Gent - Wevelgem *spoilers*

frenchfighter

Blazing Saddles wrote:

sjmclean wrote:

I'm saying this FF.

You need to take you blinkers off and stop thinking Sky are out to get you.

Frenchie is pretty much a stereotypical Contador forum fan.
Obsessive trolling of Sky and race threads with derogatory comments, a coping mechanism for their fear of superior competition and the pain of potential defeat.
However, unlike Frenchie, the vast majority do have the excuse of being barely out of puberty and therefore new to the sport.

You are wrong on this point but given how many times you have been wrong recently, one will assume you are going through a bad patch so will overlook it.

frenchfighter

smjclean, having fun today trolling me? I know the weather is grim in Glasgow but no need to take it out on me.

Yellow Peril

frenchfighter wrote:

Some of you guys need to screw your heads on straight and take your own blinkers off.

Guess what; I am probably the one person who commends and praises Sky or a Sky rider the most. Search my posts. If I also say something bad about them or one of their riders now and again, that's called an opinion. They are neither without fault all the time or consistently with fault.

My issue in this thread is with not Sky but with Wiggins.

Sort yourselves out.

Dude that is blatantly untrue. Over the last few years you've taken every opportunity to have a dig at them.

However, I will agree with you that in this thread your issue is with Wiggins. You obviously don't like him or his race program and you should leave it at that. Your attempts to discredit him do you no favours and make you seem like a troll. We don't want another Camargue horse crisis...

frenchfighter

Maybe a couple of years ago. Last year and this I would suggest you check my posts.

Re Wiggins, I am voicing my opinion. I am not looking for favours and I am not being a troll.

ddraver

Your opinion is grossly unfair and based on falsehoods

Would you allow me to post that 2 + 2 = 5 without questioning it "becasue that was my opinion"?

frenchfighter

ddraver wrote:

Your opinion is grossly unfair and based on falsehoods

This is your opinion to which you are entitled.

We disagree on pretty much everything and view the World differently so your opinion quoted is not surprising.

Anonymous

frenchfighter wrote:

smjclean, having fun today trolling me? I know the weather is grim in Glasgow but no need to take it out on me.

They make us hard up here FF, we're not fair weathered like you city boys. Had a great ride. Same again tomorrow, I like classics weather at classics time of year.


Thing is I'm not even trolling you, I just completely disagree with 98% of what you say.

Pross

frenchfighter wrote:

Is being multi disciplined a requirement for greatness?

Is focusing on your strengths and winning more grand tours then probably all those combined of people still riding something to be ashamed about?

I repeat myself. My comments re Wiggins do not spring from nowhere. They are consistent and are not based on one race.

Think before you post.

I would suggest the truly great cyclists were multi-disciplined, yes.

No, focussing on your strengths is nothing to be ashamed of. You are misunderstanding my point. What I don't understand is why turning up for a race and not finishing it when out of contention or having performed your allotted role is more deserving of criticism than not even turning up due to knowing you have no chance.

A consistent view doesn't necessarily mean a correct view. I actually agree that Wiggins has let himself down on some occasions since 2012 with a selfish or CBA attitude but Sunday's race didn't appear to be one of those cases. Yesterday at De Panne he rode hard in a team role and briefly (and with ease) jumped across to a small lead group albeit they were quickly caught.

inseine

This thread hss gone way OT, but for what it's worth it seems that Cookson has been thrown a lifeline by the road commision. He gets to moan about the rules being twisted to get Wiggins a ride in TdY but is obviously happy too, as are the organisers, the casual fans and most 'real' fans too, unless they're got a ramrod up there backsides about the rules.

Macaloon

frenchfighter wrote:

Sort yourselves out.

+1. Wiggins isn't competing with his peers on an equal basis. Stybar, Sep, Sagan, GVA etc have all been at the sharp end in multiple one-dayers this season, increasing their crash risk, and wear and tear. Looks like Wiggo has the unique advantage of the perfect preparation.

ddraver

everyone wasnt so bothered by that when PFP beat Sanne Cant

(or when Stybar won his CX WC)

yorkshireraw

UCI rule rule bending is hardly new news, but in the case of which team a rider rides for, when all involved are happy with how its panning out, and the race is a low-level (2.1) event anyway that will be mainly domestic riders, is hardly anyone trying to take advantage at the expense of their competitors.

Unlike when the UCI were bending the rules all over the shop with regards to Alberto's +ve in 2010... if you're going to be a stickler for rules, let's have some consistency.

tailwindhome

People who apply rules should always have the discretion to use common sense.

