What could Wiggins have done?

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Comments

  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,241
    yenrod wrote:
    I'll never for the life of me understand, or forget, last year, when the tour went over the cobbles - Thomas was going like a train ! CHANCE OF YELLOW + THE STAGE and what did he say at the finish "i held back because i was thinking of Bradley" ???????

    He didn't. He said he asked the DS whether he should wait and was told to go for it

    Seriously, honestly - what was that MAN thinking about..... !!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Supporting his team


    Funny thing was Bradley Wiggins thus AFTER the stage announced he'd be back this yr to do the Paris-Roubaix....built like a brick'house is our Brads....y'know ??

    He's come in the top 25 in Paris-Roubaix before. You don't do that unless you're pretty robust


    - Fact is I feel it wouldve been better that Thomas would've left Sky...Wiggins is an under-perfomer...ok Ive met the bloke and he is SUPER professional etc...but a good ride in 2009 followed by 20 something last...and this yr a medical situ....

    Sky know GT's value and have probably paid him more than anyone else would. Wiggins is not only Britain's second most successful stage racer ever, but also one of it's great Olympians - hardly an under performer

    So far a Norwegian has shone & WON a Columbian is on for the White jersey - Thomas didnt get it last as he was 'thinking of Bradley'...

    Thomas has had the White Jersey twice. But the simple fact is Uran is a better climber. He always will be

    Go later into the year - Tour of Britain...which Sky shouldve won...and what did they do - back a Australian sprinter..but failed the overall..Sky, to me are simply under performing...Dave Brailsford needs to change his drink I think.. !!!!!!!!

    Yes, they screwed up there. It happens. When was the last time Rabobank won Amstel Gold? It's only the Tour of Britain. If it was that important to win EBH would have been there instead of Canada. BTW, Henderson is from New Zealand.

    NOW: BW is going to miss the chance of ressurecting his year ie the TOB for = the vuelta... ? what will he do in that...other than more than likely ride with Cummings....he just fails on all counts...David Millar was correct: Garmin made and under them BW flourished & he pushed that away...oh well at least others are winning eh Sky !!!!!!!

    Why does Wiggins need to resurrect his season? He won Dauphine and was third in Paris-Nice (he didn't do that at Garmin). He has the Vuelta and World's TT to come/

    In this Tour, Sky have won two stages and currently have a man in the white jersey and the top ten

    Nice rant. Sadly, wrong on so many points. My comments are in bold.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • gattocattivo
    gattocattivo Posts: 500
    I reckon if Wiggins was still in it he wouldn't have lost any time to Evans apart from probably on yesterday's wet descent (when he would have probably come in with Frank Schleck's group), so that would put him about 4th?
    I would expect him to lose time in the next two stages, but to get a fair chunk back again in the TT. I definitely think he had a good chance of a podium.
    I'm not sure it's an issue that he's not an explosive climber. He showed in the Dauphine that he can just go at his own pace and come back to everyone thirty seconds later. Given that up till this point most of the 'attacks' by the favourites have just been short bursts followed by lulls, I think he would have regained the group each time, even if he'd been initially distanced. If/when Contador or A S launch a decisive and long attack to the summit of the Galibier or Alpe d'Huez, that's the kind of move where I would expect Wiggins to lose one or two minutes.
  • yenrod
    yenrod Posts: 135
    RichN95 wrote:
    yenrod wrote:
    I'll never for the life of me understand, or forget, last year, when the tour went over the cobbles - Thomas was going like a train ! CHANCE OF YELLOW + THE STAGE and what did he say at the finish "i held back because i was thinking of Bradley" ???????

    He didn't. He said he asked the DS whether he should wait and was told to go for it

    Seriously, honestly - what was that MAN thinking about..... !!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Supporting his team


    - No, disagree - he waited...and lost !


    Funny thing was Bradley Wiggins thus AFTER the stage announced he'd be back this yr to do the Paris-Roubaix....built like a brick'house is our Brads....y'know ??

    He's come in the top 25 in Paris-Roubaix before. You don't do that unless you're pretty robust


    - 25th ! ! !

    - Fact is I feel it wouldve been better that Thomas would've left Sky...Wiggins is an under-perfomer...ok Ive met the bloke and he is SUPER professional etc...but a good ride in 2009 followed by 20 something last...and this yr a medical situ....

    Sky know GT's value and have probably paid him more than anyone else would. Wiggins is not only Britain's second most successful stage racer ever, but also one of it's great Olympians - hardly an under performer

    - As Mark Cavendish said - pulling out of the tour for the Beijing olympics was a waste of time...! the track is waste of time !

