WIGGINS'S GIRO - A FULL DRESS REHEARSAL...

pedro118118

Well, it's been an entertaining and frantic first week.

The good news - great performance in the prologue and very close (but no cigar) in the TTT.

The bad news - several crashes, losing 4'30'' on the strade biance (or rather strade marrone) and getting dropped and losing 30" to the other GC contenders on the first proper hill.

Good, bad or indifferent. Or unlucky?

Lots to think about for July!

Pross

I think he'll be pretty pleased overall assuming he genuinely was pinning everything on the Tour and that the Giro really is just a glorified training bash. I still don't see him bettering last season's result at the Tour though.

thamacdaddy

I have seen some others berating him on other threads for not being up there but after stage 3 it was pretty much all over really. Had he not had those crashes I expect we would have seen more of him. On rides like stage 7 why put yourself through the ringer like Basso, Vino etc unless you want the GC. I would like to see him finish it as I expect we are yet to see a stage where he gives it some welly on the climbs as a proper tester but I am not expecting him to go out too hard. In all honesty if you go into something with the mindset this is training I doubt it's hard to really go all out at any point but I am more than prepared to be suprised.

I guess the other rider to compare is sastre but I can't help but feel sastre is trying to be out of contention to launch a massive attack on a later mountain stage and gain back 5 mins+. Though from what I have read he is looking at the Giro being his only test prior to the TdF as he has spent most of his time out of the race calendar getting his head straight and training.

I think it is still week one and anyone who writes people off on performance so far is probably being a bit harsh.

Kléber

I would have thought Terminillo was just right for him. Not too steep and apart from one kick, a steady gradient all the way up.

pedro118118

Just to clarify, my post is not intended as a dig at Wiggins.
Just presenting the facts and stimulating debate.

The Sastre point is an interesting one - he has done next to no racing at all prior to the Giro and really isn't interested in fighting for position or going deep when the going gets hard in the wind and/or bad weather. Hence the bundles of time lost already.

That all said, the final week is usually when he's at his strongest and the mountain stages at the end of the race look very very hard. Maybe he can make a late charge for stage wins and/or big time when the roads go skywards...

Tom Butcher

He got the prologue win so it's not all bad. A lot depends on what his aims were - I think he probably was aiming to stay up there and that's not happened - but it's probably fair to say there has been an element of bad luck in there with the crashes. We'll know more by the end of the Giro - if he doesn't make a decent showing in a couple of stages then that'll suggest he's some way short - but then Armstrong was some way short this time last year and he did relatively well at the Tour so there is still time to put things right.

It's perhaps a bit more worrying that Team Sky have shown very little this season to suggest that they can really support him at the Tour any better or even as well as Garmin did.

intothe12

Tom Butcher wrote:

It's perhaps a bit more worrying that Team Sky have shown very little this season to suggest that they can really support him at the Tour any better or even as well as Garmin did.

I'm not a lover of Sky, but the work they have been doing in the first week on the flat or undulating stages has not been without merit, added to that they have had lads consistently in breaks on the hard days, which bodes well for the Tour, becasue if you can manage to stick two guys into the break on a mountain finish stage, it acts as a good launch pad for an attack To bad, that Wiggo does not have the engine or head to actually use the guys up the road as a spring board. That is where as a GC rider, he is extremely limited. Added to the fact thtat he talks absolute shi*t does not help much either.

What Sky have not shown is that they can ride tempo over the hilly mountain passes in support of a GC leader, saying that though, they wont need to, so probably a mute point. Astana or BMC as controlling teams have not exactly set the world on fire in the Giro either, it seems as though only liquigas have been able to do it.

pedro118118

I suppose we'll never know whether Wiggo was planning on having a proper go at the Giro or (the official Sky party line) that the Giro is preperation for the Tour.

What the Giro has done is demonstrate that a Grand Tour can be lost in the first week if you have bad luck and/or you're not attentive at key moments.

I suppose the question is, if Wiggo suffers similar bad luck on the windy, cobbled roads of Holland and northern France in the first week (and loses 5mins), what to Sky then hang their season on, given they also had a pretty average Classics campaign?

It's a risky business alright...........

sherer

pedro118118 wrote:

I suppose we'll never know whether Wiggo was planning on having a proper go at the Giro or (the official Sky party line) that the Giro is preperation for the Tour.

agree here and such a shame the race is over for him after a few days.

What this does mean is that now he can attack and be allowed to get away as he is no GC threat. I've not really seen him attack on a mountain stage so far and not sure if he has it in him to get away.

Kléber

The Tour is worse than the Giro for Wiggins. No team time trial and some hefty contenders for the GC, instead of worrying about Vino, Scarponi and Cunego for the podium, it's Contador, Menchov, Andy Schleck and many others.

Moomaloid

Both Wiggo and Sastre have stated that the Tour is their priority this year, and as has been said here, after the bad luck for Brad in the first week i think its now gonna be about testing himself for the rest of the race. Its only be a week remember, so i would expect him to test his legs in the mountains at some point, and i def expect Sastre to have to have go for a stage.

I think they both need to test themselves though, whilst they have an inferior field to the Tour.

Overall its already been a good Giro for Sky. A stage win and Pink Jersey.

DavMartinR

Like intothe12 said. I think they missed a good opitunity yesterday, with Froome and Cummings up the road in the break. If Wiggins would of jumped across he had two guys there to pace him up the final climb. If he was looking for stage wins that is.

