Wiggins should forget Olympics

iainf72
iainf72 Posts: 15,784
edited July 2011 in Pro race
And focus on the Tour, so says Chris Boardman

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cycling/14278846.stm
Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
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Comments

  • milton50
    milton50 Posts: 3,856
    Yep.
  • Gazzetta67
    Gazzetta67 Posts: 1,890
    I think Boardman is correct - He`s done the olympics and won gold.

    The Tour is his priority well it should be if you want to be considered a genuine stage racer. And if Sky are paying his wages then they should decide.

    The Tour is bigger than the olympics.
  • Echo et les Boniments
    Echo et les Boniments Posts: 142
    edited July 2011
    Gazzetta67 wrote:
    I think Boardman is correct - He`s done the olympics and won gold.

    The Tour is his priority well it should be if you want to be considered a genuine stage racer. And if Sky are paying his wages then they should decide.

    The Tour is bigger than the olympics.

    Don't know, really. As a foreigner reading the three of you I have to say that the Tour might mean more than the Olympics to British cycling fans but, as far as the general public is concerned (like, the remaining 98% of the population...), the Olympic Games seem to be much more important than any continental cycling event could ever be...

    What's more, the Olympics are in your country next year, Wiggins will play on home turf, the atmosphere is going to be quite unique, phenomenal...
    And when Boardman goes "he's already done the Olympic gold thing", well I'm sorry but he's also already done the Tour Top 5 thing. Unless you really believe Wiggins could win the Tour next year??? You really believe he could better Evans, the Schleck bros, Van Den Broeck, Gesink and (most probably) Contador??? Seriously???
    There will be a Tour in 2013, and there will be another one in 2014. Wiggins will have another go at the Tour GC then. But this is his one and only chance to get gold in dear old blightly... How could he possibly pass on this?
  • eh
    eh Posts: 4,854
    Kind of depends if Cav joins though doesn't it. If he does then Wiggo could easily sit out the TDF and go to the Olympics, knowing that Sky will get coverage through Cav's wins.

    Mind if I were Sky and he didn't do nowt at the TDF I'd want some money back, to spend on riders who would.
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,823
    This is where the lines between Sky and British Cycling become blurry.

    I think if the Olympics were anywhere else it would be a no brainer to do the Tour, but the meida, for one, will roll him out as "Olympian" Bradley Wiggins
  • mroli
    mroli Posts: 3,622
    He'll do the Olympics. G wants to do the Olympics, they all want to do the olympics and Sky will be happy with that too.

    If Brad won the TdF, it wouldn't get as many press inches as him winning (up to) 3 medals at the olympics...
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  • heavymental
    heavymental Posts: 2,094
    TakeTheHighRoad wrote:
    I think if the Olympics were anywhere else it would be a no brainer to do the Tour, but the meida, for one, will roll him out as "Olympian" Bradley Wiggins

    Yep. I'd love to see him have a crack at the tour instead but the fact it's in London will no doubt sway it.
  • LeicesterLad
    LeicesterLad Posts: 3,908
    In general i hate olympic years in cycling, ruines the tour for me, more so next year with the british riders, hope G will still do the tour as well as Wiggo. In fact now i think about it, i just hate the olympics in general, load of overblown expensive sh*te, but thats just me, also don't like the way that friends who would usually laugh if they saw me in lycra, suddenly becoming the biggest cycling fans in the world for the velodrome. :roll:
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  • ridin8ude
    ridin8ude Posts: 88
    He should just give up on both - he'll either break a bone or have a mental breakdown - why bother
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    I'd prefer to see him in the TdF, which is obviously a bigger event in cycling, but whether it's bigger for the British general public and mass media? Even after his 4th GC finish he's often still introduced as 'Olympic Gold medal winner Wiggins', on the BBC and other mainstream media. And since I doubt he'll do better than 4th again, it kinda implies he might make more of an impact with another succesful Olympics...
  • campagone
    campagone Posts: 270
    LeicesterLad wrote:
    In general i hate olympic years in cycling, ruines the tour for me, more so next year with the british riders, hope G will still do the tour as well as Wiggo. In fact now i think about it, i just hate the olympics in general, load of overblown expensive sh*te, but thats just me, also don't like the way that friends who would usually laugh if they saw me in lycra, suddenly becoming the biggest cycling fans in the world for the velodrome. :roll:

    +1 to that.

