Wiggins - the ultimate journey man (a.k.a. gun for hire)
It strikes me that having read some of the press about Wiggins and his move to sky, it does appear that he is a realljourney man in every sense of the word, and nothing more than a gun for hire. He does not seem to have any long term commitment to any of teh teams he has been with over teh years.
La Française des Jeux (2002-2003),
Crédit Agricole (2004-2005)
Cofidis (2006-2007).
Team High Road in 2008
Garmin-Slipstream in 2009
There are probably a whole host of reasons why he left each one, money, unhappiness, etc... but looking at the facts, he is probably never going to see out the end of his contract and is just a gun for hire. I think he may have done some good things if he had of stayed at Garmin with Vaughters, but I guess we will never know.
La Française des Jeux (2002-2003),
Crédit Agricole (2004-2005)
Cofidis (2006-2007).
Team High Road in 2008
Garmin-Slipstream in 2009
There are probably a whole host of reasons why he left each one, money, unhappiness, etc... but looking at the facts, he is probably never going to see out the end of his contract and is just a gun for hire. I think he may have done some good things if he had of stayed at Garmin with Vaughters, but I guess we will never know.
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I can see where you're coming from but this is the first time he's been the main man and hopefully that will keep him with Sky. If Sky do no good this year though, he'll jump ship again.0
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He was never committed to road cycling, let alone a team, until last season! Its understandable he wanted to move to Sky, the backroom team there seem to have been behind most of his improvements last year and the chance to work so closely with them must have been a huge draw - bigger than the money even. I reckon but for Sky he would've stayed at Garmin, but once Sky came in he will have always wanted to go there. I think the suggestions he'll be moving on again in a year's time are well wide of the mark and kind of missing the point about his move to Sky...0
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I can't see him ever jumping the Sky ship, as MatHammond says all the guys & gals there have helped him since Sydney - the boy has come home!0
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MatHammond wrote:He was never committed to road cycling, let alone a team, until last season! Its understandable he wanted to move to Sky, the backroom team there seem to have been behind most of his improvements last year and the chance to work so closely with them must have been a huge draw - bigger than the money even. I reckon but for Sky he would've stayed at Garmin, but once Sky came in he will have always wanted to go there. I think the suggestions he'll be moving on again in a year's time are well wide of the mark and kind of missing the point about his move to Sky...
That's exactly what he said in his press conference (staying at Garmin)Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
I reckon but for Sky he would've stayed at Garmin, but once Sky came in he will have always wanted to go there. I think the suggestions he'll be moving on again in a year's time are well wide of the mark and kind of missing the point about his move to Sky...
+1, it's clealry different for Sky. Still not sure he should've moved though!0 -
MatHammond wrote:He was never committed to road cycling, let alone a team, until last season! Its understandable he wanted to move to Sky, the backroom team there seem to have been behind most of his improvements last year and the chance to work so closely with them must have been a huge draw - bigger than the money even. I reckon but for Sky he would've stayed at Garmin, but once Sky came in he will have always wanted to go there. I think the suggestions he'll be moving on again in a year's time are well wide of the mark and kind of missing the point about his move to Sky...
what was the point of his move to sky?
I would venture the only reason was bags and bags of money because on balance both sky and at garmin are on the same level. Both would be "percieved" as relatively clean teams so no reasons there... He would have the leadership at Sky? Well at Garmin, he had the effective leadership as there was no way Vande Velde would have (a) gotten to July without crashing and (b) been given the fulll backing after wiggans performance last year, so no reasons there.
In fact, with a two prong leadership structure at Garmin, there was argubly less pressure on Wiggans, and it will be interesting to see how Wiggans copes with the pressure at sky - 5/2 odds of a brain melt sometime in March..
At sky he will though have Tomas Lokvist nipping at his heals..afterall Lokvist thought that he was getting the top job.0 -
Seems the Sky PR machine is doing its work...0
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intothe12 wrote:what was the point of his move to sky?
I would venture the only reason was bags and bags of money because on balance both sky and at garmin are on the same level. Both would be "percieved" as relatively clean teams so no reasons there... He would have the leadership at Sky? Well at Garmin, he had the effective leadership as there was no way Vande Velde would have (a) gotten to July without crashing and (b) been given the fulll backing after wiggans performance last year, so no reasons there.
The fact Sky is run and coached by the people he's worked with year round for a decade, with great success, probably had a little bit to do with it.Twitter: @RichN950 -
I think he has been in the most teams in a ten year period of any rider which is not something to be impressed with. Or it might be that there is either someone who ties with him or has one more team than him.Contador is the Greatest0
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I personally think he's shot himself in the foot with this one.