    So far a Norwegian has shone & WON a Columbian is on for the White jersey - Thomas didnt get it last as he was 'thinking of Bradley'...

    Thomas has had the White Jersey twice. But the simple fact is Uran is a better climber. He always will be

    - And...? GT aint got it tho Sky have but a brit national AINT GOT IT nb disagree on the fact Uran is a better climber as good as in my eyes...

    Go later into the year - Tour of Britain...which Sky shouldve won...and what did they do - back a Australian sprinter..but failed the overall..Sky, to me are simply under performing...Dave Brailsford needs to change his drink I think.. !!!!!!!!

    Yes, they screwed up there. It happens. When was the last time Rabobank won Amstel Gold? It's only the Tour of Britain. If it was that important to win EBH would have been there instead of Canada. BTW, Henderson is from New Zealand.

    = That 'shouldnt just happen' bit like England messing up in Euro 96...

    NOW: BW is going to miss the chance of ressurecting his year ie the TOB for = the vuelta... ? what will he do in that...other than more than likely ride with Cummings....he just fails on all counts...David Millar was correct: Garmin made and under them BW flourished & he pushed that away...oh well at least others are winning eh Sky !!!!!!!

    Why does Wiggins need to resurrect his season? He won Dauphine and was third in Paris-Nice (he didn't do that at Garmin). He has the Vuelta and World's TT to come/

    In this Tour, Sky have won two stages and currently have a man in the white jersey and the top ten

    Nice rant. Sadly, wrong on so many points. My comments are in bold.

    - Beg to differ mate...you cant allow such mistakes to just happen - lets put it this way IF the press where SOO hyped about the Sky Cycling Team..Brailsford wouldve been replaced by now FACT !

    MY comments are in italics
    [;)] 'tuono nel mio cuore...[:)]
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,241
    yenrod wrote:
    - Beg to differ mate...you cant allow such mistakes to just happen - lets put it this way IF the press where SOO hyped about the Sky Cycling Team..Brailsford wouldve been replaced by now FACT !

    MY comments are in italics

    What mistakes? Sky, despite losing their leader, are having a really good Tour. Two stage wins, the White Jersey (second holder), a man in the top ten (despite losing nearly 5 minutes in crashes), two combativity awards. In the top six on 11 of the 17 stages so far.

    Perhaps they should be more like Radioshack or Katusha. What do you expect from them? How many teams are doing better?

    What exactly did you expect from Sky?
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • yenrod
    yenrod Posts: 135
    A win from someone from this land mass? It is based here...
    [;)] 'tuono nel mio cuore...[:)]
  • durhamwasp
    durhamwasp Posts: 1,247
    Wiggo could have won this, as Boardman touched on the other night. Crying shame what happened.

    I can't see why he couldnt have stayed with that 'top bunch' up the climbs, afterall Voeckler and others are doing so, and then he would be a clear favourite of that group in the TT.

    Probs would have had a mechanical in the TT like!
    http://www.snookcycling.wordpress.com - Reports on Cingles du Mont Ventoux, Alpe D'Huez, Galibier, Izoard, Tourmalet, Paris-Roubaix Sportive & Tour of Flanders Sportive, Amstel Gold Xperience, Vosges, C2C, WOTR routes....
  • Gazzaputt
    Gazzaputt Posts: 3,227
    yenrod wrote:
    I'll never for the life of me understand, or forget, last year, when the tour went over the cobbles - Thomas was going like a train ! CHANCE OF YELLOW + THE STAGE and what did he say at the finish "i held back because i was thinking of Bradley" ???????

    God Almighty: give me strength....

    Seriously, honestly - what was that MAN thinking about..... !!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Hello - anybody in their 'G' ??????

    Funny thing was Bradley Wiggins thus AFTER the stage announced he'd be back this yr to do the Paris-Roubaix....built like a brick'house is our Brads....y'know ??

    - Fact is I feel it wouldve been better that Thomas would've left Sky...Wiggins is an under-perfomer...ok Ive met the bloke and he is SUPER professional etc...but a good ride in 2009 followed by 20 something last...and this yr a medical situ....

    So far a Norwegian has shone & WON a Columbian is on for the White jersey - Thomas didnt get it last as he was 'thinking of Bradley'...

    Go later into the year - Tour of Britain...which Sky shouldve won...and what did they do - back a Australian sprinter..but failed the overall..Sky, to me are simply under performing...Dave Brailsford needs to change his drink I think.. !!!!!!!!

    NOW: BW is going to miss the chance of ressurecting his year ie the TOB for = the vuelta... ? what will he do in that...other than more than likely ride with Cummings....he just fails on all counts...David Millar was correct: Garmin made and under them BW flourished & he pushed that away...oh well at least others are winning eh Sky !!!!!!!

