Bradley Wiggins - Legend?

Green Brompton

At the race leader's post-stage press conference, Wiggins was asked about Team Sky's performance on stage seven and the cynics who suggest riders have to take drugs to win the Tour.

Wiggins said: 'I say they're just f****** w******. I cannot be doing with people like that.
'It justifies their own bone-idleness because they can't ever imagine applying themselves to do anything in their lives.
'It's easy for them to sit under a pseudonym on Twitter and write that sort of s***, rather than get off their a**** in their own lives and apply themselves and work hard at something and achieve something.
'And that's ultimately it. C****.'

optimisticbiker

And I thought he was past the 'throwing toys out of the pram' stage mind you, I am inclined to agree with him...

asprilla

David Millar on Twitter: "Wiggo's now better at me in everything to do with cycling, profanity-filled interviews were all I had left. Now he's taken that crown. Darn."

gabriel959

From Cycling News forum (http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=17734)

Because it's become abundantly clear that the pro-peloton are aware of us;

More accurately, dear people applauding Bradley Wiggins for his foul-mouthed tirade today:

I'd like to outline why I think you're all massive hypocrites, and why you get the reaction from people that you do.

We've sat by for years - for some of you, your entire professional careers - and watched the sport.
We've sat through almost 30 years of doped riders, of positive tests, of confiscated victories weeks, months and sometimes years after they were awarded.
But most importantly, we sat by whilst all of this was going on, and you did nothing.
You didn't speak out then.
You didn't speak up against people you knew were doping.
You didn't speak up against your teammates when you knew they were doping.
All you ex-T-mobile riders didn't say anything about the visits to Freiberg.
You didn't say anything when riders gave evidence about what they'd seen, and were harassed because of it.
Some of you, through your inaction, did nothing about that harassment. Those of you who raced with Lance Armstrong said nothing back then.
Those of you who raced in 1998 complained about your rights and your dignity.

You didn't complain about those people who stripped them from you by cheating.
You didn't applaud those people who tried to out the real cheats within the ranks.
You didn't chastise those people taking trips to Spain and Italy to see doctors. In fact, some of you did it yourself.

You complained about early morning drug tests.
You complained about out of competition drug tests, and you complained about whereabouts forms and not having a private life, and media intrusion.
And some of you still ride today, still having said nothing about doping.

I'll say this: I've sat up until 3 in the morning every July for countless years now. I've watched, I've supported, even some of you who turned out to be cheats. I've dreamed of being in the position you're in, of having a tenth of the talent you're blessed enough to have, because no amount of hard work will make up for the gap. So when I'm at work at 7am, busting my rear end to make ends meet for the next ten hours for a tiny bit of what you get, remember this, every one of you who applaud Wiggins abusing those of us who ask questions:

We ask the questions because you refused to.
We get suspicious because we're tired of seeing more than half of the last 13 TdF titles get stripped and re-awarded.
We're tired of you guys continually saying "We're clean" and then seeing someone test positive.
We're tired of seeing you complain about us, because we got tired of seeing you cheat us as fans, by not taking matters into your own hands, getting rid of - and speaking out against - those who are doping, and have doped.
You give your blood values and power numbers happily to the ASO, and treat us with contempt, like we're just supposed to watch, buy your sponsor's products, and cheer on demand.

You do nothing to dispel doping suspicions, to out cheats, and to clean up the sport. You are the blight on the sport, not us.

Footnote: I'd include a list of riders DS's and who have publicly announced their support for Wiggins and his remarks, but I find them abhorrent now.

e: I realise the irony of me posting this under a pseudonym. To all those cyclists and staff members on twitter who echo his thought, my personal details are available to you on request. All you have to do is ask.

Paul E

If I was basically called a cheater I would react the same way, he is right on the money with what he said

vermin

That's funny, but DM usually is. Truely hope that Wiggins wins; anyone willing to make his body look that freakish in pursuit of the optimal sum of parts surely deserves it. Shame about the language though.

jonginge

I saw that cyclingnews forum thread (linked from elsewhere). I'm pretty sure it was written prior to yesterday and was ready for posting. It's not about Brad at all. (Brad was at Highroad in 2008 after the T-Mobile clearout*)

* ok, ok, i know Rogers was at T-Mobile

EKE_38BPM

Anyone got a link to Brad's press conference?

EKE_38BPM

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Anyone got a link to Brad's press conference?

Bueller...Beuller?

pitchshifter

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Anyone got a link to Brad's press conference?

No video evidently, although they just played the sound clip on the ITV4 Highlights show. Obviously without the profanities...

If you get called a cheat when you're not, you are going to be pissed off. That added to Brad's personality and that he has just ridden over 7 category climbs, he's not going to hold back...

rick_chasey

Said this over on pro-race.

