Wiggins interview

iainf72

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/28445685

Is he going to bother with road at all after P-R next year?

frenchfighter

Nothing new there.

Glad to see he confirms what I said in the other thread - paid by Sky for two years for an easy life.

smokey_bacon

iainf72 wrote:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/28445685

Is he going to bother with road at all after P-R next year?

I reckon so. Just for a crack at the worlds tt if nothing else.

putneypeddler

frenchfighter wrote:

Nothing new there.

Glad to see he confirms what I said in the other thread - paid by Sky for two years for an easy life.

How d'you work that out then? They hand out olympic medals in cereal boxes I suppose... same with aiming for P-R right?

Clearly Sky get value for money - really don't see how that's hard to work out...

Daz555

frenchfighter wrote:

Nothing new there.

Glad to see he confirms what I said in the other thread - paid by Sky for two years for an easy life.

He is going to be in a full Olympic cycle of training and racing. :roll: Easy life my arse - it is going to be hard just to get IN to the 4 man squad for Rio, never mind actually win the bloody thing.

As for the Commies - even if Wiggo is anything like close to his Beijing track levels, not sure I can see England beating the Aussies.

frenchfighter

He is on the Sky Road Cycling Team. The key word is Road. Sure it is hard to get a medal but he should leave Sky Road Cycling Team and not get paid for them for having an easy ride (if he rides at all) on the Road. Open up that spot and salary for Road riders.

Daz555

frenchfighter wrote:

He is on the Sky Road Cycling Team. The key word is Road. Sure it is hard to get a medal but he should leave Sky Road Cycling Team and not get paid for them for having an easy ride (if he rides at all) on the Road. Open up that spot and salary for Road riders.

One of the perks of being Britain's greatest ever cyclist I guess. Sky do still sponsor the track team as well so there is some natural overlap here and no conflict at all. Sky are also showing some loyalty to the rider who made them.

I don't see anything wrong here.

jscl

Daz555 wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

He is on the Sky Road Cycling Team. The key word is Road. Sure it is hard to get a medal but he should leave Sky Road Cycling Team and not get paid for them for having an easy ride (if he rides at all) on the Road. Open up that spot and salary for Road riders.

One of the perks of being Britain's greatest ever cyclist I guess. Sky do still sponsor the track team as well so there is some natural overlap here and no conflict at all. Sky are also showing some loyalty to the rider who made them.

I don't see anything wrong here.

The track cycling team is long a thing of the past. You'll find riders still wear plain kit bearing the SKY logo. But that's as good as it gets I'm afraid.

putneypeddler

frenchfighter wrote:

He is on the Sky Road Cycling Team. The key word is Road. Sure it is hard to get a medal but he should leave Sky Road Cycling Team and not get paid for them for having an easy ride (if he rides at all) on the Road. Open up that spot and salary for Road riders.

Aside from his track aspirations in Rio (which if you know anything about track racing then you'll know just how much work is required to medal) you think aiming to win Paris-Roubaix equates to opting for an easy ride?

And you think Sky would simply allocate that salary to another rider? I think they're well aware what return they get from him specifically...

No_Ta_Doctor

frenchfighter wrote:

He is on the Sky Road Cycling Team. The key word is Road. Sure it is hard to get a medal but he should leave Sky Road Cycling Team and not get paid for them for having an easy ride (if he rides at all) on the Road. Open up that spot and salary for Road riders.

No, the key word is Sky. They pay his wages, they decide if they want him on the team. They decide if the exposure of having him race on the track and target P-R is worth the outlay, and worth a spot on the roster.

frenchfighter

Ok chaps, I see you have your Wiggo Warriors hats on today.

Crozza

frenchfighter wrote:

Ok chaps, I see you have your Wiggo Warriors hats on today.

out of interest do you think Boonen is given an easy life by OPQS? only seems to race Feb-April

DeVlaeminck

Can't help but feel disappointed. We know he's a class act on the track but the biggest talents race on the road and he is one of the biggest talents.