But Froome and Cummings went off the radar when the road ramped up? Could be that the stage on Saturday took a lot out of them. But I think Wiggins needs to do something before the end of the Giro, just for the public and media to kep faith with him as a contender in the TdF.

squired

Well, apparently he wasn't feeling good yesterday and ran out of energy on Saturday. Lets hope he does better come July. I'm never a fan of any rider doing nothing until July and nothing after. Look at his former teammate - do nothing in the Spring. Break your collarbone in the Giro, then go to the Tour lacking racing miles....then do very little else. If I was a sponsor I'd certainly not be impressed.

I was disappointed that the one climb in this year's race somewhat suited to Bradley saw him lose time to guys he should't have problems with. Mind you, I've been more disappointed by Dan Martin. I was expecting big things from him in this race and so far he has done nothing.

Abdoujaparov

DavMartinR wrote:

But Froome and Cummings went off the radar when the road ramped up?

Was surprised to see Froome go straight out the back door when they hit the last climb. Wiggo needs good climbers and Froome was looking promising last year, but doesn't seem to be progressing

Tom Butcher

Those were my feelings - no point in having men up the road if they aren't able to support you. If Sky are being compared to BMC then that's telling because Evans' team are acknowledged as a handicap for him.

As for Dan Martin - I can't understand the hype about him as a climbing prospect.

andyp

squired wrote:

Lets hope he does better come July. I'm never a fan of any rider doing nothing until July and nothing after.

Winning the opening stage and spending a day in pink counts as 'nothing' now does it?

iainf72

Sky are doing ok, however, I have noticed a trend with them. Theyrel visible and up there early in the race. But quite often when it gets to the really sharp end, they disappear quickly.

It happened a lot in the classics - Remember how they were all over the front of Flanders and then suddenly nowhere?

Out of all the GC contendors, I'd rate them as 2nd weakest in terms of support. With BMC weakest. Based on what we've seen so far.

Kléber

Tom Butcher wrote:

As for Dan Martin - I can't understand the hype about him as a climbing prospect.

Because he was second in Catalunya to Valverde last year, because of his ride in Lombardy etc. But he's been a disappointment so far this season.

sherer

didn't BMC send a strong squad to California so we aren't seeing the full Tour squad.

Have to see how they do out in Cali as that has a few mountain stages in it and if they are there at the end.

Sky have Bousen-Hagen back for the Tour not sure if they have any other strong contenders coming back

FJS

Kléber wrote:

The Tour is worse than the Giro for Wiggins. No team time trial and some hefty contenders for the GC, instead of worrying about Vino, Scarponi and Cunego for the podium, it's Contador, Menchov, Andy Schleck and many others.

I'm not sure I agree the route of the Toure is worse - The Tour has more individual TT kms (although not as much as normally, but not as extraordinarily few as this year's Giro) and the climbing is less of the skinny mountain goat variety than the last week of the Giro this year.
I do agree though that the competition will be a lot tougher, and that it was telling to see that Wiggins could not stay with the group of favourites on the Terminillo, a mountain that should suit him much more. My feeling is that being able to hang on in that group while treating the Giro as build up to the Tour woud have been necessary to compete for the podium in July.

andyp

Given his performance in the Giro last year, I'd say he was about on track to ensure his peak form (and weight) arrives for the Tour.

At the first mountain top finish last year he was1'47 back, yesterday he was 1'22 back.

wicked

andyp wrote:

Given his performance in the Giro last year, I'd say he was about on track to ensure his peak form (and weight) arrives for the Tour.

At the first mountain top finish last year he was1'47 back, yesterday he was 1'22 back.

+1
He is doing better that last year so fingers crossed should be on top form come july

avoidingmyphd

DavMartinR wrote:

I think Wiggins needs to do something before the end of the Giro, just for the public and media to kep faith with him as a contender in the TdF.

I'm pretty sure that this is not one of the criteria he is using to judge his build up.

mrchrispy

why rinse yourself on a climb just to show the other when you can do.
best saving it for the TdF when its needed.

cyclemambo

Are you guys all deluded, Sky are not performing well by anyones standards, over rated team and will be shown up in the Le Tour , Wiggins individual time trial the only good thing that has happened to the team so far.

Rodrego Hernandez

Who exactly over rated them? Was it the people calling them over rated now?

andyp

cyclemambo wrote:

Are you guys all deluded, Sky are not performing well by anyones standards, over rated team and will be shown up in the Le Tour , Wiggins individual time trial the only good thing that has happened to the team so far.

So Flecha's win at Het Volk was bad? How about Russ Downing's stage win at the Criterium International, was that bad too?

I'd say that for a new team they are doing okay, not as well as the Cervelo Test Team last year but as well as most, i.e. Katusha or Radioshack.

Tom Butcher

Rodrego Hernandez wrote:

Who exactly over rated them? Was it the people calling them over rated now?

Possibly Wiggins for one - didn't he compare them with Man Utd and Garmin with someone like Fulham ?

Rodrego Hernandez

Sky are having a pretty good season for a first year team that had a petty lean pool of riders to select from.

paulcuthbert

Rodrego Hernandez wrote:

Sky are having a pretty good season for a first year team that had a petty lean pool of riders to select from.

Better, worse, or about the same as The Shack?

Rodrego Hernandez

Have a look at their results and decide for yourself. Radioshack have a stellar line up. Skys is mediocre. Compare like with like if you want to compare with other teams.

For a team set up quickly and given the riders available to hire (bearing in mind they eliminated many potential hires for failing their hiring policy) they have had a pretty good season.