He should know having watched cycling for years and been in many tours that ANY tour contender gets asked questions and eyebrows are raised. Doing this won't help, and as much as it feels like letting off steam, it usually only winds you up more and causes more hassle and stress in the long run.

The same with that camera man earlier. It'd saved more energy trying to avoid him.

Then again, it's easy to say that from my sofa. But ask Evans about lashing out in front of the cameras or knocking people out of your way after a stage. He's certainly calmed down more than he did before and he's a better GT rider for it.

jzed

Fair play to him. From what I've read of Wiggins he has put everything into trying to get into a condition to challenge for the yellow jersey. After the disappointments of the last couple of years, for someone to continually suggest doping of some form as the only explanation for the Sky performances, you can kind of understand his response.

As an aside, had to endure pages and pages of some chap losing at tennis in the paper this morning. Eventually find a little bit of prose about Wiggins outburst at doping suggestions, rather than anything positive about a British rider leading the Tour, a British team doing that very un-British thing of looking like a strong team. Its no wonder Wiggins had a little outburst.

EKE_38BPM

JZed wrote:

As an aside, had to endure pages and pages of some chap losing at tennis in the paper this morning. Eventually find a little bit of prose about Wiggins outburst at doping suggestions, rather than anything positive about a British rider leading the Tour, a British team doing that very un-British thing of looking like a strong team. Its no wonder Wiggins had a little outburst.

So true.

Murray was very British by being a gallant loser and now the nation loves him.
If he had blown Federer off the court, I'm sure the press would have moaned about Murray preventing Federer getting his seventh Wimbledon title.

Well done Brad for saying what he said and the way he said it. Maybe not for every press conference, but an occassional outburst is good to see.

pitchshifter

Rick Chasey wrote:

Said this over on pro-race.

He should know having watched cycling for years and been in many tours that ANY tour contender gets asked questions and eyebrows are raised. Doing this won't help, and as much as it feels like letting off steam, it usually only winds you up more and causes more hassle and stress in the long run.

The same with that camera man earlier. It'd saved more energy trying to avoid him.

Then again, it's easy to say that from my sofa. But ask Evans about lashing out in front of the cameras or knocking people out of your way after a stage. He's certainly calmed down more than he did before and he's a better GT rider for it.

It was an attack on his whole team, which he defended... Having listened to the interview he doesn't scream and shout he just uses a poor choice of words.. If he didn't swear, we probably wouldn't be talking about it.

EKE_38BPM

pitchshifter wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Said this over on pro-race.

He should know having watched cycling for years and been in many tours that ANY tour contender gets asked questions and eyebrows are raised. Doing this won't help, and as much as it feels like letting off steam, it usually only winds you up more and causes more hassle and stress in the long run.

The same with that camera man earlier. It'd saved more energy trying to avoid him.

Then again, it's easy to say that from my sofa. But ask Evans about lashing out in front of the cameras or knocking people out of your way after a stage. He's certainly calmed down more than he did before and he's a better GT rider for it.

It was an attack on his whole team, which he defended... Having listened to the interview he doesn't scream and shout he just uses a poor choice of words.. If he didn't swear, we probably wouldn't be talking about it.

Why is swearing automatically a poor choice of words? This is one of those occassions where swearing is warranted, IMO.

Green Brompton

OK, so here's a hypothetical question that has probably been answered many times before, but if you were in a team full of dopers, and you weren't the team's number 1 cyclist, and decided to speak out about it, would you last very long in the team? Is it a catch 22 scenario?

I'm new to this

jonny_trousers

Like.

Monkeypump

Personally, I think he should grow up and act like the professional he's supposed to be.

He get's asked a question about PED use in a sport where it's been rife for the entire history of the sport, and his response is like that of a child. Just rise above it, give a sensible answer and let your riding answer the critics.

dhope

Monkeypump wrote:

let your riding answer the critics.

I thought Lance tried that

reformedfatty

My first reaction on reading that was 'must be scottish' judging by the profanity... however, it appears not.

no, I don't follow racing all that much.

EKE_38BPM

reformedfatty wrote:

My first reaction on reading that was 'must be scottish' judging by the profanity... however, it appears not.

no, I don't follow racing all that much.

A Londoner born in Ghent, Belgium. Son of an Aussie.

jzed

Green Brompton wrote:

OK, so here's a hypothetical question that has probably been answered many times before, but if you were in a team full of dopers, and you weren't the team's number 1 cyclist, and decided to speak out about it, would you last very long in the team? Is it a catch 22 scenario?

I'm new to this

In Lance's day he would have turned the peleton on you, spat on you and made you an outcast.

suzyb

reformedfatty wrote:

My first reaction on reading that was 'must be scottish' judging by the profanity... however, it appears not.

no, I don't follow racing all that much.