I don't think Sky will give him the same potential TDF support, and for a man that was so close to getting on the podium, I really don't understand why you'd not stay with a team you know will perform well."A cyclist has nothing to lose but his chain"
PTP Runner Up 20150 -
I think he's behaved like a bit of a tw*t. After his "Garmin are the greatest" crap last year, now he's on the move again without even having the decency to see out his contract.
Mercenary sh*thead. :evil:0 -
Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0
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This is a good point:"If we were to pull back 14 months in time, there were not 10 teams interested in signing Brad Wiggins. There were no teams - including Dave Brailsford's - who were willing to pay Brad what I was willing to pay him.
You have to admire JV for helping a lot of these guys on, building them up into big hitters (I know their budget meant they couldn't buy the big ones anyway).
That Bradley left when Garmin were good to him and where he did well is totally lacking in respect, however much he would like to ride with Sky. Sky will still be around in 2011 and will have a stronger team with more Grand Tour support.
On a side point, why is he targetting the Tour? If I was him I would go after the Vuelta or maybe the Giro - he is much more likely to win those. Contador will crush him in the Tour.
Also, I wonder what Millar thinks about it all.Contador is the Greatest0 -
LOL
The Dogma is sweet though, apart from the groupset and wheels and black bar tape.
Contador is the Greatest0 -
And the cravate.... WRONG!
He's no chance at the Giro either, much more of a climbers race than the Tour."In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"
@gietvangent0 -
wiggins has got what...2 - 5 yrs left of podium potential
I don't blame him from trying to maximize his earning potential... making a fist of it thou"If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0 -
disgruntledgoat wrote:And the cravate.... WRONG!
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+1. He looks as though he's announcing that he's new bass player for The Kinks.Twitter: @RichN950 -
RichN95 wrote:disgruntledgoat wrote:And the cravate.... WRONG!
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+1. He looks as though he's announcing that he's new bass player for The Kinks.
Is taht.. it can't be... It is! It's a moleskin jacket! Jeebus it's worse than I thought."In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"
@gietvangent0 -
Forget the moleskin. His new boss is wearing a tank top. Worse than Argyll.___________________
Strava is not Zen.0 -
bobtbuilder wrote:I think he's behaved like a bit of a tw*t. After his "Garmin are the greatest" crap last year, now he's on the move again without even having the decency to see out his contract.
Mercenary sh*thead. :evil:
You only ever worked for one employer all your life then? You would not change employer for more money or satisfaction? This is no differentIt’s the most beautiful sport in the world but it’s governed by ***ts who have turned it into a crock of ****.0 -
at least wiggins has some dress sense and taste unlike most cyclists who even on a night out will still dress like they are on their way to a race.frenchfighter wrote:
LOL
The Dogma is sweet though, apart from the groupset and wheels and black bar tape.0 -
Wonder how long it took him to put that outfit together?
How tall (or short) is Dave Brailsford?0 -
something all very "stephen fry" about that look he has going on.
my default position on people who were clothes like that usually is..."tw*t".
I'm glad to have my views confirmed.0 -
yep. i've had this suspicion for a while, but now it has been confirmed. He is the reincarnation of:
point your handlebars towards the heavens and sweat like you're in hell0 -
intothe12 wrote:something all very "stephen fry" about that look he has going on.
my default position on people who were clothes like that usually is..."tw*t".
I'm glad to have my views confirmed.
My default position on people who judge others on how they dress is tw*t. I'm glad to have my views confirmed. :twisted:0 -
intothe12 wrote:something all very "stephen fry" about that look he has going on.
Which is modelled on Oscar Wilde...
Stil, agree with other poster - he does have a dress sense, does wear civilian clothes : so many other riders seem not to own anything other than team-issue poloshirts0 -
Isnt it rumoured that Sky have trebled his wages ?
Would any of us seriously stay at an employer out of loyalty and pass up an extra 600k per year ?
His career could end any time. Theres no guarantees at all that he can live up to his 4th place of this year.
He has worked very closely and had most of his success with the British setup - so he'd be a fool not to go for it.
Maybe they arent the best Tour Team around - but Wiggins is obviously hoping that they can transfer pretty well over to the road. I hope they do.0 -
intothe12 wrote:something all very "stephen fry" about that look he has going on.
my default position on people who were clothes like that usually is..."tw*t".
I'm glad to have my views confirmed.
My position on people who confuse were and wear is usually something similar :roll:You live and learn. At any rate, you live0 -
andyp wrote:intothe12 wrote:something all very "stephen fry" about that look he has going on.
my default position on people who were clothes like that usually is..."tw*t".
I'm glad to have my views confirmed.
My default position on people who judge others on how they dress is tw*t. I'm glad to have my views confirmed. :twisted:
If you had of been really sharp, you would have also added in that I can't spell for sh*t....were vs wear.... too bad, missed opportunitiy0 -
jez mon....good catch0