I hope he goes and gets another Olympic gold but from a selfish point of view I wanted to see him riding the road in his prime going for grand tours for 3-4 years post 2012 and then wind down with the good wishes of cycling fans. As it is our first Tour winner seems to divide opinion amongst cycling fans between those that deride him for his attitude and those that like him but feel slightly let down he's capitulated to the challenge of repeating his greatest success so easily.

Yes I know the team pursuit squad are no mugs but how many of us could name the current squad ?

frenchfighter

Crozza wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Ok chaps, I see you have your Wiggo Warriors hats on today.

out of interest do you think Boonen is given an easy life by OPQS? only seems to race Feb-April

So far this year Wiggins has done 5000 km and 34 race days and is ranked 69th.

Boonen has done 8500 km and has 51 race days and is ranked 26th.

I think I know which one has given better RoE this year.
Next year the gap will widen dramatically if Wiggins races Roubaix and trains the rest of the time for the track.

No_Ta_Doctor

frenchfighter wrote:

Ok chaps, I see you have your Wiggo Warriors hats on today.

Not me. Ive got my Shoot Down The Troll hat on. You made an identical comment on the other thread, and had to do the same backtracking about medal winning not being easy, but you decided to run with the same provocational tone and material again here. I'd be embarrassed if I were you.

Paulie W

I'm also disappointed as from a purely selfish perspective I would have liked to have seen him focused on the Road. Truth is that Wiggins track ambitions have been accomodated on a number of teams in the past: FDJ, Cofidis, T-Mobile all let him pursue his World and Olympic ambitions. Part of that pursuit though was riding stage races to build up the endurance base.

bobmcstuff

He makes for good publicity and if that gets more people interested in cycling then that's overall a good thing IMO, regardless of anything else.

Sky can still afford to put together a good team for GTs (whether they will be able to or not is obviously a different matter entirely), he's only one rider in the team.

wallace_and_gromit

frenchfighter wrote:

Crozza wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Ok chaps, I see you have your Wiggo Warriors hats on today.

out of interest do you think Boonen is given an easy life by OPQS? only seems to race Feb-April

So far this year Wiggins has done 5000 km and 34 race days and is ranked 69th.

Boonen has done 8500 km and has 51 race days and is ranked 26th.

I think I know which one has given better RoE this year.
Next year the gap will widen dramatically if Wiggins races Roubaix and trains the rest of the time for the track.

Wiggo won the Tour of California, which was worth a shed load of exposure in the US market, which was the prime reason for him riding the race. (The "a*se sponsor" is now 20th Century Fox, if memory serves.)

If Sky didn't think he was worth the money they wouldn't extend his contract, one might think.

frenchfighter

No tA Doctor wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Ok chaps, I see you have your Wiggo Warriors hats on today.

Not me. Ive got my Shoot Down The Troll hat on. You made an identical comment on the other thread, and had to do the same backtracking about medal winning not being easy, but you decided to run with the same provocational tone and material again here. I'd be embarrassed if I were you.

I am not a troll for giving my opinion. Think before you bandy about words incorrectly.

I am not back tracking on anything - the interview reinforces what I wrote on the other thread. Re-read that thread. Track medal is hard sure - I dont care about track, I was not and am not talking about track. I care about Road and expect a rider on a Road team to ride on the Road or else get off the team and give your spot to a promising Road rider.

dsoutar

If that's the deal he's negotiated then well done to him. We'd all like to be able to dictate terms that suit us like that.

The impact he's had on British cycling has been immeasurable IMHO and I guess this is why Sky are humouring him. I can see FFs argument but I don't believe it's as black and white as that.

In fact we don't know what he's being paid currently so it's a pretty moot point unless BW has actually said "my salary for 2014, 2015 and 2016 is £nnn". For all we know Sky and Wiggins may have renegotiated his contract to allow him this sort of latitude (which would certainly makes sense and suit both parties) and if they had then I guess it would be confidential unless agreed otherwise

tom3

frenchfighter wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Ok chaps, I see you have your Wiggo Warriors hats on today.

