In our lifetime.....

raymondo60

I KNOW the Tour isn't over officially but its pretty clear that, barring disasters, Bradley will take the top step on the Podium on Sunday.

Which really does make me think....did I ever expect a British rider to win the toughest and most prestigeous road race in the world in my lifetime? If we had asked ourselves ten years ago when it would be that a Brit would ever win the Tour, what would we have said? Even more incredible, IF we can get Cav over the line first in the Olympic RR (again, NOT a foregone conclusion but emminently do-able) then Britain would host the Word Champion, the Olympic Champion and the Tour de France winner.

Heady days indeed my friends...............

No_Ta_Doctor

Brailsford said "5 years" and everyone laughed at him (yes, me too).

Unbelievable.

I didn't think I'd ever see it. When I was a kid I was Hinault. Kids today will be Cav of Wiggins. Superb.

josame

yep ... fantastic for our country and the sport

SteppenHerring

The UCI will change the rules and make sideburns prohibited.

Pross

When I started cycling seriously in '89 I'd only heard of the Tour and the Milk Race. The rare stage wins at the Tour were something to be celebrated (even British riders taking part were few and far between) and then when Boardman and Yates got to wear yellow it was fantastic. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to see a Brit win and another to win multiple stages year after year (and yet another to finish 2nd).

mroli

I sniggered at Brailsford too. I thought his ambition was laudable, but I couldn't see where he'd get a challenger from. Fair play to him, but also to Brad as well (and Froome) for turning him(them)selves into GC riders.

Earthbound

I've been watching the Tour for nearly 40 years and I posted in another thread that in all that time I gebuine never believed this could happen. Robert Millar came close but I still new it wasn;t to be. Even with Wiggo's podium 3 years ago it was just a case of always the bridesmaid.

But here we are, amazing

ShavenLegs

No tA Doctor wrote:

Brailsford said "5 years" and everyone laughed at him (yes, me too).

Can you remember exactly when he said it? I'm pretty sure it was a lot less than 5 years ago. I didn't believe it at the time either.

Brailsford seems to be able to deliver what ever he sets his mind to. I wonder if he knows anything about running the economy... Vote Dave for PM!!!

Pross

ShavenLegs wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

Brailsford said "5 years" and everyone laughed at him (yes, me too).

Can you remember exactly when he said it? I'm pretty sure it was a lot less than 5 years ago. I didn't believe it at the time either.

Brailsford seems to be able to deliver what ever he sets his mind to. I wonder if he knows anything about running the economy... Vote Dave for PM!!!

3 years ago when first setting up Sky.

andy_welch

Yes, fair's fair, when he made that 5 year pledge I thought it was, at best, a publicity stunt and at worst, a sign that a but of sucess on the track had gone to his head. I certainly never thought they'd deliver. Especially not two years ahead of schedule with what looks like it's going to be a British one two. Say what you like about the guy, he (or at least tge team he's helped to put together) sure knows how to deliver. What next I wonder.

Cheers

Andy

rebs

Thought it'll happen within the next 10 years. No way did I beleive Sky could do it. The 5 year plan seemed laugable at the time.

I remember writing it off but liked they had the balls to comeout and aim for it. I didnt think Wiggins would podium again and best he would have hoped for was top 10 top 5 at a push even though I've been a big fan of him on the track (yes I enjoy track racing! :P)

But with the Veulta, The worlds, And the season Wiggins has had with the Tour is is mind blowing. The most exciting thing about this is that the Sky Young guns and those after them seem to be even more geared to the approach Sky/BC have.

We're are now in an uncomfortable position to beleiving anything Brailsford says.... :P

greasedscotsman

Err, Wiggins hasn't been on the podium at the Tour before. He was 4th in 2009.

prawny

Read the Jolly Japes at the foolish upstarts.

viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=12609451&hilit=SKY+Tour

Madness, I was laughing along with everyone else, happy to be wrong

sing_for_absolution

Well for me personally it's a complete turnaround. Following the tour in the late 90s and checking ceefax to see where Boardman and Sciandri were. Checking how Winn/Wegelius/Wiggins (during his autobus days) were doing in the 2003 Giro. And 9 years later, it's incredible.

Monty Zoncolan

Being a betting man not long into his forties I'm not amazed at being alive to see that a Brit has won/will win.

