Should Wiggins defend the Maillot Jaune in 2013?

tailwindhome
tailwindhome Posts: 19,434
edited November 2012 in Pro race
This is going to be a big talking point in the off season and beyond

May as well kick it off with another quality article from Inner Ring.

http://inrng.com/2012/11/wiggins-tour-d ... more-11513


I'd be interested in view on what it would do to he rest of his season if he chose to prioritise the Giro?
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Comments

  • cogidubnus
    cogidubnus Posts: 860
    He should, but I think he'll be supporting Froome
  • timoid.
    timoid. Posts: 3,133
    Yes. He needs to honour the jersey.

    I don't think Froome will ever win the Tour. The assumption that Wiggins will be his minion next July does not make sense to me.
    It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.
  • calvjones
    calvjones Posts: 3,850
    Being the first Brit to win the Giro is significantly more important than being the first to win two Tours.

    If he wins the Giro and feels good for the Tour, why not, but the idea that you have to 'honour' a jersey by trying to defend it holds in no other race with a variable parcours. Otherwise the British team would have been repeatedly dragging Cav up the Cauberg 10mins down on the lead group in September.
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  • scrumpydave
    scrumpydave Posts: 143
    I think Wiggins defending his jersey will look pretty similar to him protecting Froome right up until one of them cracks in the mountains. Just like no one was quite sure what Froome's intentions were at this year's TDF. Even if Sky choose to back Froome beforehand they don't need to crow about it.
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  • scrumpydave
    scrumpydave Posts: 143
    Just followed your link to the article. He certainly shouldn't skip the Tour!
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  • edhornby
    edhornby Posts: 1,780
    I think the point made in the innrng post is a good one, there is more to pro racing than just the Tour de France, you can't harm the tour but you can help promote the giro

    also, if you can finish your career with wins in multiple (all 3??) GTs then that's a big achievement

    bear in mind the media pressure of being the first to win the MJ, and the impact on a family with young kids

    disrespectful would be not bothering to turn up
    "I get paid to make other people suffer on my wheel, how good is that"
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  • jonomc4
    jonomc4 Posts: 891
    Let Froome go for it - I only say this cos' I want his gobby dip sh1t partner to shut her f8cking mouth!
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    I'm not sure about this 'honour the jersey' thing. Nobody remembers Merckx for skipping the TdF mid-career. If it's balanced against 'honouring other races than the TdF', I'm all for giving other races some of the limelight. Even more than in other European countries in the UK road cycling is equated with the TdF and nothing but the TdF. It would be great if Wiggins seriously targetting the Giro would spread the notion in the UK that there is more than the TdF. ITV might well decide to broadcast it like they did with the Vuelta. If Wiggins' strengths weren't so far away from what's needed to excel in the Classics, it would be similarly great if he could target those too.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Agreed with FJS.

    He's won the Tour and a bunch of the smaller stage races. If he won the Giro and a couple of classics he'd have pretty immense palmares. Add in the 2 sport thing (track and road) and it's very impressive.

    I also suspect that Sky et al are aware that if you've got an on form Contador and Schleck, they will be very hard to beat.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Turfle
    Turfle Posts: 3,762
    Whatever keeps his motivation high.
  • inkyfingers
    inkyfingers Posts: 4,400
    Whatever he does he'll get stick from some quarters so he should do what's best for him.

    Personally I think that having a Tour and a Giro win on his palmares would be something quite special. He's no fool and he knows what he's capable of, if he doesn't think that he can hack it against the real mountain goats on a more mountain heavy course then he's better to focus on the Giro.

    If he was 25 and had more years left in his career then maybe he'd have more scope to take a risk and try for the Tour again, but as things stand I think going for the Giro would be a smart move.

    As others have alluded to, i'd love to see him have another crack at the classics before he hangs up his wheels. If he trained specifically for it then I know he could do well at Roubaix. He certainly has the engine to make it into the final selection, the issue would be finding a way to get away alone and he's pretty unlikely to win a sprint against the likes of Boonen or Cancellara. The other issue is that to win a classic takes luck as well as talent and by starting so late in his career he hasn't left himself many opportunities to do it.
    "I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)
  • rebs
    rebs Posts: 891
    If Wiggins was younger, I think he would have defended the jersey. But its a tricky point in his career also with the team layout. I don't think its disrespectful to the tour. The tour admits this when they start pointing out certain type of riders will be catered for in the future. Horses for courses etc.

    have to remember teams are in the business of winning and maximising this means Wiggins doesn't contest the tour then so be it?

    He has more to gain going for the Giro then another Tour. Will also mean he'll also do a different race program to go for other smaller stage races.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,725
    I find it refreshing that we have a top Tour contender who isn't completely obsessive
    about tapering for the solitary race.
    Wiggins speaks of the Giro in glowing terms.
    I'm amazed that in the modern era, he can value it's historical significance against
    the economical gains to be made from defending the Tour.
    Chapeau!

    As for "honouring the maillot jeune", that would certainly be a novelty!
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • deejay
    deejay Posts: 3,138
    Blazing Saddles wrote:

    As for "honouring the maillot jeune", that would certainly be a novelty!
    Certainly would, after it being the Music Hall Joke of this century and it being burned at the stake in Edenbridge, Kent, England on Monday evening.
    All 31 feet of it being their choice as most deserving out of Politicians, Taliban and other Idiots.
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  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,695
    Agree with Turfle. plus i don't think he has a genuine shot at this one, so why waste a race for the sake of some nonsense, US Twitter Taliban bullshoot about respect...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    All this being said, I do believe the 2013 Tour de France route still suits Wiggins better than the Giro route...
  • inkyfingers
    inkyfingers Posts: 4,400
    FJS wrote:
    All this being said, I do believe the 2013 Tour de France route still suits Wiggins better than the Giro route...