Not me. Ive got my Shoot Down The Troll hat on. You made an identical comment on the other thread, and had to do the same backtracking about medal winning not being easy, but you decided to run with the same provocational tone and material again here. I'd be embarrassed if I were you.

I am not a troll for giving my opinion. Think before you bandy about words incorrectly.

I am not back tracking on anything - the interview reinforces what I wrote on the other thread. Re-read that thread. Track medal is hard sure - I dont care about track, I was not and am not talking about track. I care about Road and expect a rider on a Road team to ride on the Road or else get off the team and give your spot to a promising Road rider.

Have you been a fly on the wall during Wiggins contract negotiations? Do you know anything about the terms?

frenchfighter

dsoutar wrote:

If that's the deal he's negotiated then well done to him. We'd all like to be able to dictate terms that suit us like that.

The impact he's had on British cycling has been immeasurable IMHO and I guess this is why Sky are humouring him. I can see FFs argument but I don't believe it's as black and white as that.

In fact we don't know what he's being paid currently so it's a pretty moot point unless BW has actually said "my salary for 2014, 2015 and 2016 is £nnn". For all we know Sky and Wiggins may have renegotiated his contract to allow him this sort of latitude (which would certainly makes sense and suit both parties) and if they had then I guess it would be confidential unless agreed otherwise

Three fair points, yes.

Paulie W

frenchfighter wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Ok chaps, I see you have your Wiggo Warriors hats on today.

Not me. Ive got my Shoot Down The Troll hat on. You made an identical comment on the other thread, and had to do the same backtracking about medal winning not being easy, but you decided to run with the same provocational tone and material again here. I'd be embarrassed if I were you.

I am not a troll for giving my opinion. Think before you bandy about words incorrectly.

I am not back tracking on anything - the interview reinforces what I wrote on the other thread. Re-read that thread. Track medal is hard sure - I dont care about track, I was not and am not talking about track. I care about Road and expect a rider on a Road team to ride on the Road or else get off the team and give your spot to a promising Road rider.

Isnt the reality that in his prep for Rio he will still be riding a fair number of races on the road just not as a leader so Sky will get road miles out of him.

putneypeddler

frenchfighter wrote:

Crozza wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Ok chaps, I see you have your Wiggo Warriors hats on today.

out of interest do you think Boonen is given an easy life by OPQS? only seems to race Feb-April

So far this year Wiggins has done 5000 km and 34 race days and is ranked 69th.

Boonen has done 8500 km and has 51 race days and is ranked 26th.

I think I know which one has given better RoE this year.
Next year the gap will widen dramatically if Wiggins races Roubaix and trains the rest of the time for the track.

But you're looking at that purely from a road perspective... he's going to be focusing on the track - its pretty obvious that the 'gap' as you say will widen.

And it's not the 'wiggo warriors hat' stance as you call it... there's just so much trolling (especially regarding either Sky or Wiggins) that the options are either a) ignore, or b) shoot these comments down... I've chosen the later in this instance...

mike6

Fairly interesting interview, not the usual media speak like "Well I worked hard and feel I deserve it, I was in the form of my life" rubbish. He is usually worth a listen.

Like him or not he has raised the profile of cycling and cycle sport in this country hugely. I was in Yorkshire for the GD and the finish in Sheffield and the crowds were mind blowing. My eldest daughters three female friends spent 5 hours at the side of the road to catch a glimps of the Tour, out in the wilds somewhere, we were 4 k from the finish. These 26 year olds are what you would call girly high maintenance women but they were prepared to find a spot to see cyclists racing. Now that is progress, and part of the Wiggo effect.

If he achieves his remaining targets he can retire as the most successful British cyclist of all time, not by number of wins but quality of results. Sky have more than got there moneys worth, like all sponsors they are after media exposure and Wiggins has given them even more than they could have wished for.

wallace_and_gromit

mike6 wrote:

These 26 year olds are what you would call girly high maintenance women...

To their faces?

