Froome on Wiggins and more
Comments
-
adr82 wrote:I think his point was for you to ask yourself if you could accept that people who are closer to the situation than you might have good reason to see things differently. If you'd been a fly on the wall during all the Wiggins/Froome interactions over the last few years you might have a very different opinion right now (not saying I know anything more one way or the other either).
Of course, but that doesn't mean they are right to feel that way and are just prejudiced or have weak personalities or any other reason for disliking someone or not getting along.
It's always a matter of personal perception. For example, I work in a very toxic environment, a lot of cliques and a few people who I'd not shed any tears over were they to fall under a bus. Where the issue lays depends upon who you ask. It's the same at SKY.0 -
Joelsim wrote:TailWindHome wrote:Joelsim wrote:Why on earth would any sponsor be happy that the biggest star in the team isn't riding? .
It worked out so well for Brazil in 1998
Yes I forgot that Wiggo has just had a fit.
Only of the hissy variety “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
Wiggins from a PR point of view is in a good position as this thread on this site shows. He seems to have a lot of support. I wonder what Brailsford thinks of his BBC breakfast interview for instance. Does Wiggins really not know why he his not riding if he's in such good form. He's not that stupid and this episode may come back and bite him in the a%% if he's not careful.0
-
iainf72 wrote:r0bh wrote:
And you know that how? When has Wiggins actually caused any trouble in the team post 2012?
Oman 2013 by all accounts he did a solid domestique job.
From the Velorooms review of The Climb at Oman 2013 (which I've not read yet)
The atmosphere was very tense and the DS Nico Portal appeared as if he walking on eggshells. Froome said to Kennaugh “Does this feel different to oyu?”. Kennaugh “I thought it was just me. I’m glad you said something. I’m afraid to open my mouth”. It felt very unhealthy with everybody on edge; like a week working at a job poisoned by office politics.”
Forgive me if I take anything in Froome's book on this topic with a pinch of salt!
No-one is going to deny that Wiggins, at times, can be a weapons grade pain in the bum. But equally, by all accounts he can also be the life and soul of the party. I guess the trouble is you don't know which you're going to get. All any of us can do is weigh up what we know and make some sort of prediction of what we _think_ might happen. But to say it is a 100% certainty he will be a PITA is too much of a stretch for me.
When all is said and done this decision (not that it has even been made yet!) will only be viewed in the context of what happens in the next two months. Just like the Hoy vs Kenny choice (which is not really that comparable anyway) is viewed in the context of Kenny making Bauge look like a punter. If it had gone the other way and Hoy was sitting in the stands when Kenny went out in the quarters (say) this decision would be viewed rather differently.0 -
UncleMonty wrote:Joelsim wrote:The column inches and TV value will be far higher for Sky if Wiggo is in the team, and plenty of non-avid fans will have an interest/awareness because it is The Tour De France. The value of the coverage I would imagine would be a few million pounds' worth with him in.
But this whole debacle is generating even more publicity, Sky just can't loose, more column inches, more stories & images on all the sports channels & new bulletins.
As a few people have already pointed out winning is everything, Sky as a sponsor only care about one thing, as long as this happens they're happy. Wiggo would have always been the foot note to the main story, Froome wins mountain top finish and extends lead, Wiggings comes in 8 min down, Cavendish will have his chance tomorrow, blah, blah, blah.
For the record I would like to see him race, he's not though and him not racing isn't going to change anything, not the result, not the viewing figures, attendance figures, nothing.
He is a national treasure though.0 -
-
Rick Chasey wrote:Joelsim wrote:
He is a national treasure though.
Please tell me you didn't mean this sentence sincerely.
Whether cycling fans like him or not, he has a whole raft of gold medals and is a national treasure to the majority.0 -
He should have switched teams like Cav if he wanted a team built around him. It was obvious Froome would be central to Sky's TDF campaign.
He has won one and has had a lucrative few years (secured families future). Four Olympic golds for his country too.0 -
Joelsim wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:Joelsim wrote:
He is a national treasure though.
Please tell me you didn't mean this sentence sincerely.
Whether cycling fans like him or not, he has a whole raft of gold medals and is a national treasure to the majority.
I think I just vommed in my mouth.0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:Joelsim wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:Joelsim wrote:
He is a national treasure though.
Please tell me you didn't mean this sentence sincerely.
Whether cycling fans like him or not, he has a whole raft of gold medals and is a national treasure to the majority.
I think I just vommed in my mouth.
The thing is - he his though. Most of my mates are of the non-cycling variety. And if they ever talk to me about cycling it's about Wiggins.0 -
r0bh wrote:And you know that how? When has Wiggins actually caused any trouble in the team post 2012?
To be fair he "knows" that, to the same extent that the people who "know" Wiggins is a better guy to take than, say, Porte.
None of us "know" anything about any of this. We can just engage in entertaining speculation with partial knowledge. The only people who know enough to be worth listening to are Wiggins, Froome & Brailsford..... and I don't think they're posting here!
Doesn't stop this thread being fun though
0 -
Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0
-
The "who knows whether or not he'll do a solid team job" question is quite an important one. You don't want someone who might work for you, you want someone who will work for you. It's clear from Froome's book that he believes Wiggins did no job at all for the team in Oman.
"This was where we really needed him to take his turn and pull on the front and race hard. 'He's going to do it,' I thought. Then, suddenly, he seemed to remember a prior engagement. It literally looked as if he pulled the brakes. He swung out of the line and dropped off just as the second climb began. He hadn't done a pull or turn on the front. Maybe he'd left the gas on at home?"