That said, I didn't seriously believe that sky would do it within their original 5-year plan. I thought that was aspirational at best. It just goes to show that if you take care of all the factors within your control, the amount of luck required to achieve a goal diminishes substantially.

raymondo60

Why don't we get Dave Brailsford to take over the England Football Team? You never know, we may win the World Cup too!!!

prawny

Reading that thread there's a few people who will be within their rights to be very smug come sunday afternoon if all goes to plan.

Most of Young brit potentials have done well. Shame for Dan Fleeman, who now owns a bike shop down the road from me.

Pross

We're forgetting - no Brit has won the Tour yet

jonginge

greasedscotsman wrote:

Err, Wiggins hasn't been on the podium at the Tour before. He was 4th in 2009.

That may change...

raymondo60

Pross wrote:

We're forgetting - no Brit has won the Tour yet

Fair point but I did say 'barring disasters' etc - just couldn't wait until Sunday!!

Monty Zoncolan

Raymondo60 wrote:

Why don't we get Dave Brailsford to take over the England Football Team? You never know, we may win the World Cup too!!!

You joke (I'm taking it) but hell, if he took the gig would you bet your house against it? I know the success sky are experiencing isn't just down to him but I'd happily take an opportunity to learn from him, just from a project management point of view.

greasedscotsman

JonGinge wrote:

greasedscotsman wrote:

Err, Wiggins hasn't been on the podium at the Tour before. He was 4th in 2009.

That may change...

I hope so. I was just in pedant mode...

nweststeyn

prawny wrote:

Read the Jolly Japes at the foolish upstarts.

viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=12609451&hilit=SKY+Tour

Madness, I was laughing along with everyone else, happy to be wrong

That makes superb retrospective reading! Even if Bradley hasn't won yet, the majority have been proved very wrong!

I particularly like the comment "road racing is not painting by numbers, it's not about how many watts you can produce for four minutes."

No, it's not... but it seems Sky have gone with the approach; 'how many watts can we produce for four hours'.

greasedscotsman

Pross wrote:

We're forgetting - no Brit has won the Tour yet

Ribble seem to think he's won!



http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/

RichN95.

Raymondo60 wrote:

Why don't we get Dave Brailsford to take over the England Football Team? You never know, we may win the World Cup too!!!

He'd put Wayne Rooney in defence though. Still, it's better than Glen Johnson.

prawny

greasedscotsman wrote:

Pross wrote:

We're forgetting - no Brit has won the Tour yet

Ribble seem to think he's won!



http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/

That jersey should say Garmin on it the way it's going.

Pross

greasedscotsman wrote:

Pross wrote:

We're forgetting - no Brit has won the Tour yet

Ribble seem to think he's won!



http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/

If he doesn't win I guess we can blame them then

BelgianBeerGeek

No, I never thought so either. But then I am 6 years old, which wuld explain the spelling.

Le Commentateur

andy_welch wrote:

Yes, fair's fair, when he made that 5 year pledge I thought it was, at best, a publicity stunt and at worst, a sign that a but of sucess on the track had gone to his head. I certainly never thought they'd deliver. Especially not two years ahead of schedule with what looks like it's going to be a British one two. Say what you like about the guy, he (or at least tge team he's helped to put together) sure knows how to deliver. What next I wonder.

Cheers

Andy

It's not just Brailsford – he has the riders and support staff. Sean Yates as DS surely is perfect for the task, as well as Servais Knaven, who was a reliable domestique for many years and got a big win at Paris-Roubaix.

mrushton

It was 2009 when Brailsford/SKY went public. The press release is quoted over in the Racing thread at yacf.co.uk. All that talk of chimps and gains I thought were just smoke and mirrors but I'm happy to say I know nothing. SKY are (for good or bad) going to change the way cycling teams operate. The attention to detail, the warm down, the extensive use of power data will become the norm although Voeckler manages without all that stuff.

BelgianBeerGeek

Which is why TV could find himself outside in the cold. The future is posting your power output, pee results etc. The only way forward for a clean, dope-free race situation is for everyone to do the same. TV is a bit of a maverick in this case as he doesn't always use radio, so he'll have to toe the line.
Wiggo's and Sky's dominance will change everything in this game. Their stated aim for their team will become the norm.