No_Ta_Doctor

Macaloon wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Sort yourselves out.

+1. Wiggins isn't competing with his peers on an equal basis. Stybar, Sep, Sagan, GVA etc have all been at the sharp end in multiple one-dayers this season, increasing their crash risk, and wear and tear. Looks like Wiggo has the unique advantage of the perfect preparation.

And if Wiggins misses a move in P-R people will say he was under-raced and lacked sharpness....

Wiggins has been given a lot of leeway by Sky, but I'd suggest that's because they know that it's the best way to get a last big performance and result out of him. And while it looks like he's an overindulged retiring rider playing at being a real racer he's not put himself on the radar like Thomas has.

Pross

Macaloon wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Sort yourselves out.

+1. Wiggins isn't competing with his peers on an equal basis. Stybar, Sep, Sagan, GVA etc have all been at the sharp end in multiple one-dayers this season, increasing their crash risk, and wear and tear. Looks like Wiggo has the unique advantage of the perfect preparation.

And? Surely the only people who should be bothered about how much racing he is doing are the people who pay his wages and they seem perfectly happy with the arrangement. Arguably, if you are able to do it, it makes more sense to keep a rider fresh to target a bigger race than to knacker him out (as someone has already suggested on the Classics thread may well be the case with Vanmarcke who has raced hard since February). As above though, there's more danger he's lacking race miles.

tailwindhome

Pross wrote:

As above though, there's more danger he's lacking race miles.

What suprises me is that it is the opposite of the approach taken in 2012

I'd also be serious pissed off if I was Thomas and I wasn't *the* protected rider for PR and Flanders

FoldingJoe

You could sense his response was somewhat mooted when asked about his form going into both races in his post E3 race interview.

No_Ta_Doctor

TailWindHome wrote:

Pross wrote:

As above though, there's more danger he's lacking race miles.

What suprises me is that it is the opposite of the approach taken in 2012

I'd also be serious pissed off if I was Thomas and I wasn't *the* protected rider for PR and Flanders

No reason they can't have more than one protected rider. My money is on Wiggins to work his arse off for Thomas in Flanders and hope for a return of the favour in P-R.

inseine

Wiggins

"We've probably got the race favourite in Geraint, so it's pretty clear-cut what we have to do. Sky is pretty good at that in terms of getting their leader where he needs to be and in Geraint we've got someone who can potentially win the race,"

Macaloon

I think being exempt from the racing duties of his peers is similar to the EPL giving only Chelsea, for example, a winter break. It's obviously impossible to quantify the benefit in lack of fatigue, and the costs in lost sharpness. But denying he's in a priviledged position vs compeitors seems a trifle binkered.

Pross

Macaloon wrote:

I think being exempt from the racing duties of his peers is similar to the EPL giving only Chelsea, for example, a winter break. It's obviously impossible to quantify the benefit in lack of fatigue, and the costs in lost sharpness. But denying he's in a priviledged position vs compeitors seems a trifle binkered.

No it's not. It would be like only Chelsea resting their star striker for a ECL final when other teams play their's in every game. It's entirely in the team / club's hands as to whether or not they pick a rider for a race. If Ettix had wanted to rest Boonen for RVV and P-R there was nothing stopping them.

wallace_and_gromit

No tA Doctor wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

Pross wrote:

As above though, there's more danger he's lacking race miles.

What suprises me is that it is the opposite of the approach taken in 2012

I'd also be serious pissed off if I was Thomas and I wasn't *the* protected rider for PR and Flanders

No reason they can't have more than one protected rider. My money is on Wiggins to work his ars* off for Thomas in Flanders and hope for a return of the favour in P-R.

I hope Sky do have some sort of plan. Last year's PR was definitely a missed opportunity to at least try something in the latter stages.

inseine

Wallace and Gromit wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

Pross wrote:

As above though, there's more danger he's lacking race miles.

What suprises me is that it is the opposite of the approach taken in 2012

I'd also be serious pissed off if I was Thomas and I wasn't *the* protected rider for PR and Flanders

No reason they can't have more than one protected rider. My money is on Wiggins to work his ars* off for Thomas in Flanders and hope for a return of the favour in P-R.

I hope Sky do have some sort of plan. Last year's PR was definitely a missed opportunity to at least try something in the latter stages.

I know that Knaven is a dirty word now but both him and Brailsford have said the same thing; the way to give yourself a good chance is to have a strong team and a star rider. Often that way you win, and not necessarily with the star.......