Fair or not, that's what is in Froome's head.0 -
Yes - anyone who isn't in the corner of Sir Bradley "National Treasure" Wiggins is now considered evil. Apparently.iainf72 wrote:0 -
If Wiggins had been better advised, he'd have a narrative about how it's Chris' turn now and he's sorry that the knee injury he sustained in a collision with Sir Dave's titanium swingers will keep him from returning the favour Chris did in 2012.
As it is, he's chosen to make things as difficult as possible out of some misplaced sense of injustice. He's as downtrodden and oppressed by the team and his teammates as Mitt Romney and the rest of the 1%....a rare 100% loyal Pro Race poster. A poster boy for the community.0 -
Joelsim wrote:He is a national treasure though.
Maybe the calculation is that the short-term headlines are worth the risk of looking like a disruptive ungrateful child in hindsight. But in my view he should be worried about Sir Chris reminiscing in a few years about how the team pulled together despite scathing criticism from Wiggins' camp.
Fuller appears to have all the the guile and insight of Max Clifford....a rare 100% loyal Pro Race poster. A poster boy for the community.0 -
http://www1.skysports.com/cycling/news/ ... -selection
“Trust and harmony are important considerations and it’s a difficult decision. I’m not just talking about the harmony between Chris and Brad but harmony amongst all the riders and staff.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
CF better have his climbing legs on as the team looks a little light for the cobbles and wind. He's going to lose time in the first 10 days or soeating parmos since 1981
Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Aero 09
Cervelo P5 EPS
www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=130387990 -
Cal_Stewart wrote:CF better have his climbing legs on as the team looks a little light for the cobbles and wind. He's going to lose time in the first 10 days or so
Versus who? Contador?0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:Cal_Stewart wrote:CF better have his climbing legs on as the team looks a little light for the cobbles and wind. He's going to lose time in the first 10 days or so
Versus who? Contador?
Remember the echelons stage last year?
Definitely a possibility.. Contador knows how to race...0 -
Jesus. Andy Schleck managed the cobbles ok last time they did this sort of thing. Can't help thinking this is being overplayed.0
-
smithy21 wrote:Jesus. Andy Schleck managed the cobbles ok last time they did this sort of thing. Can't help thinking this is being overplayed.
It's like Wiggins has suddenly become the only rider capable of riding on the flat and cobbles. If we're going to play the 'whatabout' game Wiggins is a man who crashed out on a totally flat stage of the Tour in 2011. Clearly if Frank Schleck's experience is extrapolatable to Froome then Wiggins' own previous form on the flat stages of the Tour should be taken as proof that he can't ride the flat.Correlation is not causation.0 -
*Big whooshing noise*
"Was that Adam Yates? FML"LiesFear&Pish wrote:His immediate form is not in doubt. He is fresh from winning a gruelling Tour of California, having impressed the cognoscenti with his ninth place at Paris-Roubaix in spring.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/27735785...a rare 100% loyal Pro Race poster. A poster boy for the community.0 -
The only person who has actually said Wiggo won't be in the tour is Wiggo himself (although apparently with very good reason considering the build up). Team Sky's official line is that the line up will be decided after the Criterium du Dauphine and Tour de Suisse.
I suspect Barilsford my have been caught wrong footed by the wider reaction in support of Wiggo, not just on their own FB page but for instance here:
https://www.facebook.com/Wewantwiggo
Lets not forget that the ultimate paymaster is SKY. I can't imagine a sponsor more vulnerable to adverse UK sentiment (and the popular press when they decide to run with it).
So if no disasters in the Tour de Suisse I expect Wiggo to be appointed super domestique when the tour is announced and Froome will told to put up and shut up.
Of course Wiggo probably realised this when making his press announcement.
Bring it on!I want to climb hills so badly;
and I climb hills so badly0 -
I want to climb hills so badly;
and I climb hills so badly0 -
Above The Cows wrote:smithy21 wrote:Jesus. Andy Schleck managed the cobbles ok last time they did this sort of thing. Can't help thinking this is being overplayed.
It's like Wiggins has suddenly become the only rider capable of riding on the flat and cobbles. If we're going to play the 'whatabout' game Wiggins is a man who crashed out on a totally flat stage of the Tour in 2011. Clearly if Frank Schleck's experience is extrapolatable to Froome then Wiggins' own previous form on the flat stages of the Tour should be taken as proof that he can't ride the flat.
It's like the (ahem) Classics Team Riders Bernie Eisel, EBH and Leader Gerraint Thomas don't exist...We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
- @ddraver0 -
So basically Wiggins is mugging everyone off here.
Is that the long and short of it? What a card, eh? Man of the people with very expensive PR guru behind him getting the public all outraged and behind him. I'm sure the sponsor must absolutely love his attempt to undermine the only guy on the team who could realistically win the Tour for his own aims.
:PFckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
ALIHISGREAT wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:Cal_Stewart wrote:CF better have his climbing legs on as the team looks a little light for the cobbles and wind. He's going to lose time in the first 10 days or so
Versus who? Contador?
Remember the echelons stage last year?
Definitely a possibility.. Contador knows how to race...
Like the 2009 TdF you mean? When Lance made the split and AC didn't and HTC drilled it to the finish?0
This discussion has been closed.
