Wiggo's Commitment

Tom Butcher

lostboysaint wrote:

Tom, surely you can understand that you can't quote a sprinter in this context. Most stages of a professional event are a potential race win to them and every time it's a significantly different tactical and sporting decision as to whether they are going to challenge for it.

I'm not sure what everyone gets so worked up about with Wiggo. It's just typically British isn't it to bash our top sports men and women. He's a multiple world champion, he's a multiple Olympic medallist (a few gold and he's just podium'd the PN and has a 4th place in the TDF on his CV. That's a cycling pedigree that just about any other member of the peloton would trade theirs for, so what's the craic with a load of forumites slagging him off for "lack of effort? I assume that this is the same mentality that sees the criticism of Tim Henman for "only" being in the top 4 in the world, Andy Murray for "only" getting to 2nd in the world, being a multiple Grand Slam finalist, many times ATP winner, Lee Westwood for "only" being at no. 1 in the golf rankings for a couple of months and never having won a major...........

FFS get a grip!

Get a grip indeed. My point is this - Wiggo is a far bigger talent than his results on the road suggest. I'm certainly not knocking him for lack of effort - you might call it lack of confidence, maybe lack of mental courage - which is holding him back from getting the results he could and should be getting.

RichN95.

Tom Butcher wrote:

Get a grip indeed. My point is this - Wiggo is a far bigger talent than his results on the road suggest. I'm certainly not knocking him for lack of effort - you might call it lack of confidence, maybe lack of mental courage - which is holding him back from getting the results he could and should be getting.

The problem lies in that there has been a difference in what Wiggins has wanted to do and what fans think he should do. And what he has wanted to do has generally been track. And given the the amount of doping on the road during his career (and his nationality), he has probably made good a good choice.

fungus_the_muffin_man

Tom Butcher wrote:

lostboysaint wrote:

Tom, surely you can understand that you can't quote a sprinter in this context. Most stages of a professional event are a potential race win to them and every time it's a significantly different tactical and sporting decision as to whether they are going to challenge for it.

I'm not sure what everyone gets so worked up about with Wiggo. It's just typically British isn't it to bash our top sports men and women. He's a multiple world champion, he's a multiple Olympic medallist (a few gold and he's just podium'd the PN and has a 4th place in the TDF on his CV. That's a cycling pedigree that just about any other member of the peloton would trade theirs for, so what's the craic with a load of forumites slagging him off for "lack of effort? I assume that this is the same mentality that sees the criticism of Tim Henman for "only" being in the top 4 in the world, Andy Murray for "only" getting to 2nd in the world, being a multiple Grand Slam finalist, many times ATP winner, Lee Westwood for "only" being at no. 1 in the golf rankings for a couple of months and never having won a major...........

FFS get a grip!

Get a grip indeed. My point is this - Wiggo is a far bigger talent than his results on the road suggest. I'm certainly not knocking him for lack of effort - you might call it lack of confidence, maybe lack of mental courage - which is holding him back from getting the results he could and should be getting.

I think this is more than anything is what holds him back from being a much better rider. Wiggins the track cyclist is a very confident, go for it rider compared to Wiggins the road cyclist. I think if he could get a few good results early season to boost his confidence you could potentially see a very different Wiggins come the tour.

As for the race to the sun. I'm pretty sure that had Sky gone for it, pushed hard and ended up crashing and losing out on the podium spot. Most of those berating them for their lack of commitment and wanting to win ethic would be the same ones laughing at them for being so stupid in crappy condition and not consolidating their position.

Will Wiggo being in the team pursuit at the olympics have an affect on how he races in the 2012 TDF?