    Please rearrange:

    Arse out talikng your
  • luckao
    luckao Posts: 632
    durhamwasp wrote:
    I can't see why he couldnt have stayed with that 'top bunch' up the climbs, afterall Voeckler and others are doing so, and then he would be a clear favourite of that group in the TT

    For me, the same reason Basso didn't. As has been touched upon, Evans lies somewhere in between the 'diesel' and the explosive climber. I don't think he'd have had it in him to close the gaps like Cadel does. That isn't only in reference to what we've already seen. Wiggins might well have stayed up there until now, however, a few attacks off the front well into today's final climb and everything could easily fracture.
  • inkyfingers
    inkyfingers Posts: 4,400
    If he really had more in the tank than he showed at the Dauphine and could have held it until this week then I think he could have got top 5. It will depend on how the next two stages go, if they fart about again then maybe he could have got on the podium, if Contador really goes for it and the pace is super high then top 5. Either would have been a great achievement in my opinion.

    I'm not a Sky "fan" (like many, I support riders rather than teams) but the Sky "haters" really need to change the record. They have improved massively this year and have showed in pretty much every race they've been in (with the definite exception of the Giro where they were poor). Look at the CQ Team ranking, last year they were 13th, this year they are currently sitting 5th. They have reacted extremely well since they lost Wiggins and will come out of the tour as one of the teams who've had a "good" tour.
    "I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,204
    Yenrod - Sky are a professional cycling team. It doesn't matter to them if the guy taking the wins is a Brit, Norwegian, Colombian or Martian it is just the result that matters or are you one of those people who bought into all the nationalistic "British winner of the Tour in 5 years" that they spun out to get media attention when first launched? Last year Sky made some big mistakes and Wiggins in particular was a let down. This year they have really turned it around, they have had a pretty successful year in general and a very good Tour despite losing a leader who may or may not have finished on the podium. Wiggins has also had a good year with 4th in the Paris - Nice and winning the Daupine, two of the biggest stage races outside the GTs.

    Rich - I think Wiggo should miss the Tour of Poland, I don't think the parcours will suit him with all those 100% climbs of skyscrapers etc. :wink:
  • Snorebens
    Snorebens Posts: 759
    Reckon he'd be on a par with Basso about now with the TT to come = 5th or so? Today and tomorrow would have been the real telling days but there we go, water under the bridge.

    Hope he takes the Vuelta seriously; wonder what his team will be? Cummings, Rogers, Hendo, Arevsen... ??? Could be a good shout for TTT again and early leaders jersey.
  • kieranb
    kieranb Posts: 1,674
    yenrod wrote:
    I'll never for the life of me understand, or forget, last year, when the tour went over the cobbles - Thomas was going like a train ! CHANCE OF YELLOW + THE STAGE and what did he say at the finish "i held back because i was thinking of Bradley" ???????

    God Almighty: give me strength....

    Seriously, honestly - what was that MAN thinking about..... !!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Hello - anybody in their 'G' ??????

    Funny thing was Bradley Wiggins thus AFTER the stage announced he'd be back this yr to do the Paris-Roubaix....built like a brick'house is our Brads....y'know ??

    - Fact is I feel it wouldve been better that Thomas would've left Sky...Wiggins is an under-perfomer...ok Ive met the bloke and he is SUPER professional etc...but a good ride in 2009 followed by 20 something last...and this yr a medical situ....

    So far a Norwegian has shone & WON a Columbian is on for the White jersey - Thomas didnt get it last as he was 'thinking of Bradley'...

    Go later into the year - Tour of Britain...which Sky shouldve won...and what did they do - back a Australian sprinter..but failed the overall..Sky, to me are simply under performing...Dave Brailsford needs to change his drink I think.. !!!!!!!!

    NOW: BW is going to miss the chance of ressurecting his year ie the TOB for = the vuelta... ? what will he do in that...other than more than likely ride with Cummings....he just fails on all counts...David Millar was correct: Garmin made and under them BW flourished & he pushed that away...oh well at least others are winning eh Sky !!!!!!!