Joking aside, yours was a top post.

Macaloon

A nation rejoices. The State broadcaster winks. The Reality TV Olympics unveils its star for the new cycle.

No-doubt it makes perfect sense commercially, but it's perhaps a little confusing to other members of the team. What happened to the single-minded pursuit of team objectives? Are sacrifice, numbers, and results really the key to success at Sky?

Meanwhile Geraint Thomas gets to slog his guts out for under-performing teammates, is adored by cycling fans for his efforts, but gets a fraction of the attention. That can't be healthy.

RichN95.

Bradley Wiggins is to Sky and British Cycling what Ryan Giggs is to Manchester United. He's so much part of the furniture and brand that they'll keep him around as long as he wants to be and can make some sort of contribution. If he gets indulged then it's because he's earned it.

Paulie W

mike6 wrote:

Like him or not he has raised the profile of cycling and cycle sport in this country hugely. I was in Yorkshire for the GD and the finish in Sheffield and the crowds were mind blowing. My eldest daughters three female friends spent 5 hours at the side of the road to catch a glimps of the Tour, out in the wilds somewhere, we were 4 k from the finish. These 26 year olds are what you would call girly high maintenance women but they were prepared to find a spot to see cyclists racing. Now that is progress, and part of the Wiggo effect.

How many of those who stood roadside to watch the Tour were really there to see cyclists? It was a national event, an experience that hundreds of thousands wanted to share in. Very few of those people will have paid much attention to what happened post stage 3 (at least not IME). This is not to say that cycling isnt much more popular than it has ever been or that Wiggins isnt a national treasure, icon, etc. but I do think the Wiggo effect is overestimated.

mike6

putneypeddler wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Crozza wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Ok chaps, I see you have your Wiggo Warriors hats on today.

out of interest do you think Boonen is given an easy life by OPQS? only seems to race Feb-April

So far this year Wiggins has done 5000 km and 34 race days and is ranked 69th.

Boonen has done 8500 km and has 51 race days and is ranked 26th.

I think I know which one has given better RoE this year.
Next year the gap will widen dramatically if Wiggins races Roubaix and trains the rest of the time for the track.

But you're looking at that purely from a road perspective... he's going to be focusing on the track - its pretty obvious that the 'gap' as you say will widen.

And it's not the 'wiggo warriors hat' stance as you call it... there's just so much trolling (especially regarding either Sky or Wiggins) that the options are either a) ignore, or b) shoot these comments down... I've chosen the later in this instance...

With you all the way Putney. If a thread has Sky or Wiggins or is even remotely linked to them the usual suspects will jump in with negative bile. If they have this unbridled hatred for anything Sky why not just ignore the threads? We have heard all the Trolling comments, they have nothing to contribute to a sensible discussion so why bother?

Paulie W

mike6 wrote:

putneypeddler wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Crozza wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Ok chaps, I see you have your Wiggo Warriors hats on today.

out of interest do you think Boonen is given an easy life by OPQS? only seems to race Feb-April

So far this year Wiggins has done 5000 km and 34 race days and is ranked 69th.

Boonen has done 8500 km and has 51 race days and is ranked 26th.

I think I know which one has given better RoE this year.
Next year the gap will widen dramatically if Wiggins races Roubaix and trains the rest of the time for the track.

But you're looking at that purely from a road perspective... he's going to be focusing on the track - its pretty obvious that the 'gap' as you say will widen.

And it's not the 'wiggo warriors hat' stance as you call it... there's just so much trolling (especially regarding either Sky or Wiggins) that the options are either a) ignore, or b) shoot these comments down... I've chosen the later in this instance...

With you all the way Putney. If a thread has Sky or Wiggins or is even remotely linked to them the usual suspects will jump in with negative bile. If they have this unbridled hatred for anything Sky why not just ignore the threads? We have heard all the Trolling comments, they have nothing to contribute to a sensible discussion so why bother?

There is a counterargument to this that the same threads bring out those who will have no truck with any criticism of Sky reasoned or otherwise.