    Possibly true, but the quality of the competition at the Giro is likely to be poorer.
    "I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)
  • edhornby
    edhornby Posts: 1,780
    Blazing Saddles wrote:
    As for "honouring the maillot jeune", that would certainly be a novelty!

    he won the White jersey and the yellow ??? :D
    "I get paid to make other people suffer on my wheel, how good is that"
    --Jens Voight
  • meagain
    meagain Posts: 2,331
    FJS wrote:
    I'm not sure about this 'honour the jersey' thing. Nobody remembers Merckx for skipping the TdF mid-career. If it's balanced against 'honouring other races than the TdF', I'm all for giving other races some of the limelight. Even more than in other European countries in the UK road cycling is equated with the TdF and nothing but the TdF. It would be great if Wiggins seriously targetting the Giro would spread the notion in the UK that there is more than the TdF........

    +1 to all this. Couldn't put it better, so I shan't bother! Anyway, I prefer watching the Giro (and the Vuelta)!
    d.j.
    "Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."
  • squired
    squired Posts: 1,153
    We all know about how he lived 2012, spending large chunks of time away from home training, maintaining his weight, etc. Another rider, someone like Jurgen VDB said he would find it impossible to live/train the way Wiggins did in 2012. Along with his desire to win other races, my take is that Wiggins has decided he also doesn't want to live the same way again all the way through until July. By aiming for the Giro in 2013 and assuming he wins it, moving onto Paris Roubaix in 2014 he is bringing the calendar forward to dates that are far more manageable.
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,651
    scrumpydave wrote:
    I think Wiggins defending his jersey will look pretty similar to him protecting Froome right up until one of them cracks in the mountains. Just like no one was quite sure what Froome's intentions were at this year's TDF. Even if Sky choose to back Froome beforehand they don't need to crow about it.

    This.

    I'd love him to have a crack at the Giro, would be a great introduction to the rest of the cycling calendar for all the new fans.
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  • nathancom
    nathancom Posts: 1,567
    Still it would be great to see him go for the Tour and even though he will probably have trouble in the mountains against Contador I would prefer to see him struggle and lose than not be there or just play the super-domestique role. Struggling and ultimately failing seems more fitting for a Brit than winning anyway. :)
  • silverpigeon
    silverpigeon Posts: 327
    Brailsford will pick the rider that he thinks has the best chance of winning. Wiggins will have very little say in the matter. DB is not big on sentiment - just ask Chris Hoy - and I think this will extend to 'honouring the jersey'
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  • milton50
    milton50 Posts: 3,856
    I'm not someone who subscribes to the view that it is his obligation to defend the jersey's 'honour'. I would quite like him to ride it though just so we could put to bed the "wait until he comes up against Contador and Schleck on a less flat parcours" arguments.

    I think what will happen is quite dependant on how the Giro turns out. If he does decide to have a crack at it that is. If he manages to win the Giro then I think he'll be content to overtly support Froome through the Tour. If he doesn't win the Giro then I think what we'll see is something along the lines of what scrumydave said. They'll pretty much be joint leaders until one of them falters or agrees that they're in a less favourable position.

    It will be a really interesting situation because Froome hasn't proved at all yet that he can actually put time into Wiggins over a long climb. He can easily accelerate away from him but after that we don't know.
  • nathancom
    nathancom Posts: 1,567
    Trouble is with a hilly TT, what weapons does Wiggins have to hurt his opponents?
  • reallyarunner
    reallyarunner Posts: 125
    This is a toughie! I would love Wiggo to go for the giro, but I reckon he would be a better bet than froome for the tour also, despite the parcours (although I freely admit there are much more knowledgable people than me). Given the dominance of Sky this year, whilst accepting the recent departures may well affect them there is still a good chance they will put up a strong show next year. This, allied to the fact that Bertie looked a shadow of his pre ban self and Shleck can't TT makes me optimistic for Wiggo. But we'll see!
    When a true genius appears in this world, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,725
    Be interesting to see if "the Bradley factor" will entice ITV 4 into screening the Giro.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    FJS wrote:
    All this being said, I do believe the 2013 Tour de France route still suits Wiggins better than the Giro route...
    I call bull.
    _
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    FJS wrote:
    All this being said, I do believe the 2013 Tour de France route still suits Wiggins better than the Giro route...
    I call bull.
    As I see it the timetrials balance each other pretty much out in terms of Wiggins-advantage - 33km flat + 32 km hilly vs. 55 km flat + 19 km mountain. Where I think Wiggins has shown any weakness the past years is on the very steep climbs, e.g. Angliru, Pena Caberga. Even though there's more Climbing than recent years I don't see anything in next year's Tour he really needs to be scared of. The Giro on the other hand may not have as much super steep stuff as the Giro and Vuelta might have had recently, but still has some scary stuff in stages 10, 14 and 20 where Wiggins might be vulnerable.

    That being said I don't think it's a big difference, and Wiggins' chances will depend much more on where Bertie decides to ride
  • TMR
    TMR Posts: 3,986
    Timoid. wrote:
    Yes. He needs to honour the jersey.

    I don't think Froome will ever win the Tour. The assumption that Wiggins will be his minion next July does not make sense to me.

    Eh? Froome could have won it this year if he'd ignored his DS and rode for himself.

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