Wiggins interview- Bahamontes

disgruntledgoat
disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
edited October 2015 in Pro race
As I know some of you enjoyed my translations of the "blow-by-blow" race breakdowns from "The Flemish Rouleur", I thought I'd do the lengthy Wiggins interview from the current issue. Its a Merckx 70th birthday special, so a lot of the interview is around history etc. I've done the first 1000 words or so today and I'll try and get the rest done tomorrow

Interview is by Jonas Heyerick and from Bahamontes magazine.
"In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

@gietvangent
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  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    “You think that I’m the most like Merckx in the current generation?” Bradley Wiggins leans back, laughs and shakes his head. “I haven’t won a fraction of what Eddy did in his time. My palmares is like a shopping list compared to his thick novel. Noone will ever ride alongside that.”
    It soon becomes clear, Bradley Wiggins respect for the Cannibal is immense. Also, because Wiggo knows Merckx personally, albeit not very well. “We meet at parties for ex-tour winners. He’s a real gentleman. He has no ego and isn’t in the slightest bit arrogant- very different to Lance Armstrong- even modest about his victories and palmares. The opposite of De Vlaeminck, of whom I’m still a fan. But only of Roger the rider, not of Roger the man. I’ve seen him a few times in TV interviews and its embarrassing. Merckx would never be so toxic and jealous. That’s the difference between them. One is modest and the other is still full of himself.”
    We sit opposite Bradley Wiggins in the attic room of the hotel Messeyne in Kortrijk, the base of Team Sky for the Flemish spring. Whilst a woman in too much makeup chain smokes a packet of cigarettes and coughs away (“That’s a famous rider from Team Radio Skynet”), Wiggins talks incessantly. About Merckx, about the Tour, about his notoriety.
    We hadn’t counted on being here. For two years we’d toiled to get Sir Bradley to sit down for an interview. No joy. Until we put on our sexy shoes and trekked to Team Sky’s hotel two days before De Ronde with a stack of Bahamontes under our arm. Wiggo gave a press conference that day and a couple of TV interviews. We stood nearby watching for our chance, for a chat as the minutes dwindled away. Wiggo didn’t have much interest, a surly glance, cap pulled over his eyes, jacket zipped up to the top. “Today, I’m not revealing anything”, that was the message. We saw the journalist from BBC World doubt out loud that there’d be a happy ending when he first sat in front of the camera. But, before he can even ask his first question, Sir Bradley says to him “Really nice shoes, lad. Very stylish. My compliments!” followed by a grin and a good interview. Wiggo in top form. Not spectacular, but more rock n roll than you find anywhere else in the world between chamois and helmets.
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    We had a chance to speak with the 2012 Tour Winner, just after the press conference. We stopped Wiggins, who was being followed by a press officer/guard dog, armed with only a back issue of Bahamontes. Wiggo leafed through it, nodded approvingly and mumbled “Really nice” a couple of times. We needed no further invitation. We said we were preparing our next edition, a Merckx special edition, and would he make time for us/ Maybe in the week between de Ronde and Roubaix? The press officer cut between us: “no interviews that week, maybe later”. Bradley pretended not to hear the man: “Next Monday, 3 o clock.” We went home with a broad grin.
    Nevertheless, we arrived with a faint heart to meet the cycling knight. Wiggins reputation in interviews is legendary. On the internet there’s a film with the title “Bradley Wiggins gives the best interview ever”. In it, a slightly bored but at the same time amused Wiggo in a press conference chips away at the assembled journalists. His answers on the day...
    “Stop your questions now, I want to go home”
    “Have you ever ridden a bike yourself? Never? That’s noted”
    “This conversation is becoming a fecking farce”
    And, like a bouncer: “Gentlemen, I’ll see you tomorrow. In the meantime, try to think of a couple of decent questions.”

