Strong words from Millar about Wiggins and Sky

frenchfighter

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/8883/ ... cling.aspx

I'm size bid on Millar over any rider Produced from British Cycling's Regime.

thamacdaddy

Dunno about you but I think him trying to promote his book has far more to do with this stuff. I know it says the interviews were done before but it smacks of PR and a "yes release this now please" mentallity. Same sort of thing was reported yesterday saying Brad might make top ten but podium is beyond him. Wonder whether he will be so full of praise for Cav when he is at sky next year.

Gazzaputt

Maybe could have posted this in here?:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12786204

RichN95.

thamacdaddy wrote:

Dunno about you but I think him trying to promote his book has far more to do with this stuff. I know it says the interviews were done before but it smacks of PR and a "yes release this now please" mentallity. Same sort of thing was reported yesterday saying Brad might make top ten but podium is beyond him. Wonder whether he will be so full of praise for Cav when he is at sky next year.

Why wouldn't he be? Millar doesn't have anything against Sky, just Wiggins.

cogidubnus

He did sound a bit bitter when saying he wasn't allowed to ride for Sky though..

Pross

Seems slightly hypocritical that he criticises Brad for leaving and not respecting the team and yet goes on to pretty much say that he wishes he could have gone to Sky. I have a terrible memory but, other than producing a good TTT, what support did they actually provide to Wiggins in 2009? He seemed to be on his own in the mountains from my (poor) memory.

Millar could look slightly foolish in a few weeks time.

bobtbuilder

I think his comments are spot on. Especially on the contract-breaking subject. Wiggins is a tool.

inkyfingers

Pross wrote:

Seems slightly hypocritical that he criticises Brad for leaving and not respecting the team and yet goes on to pretty much say that he wishes he could have gone to Sky. I have a terrible memory but, other than producing a good TTT, what support did they actually provide to Wiggins in 2009? He seemed to be on his own in the mountains from my (poor) memory.

Millar could look slightly foolish in a few weeks time.

To be fair, both Millar and Vandevelde did quite a lot of work to help Wiggins in the 09 Tour.

inkyfingers

bobtbuilder wrote:

I think his comments are spot on. Especially on the contract-breaking subject. Wiggins is a tool.

They were spot on 18 months ago, now he just looks a bit bitter to me.

watchfire

Yeah Vandevelde was pretty crucial in that effort. Started as the leader then got stuck in helping Wiggins.

bigmat

They did a lot of work for Wiggins, but I'm not sure about the whole "he couldn't have done it at any other team" angle. Sky look as well equipped to support him this year. I think the worstthing about the Sky move was that Wiggins could have taken a 1 year contract with Garmin, knowing Sky were waiting in the wings, but insisted on 2 years. He ended up costing his new team a lot of money, annoying his old team / teammates and setting an unwelcome precedent for the sport. Swift was a neo-pro so had no choice, but I don't really know what Wiggins was thinking.

As for Millar, he's really starting to annoy me recently. I probably need to read the book and get a more balanced view as opposed to all these irritating soundbites. He's a classy rider with a lot of guts and I hope he gets a chance to make his mark at the tour.

Full Merckx

bobtbuilder wrote:

I think his comments are spot on. Especially on the contract-breaking subject. Wiggins is a tool.

+1

Gazzaputt

inkyfingers wrote:

bobtbuilder wrote:

I think his comments are spot on. Especially on the contract-breaking subject. Wiggins is a tool.

They were spot on 18 months ago, now he just looks a bit bitter to me.

+1

cogidubnus

Garmin did support him in 2009 but no more than any other team would have done for their GC man. Millar and Vandevelde and paced him onto the climb but he was pretty much all alone towards the summits.

Millar should let bygones be bygones... oh what's that you say he has a book to sell? Good idea David, slag off Britains GC contender in the media for added sales

mroli

You have to read the book to put it in context. Journalists are ceasing on the Wiggins stuff as its a good story, but Millar sets out his reasons for feeling slighted and I guess we won't get the other side of that story until after Brad releases an updated autobiog himself. In a nut-shell, Millar feels that Wiggins didn't appreciate Garmin and the efforts put in, wasn't respectful and they were pleased to see him fall flat on his face. Fair enough. I think it was probably short sighted of Wiggins not to want to keep people on side, but also Millar freely admits that if he had received an offer from Sky - he'd have gone, so it is a little bit hypocritical to criticise Wiggins for going.

I remember Van De Velde working like a dog for Wiggins and he finished 8th, so he can't have been TOO far off the pace at any time.

Pross

They weren't exactly helping him out of the goodness of their heart though were they? If Vandervelde was team leader then presumably they switched to supporting Wiggins as he had got himself into the position where he was their best option. How many teams (excluding Astana) wouldn't have supported a rider in that position? It's how cycling works. The team would have benefitted from the prize money in return for their work. The comments would make more sense if he didn't admit he would have gone to Sky had they asked him but hypocrisy is one of Millar's favourite past times!

milton50

Yeh, Van De Velde turned himself inside out at some points during 2009 to try and keep Wiggins in touch. Millar offered a lot of support as well. But it's a bit ridiculous to claim that he wouldn't have got 4th in any other team.

