement http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/8168184.stm with shane sutton...

Just sat in the hotel recovering from a very long day yesterday.. fourth time in paris and by far the best, stage win, and 4th.. what a day.. Hats off to Dave and Brad of garmin, complete gentlemen, spent loads of time with the british fans at the top of the Champs, Brad and Dave both purloined flags from us, Dave went down the Champs with it flying from the back of his bike.. (how often to fans supply you with cable ties.. )

The british riders did themselves proud, but the fans did themselves just as proud. amazing support in paris, and i can say something, cav gets a lot of stick for being arrogant, etc etc, but the support for him in paris amongst all nationalities was amazing.. the germans next to us where going wild for him, an adopted t-mobile i guess..

Atmosphere in paris was as ever amazing, the usual problems with people who think that they can turn up at 3pm and move into space occupied by people who have been there since 8am, and begrudge you being at the front, but, well, politeness initially, and then &&&& em.. youve not got to see them again.. (got no time for people who try to take my spot and then ask, who is the winner of the tour, and who is the man wearing yellow jersey)

^ from the telegraph.. the guys directly opposite us.. we where too busy chinking beer with brad and giving out flags to take any photos our side..

side note.. BigBlueDave.. top bloke.. great meeting both of ya mate.. Hope you had a safe one home, we did have a small beer, at a little pub of the Champs, and then found a kebab shop near gare d l'est at about 11... lol...