    Haven't seen one of your posts for a while, good to see the style hasn't changed over the years!
  • amc
    amc Posts: 315
    I reckon about 5 sec behind Evans.
    He would have been climbing in similar syyle to Evans and perhaps would have helped him close the gap today.
    All irrelvant really but reckon he would have got 3rd.
    amc
  • mz__jo
    mz__jo Posts: 398
    After today's stage the situation has changed a bit. Uran is no longer in white. On the evidence Geraint Thomas handled the climbs better than he did. 5 from 8 of the team did not make the delay. There is no longer anyone in the top 10 for Sky.
    The general impression that I have is that Sky lack a decent climber who could have aided Brad in the mountains. I do not think that GT is in the same league as Pierre Rolland and Anthony Chartau and on that basis I reckon he would have had a hard time in the Alps. The TT is like all Tour TTs, not long enough to catch up real chunks of time, just long enough to separate close rivals who might or might not have recovered after the climbing.
    I think Sky have had a superb Tour from the point of view of exposure, the sponsors have had value for money and GT, EBH and Uran have got their images well polished but to go from there to say that with Brad they could have conquered the world is a bit far. They have probably done well because of his absence rather than in spite of it.
    I still think it was a colossal blunder to chuck the white jersey away when Brad had his crash; that was bad team direction, no other team stakes all on getting their leader back like that at the beginning of the Tour, especially not when you don't even know how badly he is injured. (Mind, GT might not have had his day in the pyrenees if he had been better placed on general)
    http://rctl.ffct.org/
  • Tom Butcher
    Tom Butcher Posts: 3,830
    I think on his 2009 form WIggins just might have won it. I don't think Contador is on anything like such good form and if Wiggins was up there I think Evans might have had a bit more support today which would have limited Andy S's gains. On his 2010 form he'd have been outside the top 10 though.
    it's a hard life if you don't weaken.
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    Tom Butcher wrote:
    I think on his 2009 form WIggins just might have won it. I don't think Contador is on anything like such good form and if Wiggins was up there I think Evans might have had a bit more support today which would have limited Andy S's gains. On his 2010 form he'd have been outside the top 10 though.

    :wink:
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,795
    Snorebens wrote:
    Reckon he'd be on a par with Basso about now with the TT to come = 5th or so? Today and tomorrow would have been the real telling days but there we go, water under the bridge.

    yeah there or abouts

    top 5 ish
    "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 pm
  • graeme_s-2
    graeme_s-2 Posts: 3,382
    I think if Wiggins had still been in the Tour we'd have seen EBH (who wouldnt have been in breaks the last few days) and G close down a lot of AS's gap on the flat section between the two cols today.
  • B3rnieMac
    B3rnieMac Posts: 384
    Anyone see his tweet earlier? That he'd just heard that EBH had won "today or yesterday"




    Pretty much sums wiggins up for me. Couldn't give a stuff about cycling if it isn't going his way.
  • RowCycle
    RowCycle Posts: 367
    I reckon podium. Cadel has managed to be up their without really having to attack (maybe ride a higher tempo occasionally). Wiggins can do that.
  • lloyd_bower
    lloyd_bower Posts: 664
    All immaterial but there's no way we can compare Wiggins g.t. performances to those of Cadel Evans. Even on 2009 form, a podium finish would have been no guarantee, 5-10 maybe, but that's no great shame.
  • fastandfurry
    fastandfurry Posts: 138
    B3rnieMac wrote:
    Anyone see his tweet earlier? That he'd just heard that EBH had won "today or yesterday"




    Pretty much sums wiggins up for me. Couldn't give a stuff about cycling if it isn't going his way.

    You don't think he might have been intentionally avoiding watching so he doesn't play the 'what if' game like we are here?

    Looking forward to the Vuelta!
  • yenrod
    yenrod Posts: 135
    kieranb wrote:
    yenrod wrote:

    Haven't seen one of your posts for a while, good to see the style hasn't changed over the years!

    Right Kieran - How're you going ?

    Yep, use Twitter or have been on here on occasion...

    Go thrown off Cyclechat as I the owner didnt like my 'straight talk...' ;)

    PROSS - Its an ENGLISH based team...they failed in using Downing for example - and the man is one 'hard proper yorkshire northern bloke'!!!, to his full ability & when they have he's performed, i fact he gave the team one of the home wins last year...as for being jingoistic = Do the Belgians get duely excited when a foreighner wins Leige or such like NO but they did when Gilbert won this year !

    Whats wrong with being nationalistic ? ? ?

    Would cycling weekly get excited IF Cummings won Fleche Wallone for example YES THEY WOULD...!
    [;)] 'tuono nel mio cuore...[:)]
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,204
    It's a British registered team but so what? Most teams have a roster of riders from outside the country of registration. For some reason (possibly the close links with the GB track team) people have treated it almost as a throw back to the old days of national teams in pro races. The only other teams that seem to be viewed in a similar way are Euskatel and possibly Rabo. I'm not saying we shouldn't get excited about a Brit winning a big race but it is not the role of a professional team to provide 'national pride'. By the way, if Welshman Geraint Thomas won the Tour of Flanders for Sky would you be happy as you state it is an English based team in capitals so I'm guessing not :wink:

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