I think Millar's right to be annoyed at how Wiggins jumped ship after the support they had given him, but his sentiments do seem a bit over the top. Looks like headline-grabbing to me.

mroli

Wiggins gets 3 pages out of 346 in the book. Millar's main gripe is that he got let down by someone he considered a mate. He also feels that Wiggins didn't give Farrar the support on the final stage that he was expected to, having received the support of the team.

Headline grabbing will be by journalists trying to make a story rather than Millar. Although Millar has publicised his book well by wearing pink at the Giro and winning the final TT.

eh

I remember Garmin working their arses off for Wiggins, there were times when Millar and the others did huge turns in the run into climbs. So I think Millar is fair to complain that they didn't get given much respect for it. As for not helping Farrar on the last stage, then that'll hardly come as a suprise for ironically the person who benefited the most, Cav. I'm surprised Cav has forgiven Wiggins for the Olympics debacle.

Gazzaputt

Jesus H.

That is what teams are for to support their GC. Wiggins lept up the GC unexpectedly and Garmin chose to move their eggs to his basket.

What is Wiggins supposed to do be eternally grateful and go down on bended knees?

Didn't Garmin receive around 2million Euros in compo for his move to Sky? Not a bad sum and I'm sure after Ryder Hesjedal performance last year Vaughters isn't worried.

Wiggins moved on and people need to get over it. Divorces are always messy and there is always one party who feels worse off.

cougie

Hmmm. Cyclist disses Britains most famous road rider just before the Tour.

Perfect for getting peoples attention and more publicity for his book.

edhornby

IIRC wiggins joked about leaving Wigan to join Man United - but no one got the joke

I thought Brad should have saw out his contract as well; however I can easily imagine that Dave B was constantly on the phone to get him to sign for sky and that will have played on his mind

and yes it does sound bitter 18 months later but the book will have been on the shelf for a long time

always 2 sides to every story and the journalists covering the story are clearly going for the juciest 1%

rick_chasey

cougie wrote:

Hmmm. Cyclist disses Britains most famous road rider just before the Tour.

Perfect for getting peoples attention and more publicity for his book.

More likely - Millar says an awful lot about an awful lot to publicise his book just before the Tour and one particular thing gets picked up on...

symo

I see; I think this quote tells the tale more accurately

“I would have loved [racing for Sky],” he admitted. “It hurts when I see that team staying in the same hotel as me, seeing people I've known for years. It's my world. Those are riders I should be alongside. But I'm banned.”

So it's sour grapes about having taken in the past and not being able to get a higher profile on a well paid team is it not? 8)

iainf72

Gazzaputt wrote:

What is Wiggins supposed to do be eternally grateful and go down on bended knees?

.

The bit in holy David's book about this is interesting. Wigans started negotiating with sky during the Tour, and Garmin continued to support him. Then on the last day when the whole team got behind working for Farrar , Wigans sat in the bunch and couldn't work for someone else

schlepcycling

Not interested in the rantings of a drug cheat, Millar should just f*ck off.

mr_poll

bobtbuilder wrote:

I think his comments are spot on. Especially on the contract-breaking subject. Wiggins is a tool.

I never quite get this argument - honestly if you got a phone call from a headhunter tomorrow offering you an interview/job with a state of the art business with loads of cash and the latest tech, where a few of your mates from the good ol' days also work, oh and they are offering to quadruple your salary would you not want to go?

P_Tucker

mr_poll wrote:

bobtbuilder wrote:

I think his comments are spot on. Especially on the contract-breaking subject. Wiggins is a tool.

I never quite get this argument - honestly if you got a phone call from a headhunter tomorrow offering you an interview/job with a state of the art business with loads of cash and the latest tech, where a few of your mates from the good ol' days also work, oh and they are offering to quadruple your salary would you not want to go?

And, of course, he didn't actually break his contract. Garmin tore up his contract in exchange for a fat wodge of cash. They could have told Sky to f*ck off, but it looks like they made a pretty shrewd move - £2m + Wiggins wages saved, and an utterly forgettable season foregone.

durhamwasp

iainf72 wrote:

Gazzaputt wrote:

What is Wiggins supposed to do be eternally grateful and go down on bended knees?

.

The bit in holy David's book about this is interesting. Wigans started negotiating with sky during the Tour, and Garmin continued to support him. Then on the last day when the whole team got behind working for Farrar , Wigans sat in the bunch and couldn't work for someone else

Another effort for Millar to slate Wiggo, no suprises.

Can't blame Wiggo for leaving Garmin, he just finished 4th and gets offered a massive contract that will see him through for life? Or stay with Garmin, have a disappointing tour the next year and get no big contract from anywhere.

Guess Millar is just jealous.

PBo

priceless!

http://nyvelocity.com/toto

iainf72

durhamwasp wrote:

Can't blame Wiggo for leaving Garmin, he just finished 4th and gets offered a massive contract that will see him through for life? Or stay with Garmin, have a disappointing tour the next year and get no big contract from anywhere.

Guess Millar is just jealous.

He's not really slating Wigans. He's very positive about him a lot of the time, but his behaviour left a lot to be desired. It's not that surprising - I've read Wigans (fairly awful) book and the brother has got some issues.