    I'll have an interest in the road race but thats about it. The velodrome just dosent do anythig for me, fixed gear bikes going round and round, big deal :roll:
  • inkyfingers
    inkyfingers Posts: 4,400
    TakeTheHighRoad wrote:
    I think if the Olympics were anywhere else it would be a no brainer to do the Tour, but the meida, for one, will roll him out as "Olympian" Bradley Wiggins

    I agree with this.

    All I hope is that Sky learn their lesson from this year and that Wiggins has a proper crack at some other races earlier in the season so that it's not all just banked on the Olympics.
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  • inkyfingers
    inkyfingers Posts: 4,400
    When do they announce the TdF route, might depend on that to a certain extent. If the tour route has 10 summit finishes and 1KM of ITT then he's better off at the Olympics. If the route is similar to 2009 then in his Dauphine shape it might be worth him having a crack.
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  • avoidingmyphd
    avoidingmyphd Posts: 1,154
    mroli wrote:
    He'll do the Olympics. G wants to do the Olympics, they all want to do the olympics and Sky will be happy with that too.

    If Brad won the TdF, it wouldn't get as many press inches as him winning (up to) 3 medals at the olympics...
    He can only win 1 gold medal in the olympics.
    If the 2012 tour route is, as rumoured, built around middling mountains then Wiggins needs to seize his chance. He can do better than 2009 on a course that suits him, but they don't come around that often.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,909
    yeah...I know the pressure for the olympics will be too much though
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  • andyrac
    andyrac Posts: 1,202
    Personally, once you're established on the road, you should forget the Track. I don't like the tooing & froing by the Brits between track & road. I understand the home Olympic pull, but think it's a backward step - unless as other have said, the Tour parcours is favourable.

    As a nation, we need to start educating 'Joe Public' that the Road is the 'elite/real deal' - and that the track is 'small fry' in the grand scheme of world cycling.
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  • calvjones
    calvjones Posts: 3,850
    avoidingmyphd wrote:
    mroli wrote:
    He'll do the Olympics. G wants to do the Olympics, they all want to do the olympics and Sky will be happy with that too.

    If Brad won the TdF, it wouldn't get as many press inches as him winning (up to) 3 medals at the olympics...
    He can only win 1 gold medal in the olympics.
    If the 2012 tour route is, as rumoured, built around middling mountains then Wiggins needs to seize his chance. He can do better than 2009 on a course that suits him, but they don't come around that often.

    Source?

    I've been thinking for ages that a Tour with no ITT or TT and encompassing cobbles, the Vosges and Massif, but no Alps or Pyrenees would be ace.
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  • Echo et les Boniments
    Echo et les Boniments Posts: 142
    calvjones wrote:
    avoidingmyphd wrote:
    mroli wrote:
    He'll do the Olympics. G wants to do the Olympics, they all want to do the olympics and Sky will be happy with that too.

    If Brad won the TdF, it wouldn't get as many press inches as him winning (up to) 3 medals at the olympics...
    He can only win 1 gold medal in the olympics.
    If the 2012 tour route is, as rumoured, built around middling mountains then Wiggins needs to seize his chance. He can do better than 2009 on a course that suits him, but they don't come around that often.

    Source?

    I've been thinking for ages that a Tour with no ITT or TT and encompassing cobbles, the Vosges and Massif, but no Alps or Pyrenees would be ace.