He and Murray swapped nationalities for a day. Wiggo went all profanity using Scot and Murray became cry like a baby Englishman

rick_chasey

pitchshifter wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Said this over on pro-race.

He should know having watched cycling for years and been in many tours that ANY tour contender gets asked questions and eyebrows are raised. Doing this won't help, and as much as it feels like letting off steam, it usually only winds you up more and causes more hassle and stress in the long run.

The same with that camera man earlier. It'd saved more energy trying to avoid him.

Then again, it's easy to say that from my sofa. But ask Evans about lashing out in front of the cameras or knocking people out of your way after a stage. He's certainly calmed down more than he did before and he's a better GT rider for it.

It was an attack on his whole team, which he defended... Having listened to the interview he doesn't scream and shout he just uses a poor choice of words.. If he didn't swear, we probably wouldn't be talking about it.

He should (and probably does) expect it.

His team rinsed the entire peloton on Saturday in the TdF. As the team leader, he should expect some questions on that.

This is cycling, not football. Every good performance comes with raised eyebrows. He himself, when he was a lowly rider in the Tour rather than GC contender, said he wasn't surprised and understood why people raise eyebrows.

Now it's him in the spotlight he doesn't like it anymore.

If he'd stuck to the usual gambit, kept his head down, he'd have avoided all this chat about it. You can bet a journo will ask the same question again to get another good response.

All he can do is not dope, ride as best he can, and be sensible infront of the cameras. Stuff like this helps no-one.

He's ridden a flawless race so far. He shouldn't let poor media discipline spoil it.

DonDaddyD

In his shoes I would have been annoyed and I think his reaction does little to hide a man that actually cares and is passionate about the sport and his/he's teams honest (we hope - and that's the problem) participation in the sport. That is a good thing.

However, whether he wanted it or not, Brailsford chose Bradley to be the figurehead of British Cycling (some would argue Cavendish would be more deserving but you would expect that sort of reaction from him) and Wiggins should have been more savvy and demonstrated more class, composure and humility with his response.

bigmat

Yeah, I think it was a bit poor all the swearing. To be fair though, Sky is one of the teams that on the face of it has done most to promote clean cycling - total ban on riders with a history of doping, [apparent] transparancy re data and blood values, expressly anti-doping. They have spoken out against doping practices, and if they are the real deal (and who are we to say for sure?) then I can see why constant accusations might be met with hostility. Personally, I would be astonished if Brailsford would risk all that he has achieved with the track team to set a team up with an organised doping programme. I don't believe a rogue cyclist could get away with doping within as structured a regime as Sky. Therefore, I believe they are riding clean.

tailwindhome

BigMat wrote:

I believe they are riding clean.

I'm finding it hard to believe in Froome.

gabriel959

BigMat wrote:

Yeah, I think it was a bit poor all the swearing. To be fair though, Sky is one of the teams that on the face of it has done most to promote clean cycling - total ban on riders with a history of doping, [apparent] transparancy re data and blood values, expressly anti-doping. They have spoken out against doping practices, and if they are the real deal (and who are we to say for sure?) then I can see why constant accusations might be met with hostility. Personally, I would be astonished if Brailsford would risk all that he has achieved with the track team to set a team up with an organised doping programme. I don't believe a rogue cyclist could get away with doping within as structured a regime as Sky. Therefore, I believe they are riding clean.

Total ban on riders with a history of doping? How did Michael Rodgers get in the team then? And what about Michael Barry who rode for the US Postal and T-Mobile teams? I could name a few more riders within the team that have ridden for teams with a past, if not of practice at least of knowledge. We just don't know and you have to place it all on trust. You have got riders like Xandio who have ridden through one of Spain's darkest cycling teams regarding doping, the iBanesto team.

And what about Froome, a no one with a Barloworld past, that has never done anything of note comes out of nowhere at the age of 26 to finish second of the Vuelta and now is storming it at the Tour.

rubertoe

I do love it,

Sky are smashing the race to pieces and they must be doping. What a joke, They just finished the hardest stage of the tour so far and BW has been asked the same question a thousand times, this time by a journo who is basically digging for stories in relation to LA.

You spend 10 months living out of a suitcase, not seeing your family for weeks on end and slogging your guts out climbing 100000+ vertical meters and see if that helps your performance when the peloton is probably as clean as it has vere been.

He has raced 20 odd days this year prior to the tour, so is fresh. As for Froome, he has come from nowhere, this is true, but he was never under British cycling and never had the financial backing that they have in terms of equipment, coaching, nutrition and training, so is bound to improve as will JTL when he signs.

Good on him is what i say and if he is doping i'll never ride my bike again.

tailwindhome

rubertoe wrote:

if he is doping i'll never ride my bike again.

Why?

Anonymous

I think its a turn on the 'ill eat my hat'