    No Alps or Pyrénées? Sounds great, sounds like being invited by a lesbian to a vegetarian BBQ...
    But then, since you like new things, maybe you'll be glad to know that, according to L'Equipe, the 2016 Tour de France may well start from Qatar...
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,259
    calvjones wrote:

    Source?

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  • Le Commentateur
    Le Commentateur Posts: 4,099
    In terms of income, WIggins would gain the opportunity to earn more from domestic advertising and sponsorships by participating in the Olympics, plus there's always the chance of becoming Sir Bradley if he gets the big win (with MBEs all round for hangers-on), which is less likely to happen by doing well at Le Tour, unless he wins it.
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    I thought Wiggins said he was finished with the track for good?

    He's got nothing to prove there. More or less at the top for 8 years, at least when it mattered anyway.
    _
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,573
    The chance to compete at an Olympics in your home town, never mind your country, is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
  • carl_p
    carl_p Posts: 989
    andyp wrote:
    The chance to compete at an Olympics in your home town, never mind your country, is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

    This.

    The Brits might not be the only ones comtemplating missing the tour. Cancellara, Hushovd might fancy it - neither have anything to prove as far as the Tour is concerned.
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  • geoff_ss
    geoff_ss Posts: 1,201
    In the two sports I follow the Olympics isn't really the highest level because countries can only enter a limited number of competitors. That affects track cycling particularly, if the top riders all come from a few countries. The same applies to sailing where it's impossible to 'medal' more than once each Olympics because the event takes place over several days racing and again, the top sailors in the world may come from a few countries. Ben Ainslie has 3 golds and a silver which he had to win over 4 Olympics - no way could he match Chris Hoy's haul.

    Sailing and cycling were both major contributors to the UK's medal haul in 2008 and sailing has been consistently successful for years, probably due to excellent grass-roots coaching. That seems to have been the secret of cycling's success too.

    I think the Olympics is a waste of time but at least it brings minority sports to the attention of the wider public who think only in terms of football/cricket etc
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  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,259
    andyp wrote:
    The chance to compete at an Olympics in your home town, never mind your country, is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

    Why doesn't he do the Time Trial, then? He doesn't have to do any extra training for it and he'll be guaranteed to be selected.
    The team pursuit requires a bigger commitment and more training, and the Aussies will probably beat us anyway.
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  • oldwelshman
    oldwelshman Posts: 4,733
    Fist of all I see no reason why he cant do both, Cav will do both but on road.
    There is no individual pursuit so he would only go for team pursuit and GB are only second favourited for that. He is so good at pursuit that only G is as good for team sio not too difficult for Brad to prepare in short time.
    Don't forget that future lottery funding is based on Olympic perforamnces for cycling so we have to put best riders in, and our future riders come from track background initially.
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  • cal_stewart
    cal_stewart Posts: 1,840
    oldwelshman wrote:
    Don't forget that future lottery funding is based on Olympic perforamnces for cycling so we have to put best riders in, and our future riders come from track background initially.

    And that's why we will never have a large group of good climbers
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  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,573
    RichN95 wrote:

    Why doesn't he do the Time Trial, then? He doesn't have to do any extra training for it and he'll be guaranteed to be selected.
    The team pursuit requires a bigger commitment and more training, and the Aussies will probably beat us anyway.

    Who says he isn't? He's got more of a chance of a medal in the team pursuit, but the time trial is definitely an option.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,573
    Cal_Stewart wrote:
    And that's why we will never have a large group of good climbers

    You mean like Anquetil, Merckx, Coppi et al? All of whom were excellent climbers and very accomplised track riders too.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    andyp wrote:
    Cal_Stewart wrote:
    And that's why we will never have a large group of good climbers

    You mean like Anquetil, Merckx, Coppi et al? All of whom were excellent climbers and very accomplised track riders too.

    They're unusual, and they were different times.

    Who was the last climber you saw do well on the track?
    _

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