    We have more luck. Wiggins is happy to talk about Eddy Merckx, even though he never saw The Cannibal ride with his own eyes. Mercks was already retired when Wiggins was born. “Merckx wasn’t so much of an idol, more of an icon” I’ve always known the name Eddy Merckx, since I was born. My mother would always tell me these heroic tales about Merckx because he, well, because he was Eddy Merckx. You don’t need to have seen him ride to know how good he was, his reputation is enough. And his Palmares, of course”
    Nevertheless, Wiggins’ Palmares has something Eddy Merckx can only dream of: A series of Olympic medals. Wiggins laughs, “I don’t think Eddy would want to swap with me!” The Olympic honour roll of Wiggins is nevertheless impressive: Seven medals in 3 Games. Four golds, a silver and two bronzes. Six on the track and one on the road. Four individual medals and three in team events. And there may still be a gold medal to come, in Rio. The definitive end game for the best British rider of all time. Fun fact: On the road to Rio, it’s possible he’ll ride the Six Days of Gent. “There is a chance that i’ll go to the Kuipke. It’s 17 years since I last did it and that’s too long. I’ve already spoken to Patrick Sercu about it.”
    That Bradley is keen to start in Gent is no mystery. Everyone knows that the Brit has a bond with the Artevelde City. He was born there, as the son of a talented but alcoholic father who came to live in Europe to make a career on the track. And so, the Kuipke, or better: the rickety building within which you find the Gentse oval, is one of Wiggins earliest memories. “I came often with my father. The old changing rooms stay with me especially. The wooden benches, the old showers where the water barely came out, the tunnel you come out of the changing rooms into and went under the track through to the track centre. You could smell the history. It’s a shame that they’ve renovated the changing rooms because there’s a load of history in there. It’s lucky that they left the track the same.”
    Cycling history has become a recurring theme in our conversation.
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,243
    (worth noting that to Belgians Merckx really is a bit god-like, but they know it's their thing and not international, so the idea that Wiggins, mod man could give Merckx Belgian levels of respect...Phwoar).
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,243
    Good stuff DG.
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    Eddy Merckx has never made a secret of the fact that racing made him the man he is. It’s the same for Bradley Wiggins. “I’ve been racing since I was 12. At that age, you don’t know completely who you are, that doesn’t come until later. I’ve never known a life without bike racing, and I don’t know who else I could have been. Racing has been my life for 23 years now. There isn’t a week that I don’t think about bike racing. That forms a man!”
    Then a sigh, “I had hoped that racing would teach me to handle fame and notoriety. But no. I’ve always wrestled with it, and I still do. I didn’t become a bike racer to get more success and fame. In the UK i am unusual, because everyone is obsessed with the term “celebrity”. Fame is this momentary, hollow thing in England. There are a few that are famous for what they have achieved but there are at least as many that are famous for nothing.”
    His motivation to become a bike racer, is logical and simple. “I wanted to win and get medals! I managed that but one of the side effects was curse of fame” Understatement! Wiggins didn’t just become famous, he became world famous! “First the Olympic medals, then the victory in the Tour: Suddenly I was the most famous Briton on earth. The whole of England suffered from ‘Wiggomania’. In training, people would drive up to me to ask ‘is it really you?’ After that, I couldn’t go to a cafe anymore without being recognised, photographed and accosted. In the beginning, I didn’t mind. After three years, it was a bit hard. Because i like to able to go and have a beer.”
    The consequences were thus: First he felt disgusted by his new status and then by the bike the tool that had brought him that status. “I hated being Bradley Wiggins, I hated being the Tour winner, I hated being a rider, I hated always being asked about Lance Armstrong, I hated the media.” The hatred slowly crumbled but the aversion to celebrity status did not. “That will never go away. I wont ever be able to live like Eddy Merckx does now. I won’t go and watch races or to receptions where i get accosted by loads of people wanting an autograph or a photo. Merckx, everywhere he goes, must hear “Eddy! Eddy!”... I’d go crazy. I remember the start of a Tour stage in Brussels in 2010. Eddy showed up and suddenly it was like the king had arrived. I’d never seen people go so crazy for a bike rider!”

    Bradley’s fame also has a positive side “My victories, the success and my fame has given me and my family many possibilities in life. Financial, but also in other areas. I’m in a place where other people never get to go, and i’ve met people that before I only knew from the TV. The loss of my privacy is something I brought on myself so I could give my wife and children a better life”.
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    (worth noting that to Belgians Merckx really is a bit god-like, but they know it's their thing and not international, so the idea that Wiggins, mod man could give Merckx Belgian levels of respect...Phwoar).

    They bloody love Wiggins here. Its the longest feature I've ever seen in that magazine. I've bought my 6 day tickets this week as well, because the Cav rush will be as nothing to the stampede that will ensue if Wiggins is confirmed.
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    (worth noting that to Belgians Merckx really is a bit god-like, but they know it's their thing and not international, so the idea that Wiggins, mod man could give Merckx Belgian levels of respect...Phwoar).
    But it is international. When I was a kid and had no interest in cycling, he was the one name I knew.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,243
    (worth noting that to Belgians Merckx really is a bit god-like, but they know it's their thing and not international, so the idea that Wiggins, mod man could give Merckx Belgian levels of respect...Phwoar).

    They bloody love Wiggins here. Its the longest feature I've ever seen in that magazine. I've bought my 6 day tickets this week as well, because the Cav rush will be as nothing to the stampede that will ensue if Wiggins is confirmed.

    When is it?

    Got a spare bed or sofa ;) ?
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    (worth noting that to Belgians Merckx really is a bit god-like, but they know it's their thing and not international, so the idea that Wiggins, mod man could give Merckx Belgian levels of respect...Phwoar).

    They bloody love Wiggins here. Its the longest feature I've ever seen in that magazine. I've bought my 6 day tickets this week as well, because the Cav rush will be as nothing to the stampede that will ensue if Wiggins is confirmed.

    When is it?

    Got a spare bed or sofa ;) ?

    back end of November and yes, yes I do. I need a references as to your drink and hot dog consumption ability though
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    There is another similarity with Merckx: Both gave their families a better life by fully exploiting their talents as bike racers. Merckx went even further, he also worked hard to help his former teammates after their careers. Maybe giving them a job in his bike factory. Ask Merckx why he performed so many kindnesses and he replies with two words: Thanks and friendship. The latter, Wiggins barely recognises in the cycling world. “I don’t have any real friends in cycling. Not team leaders, not soigneurs, not team managers. My contact with them feels too much like work, so maybe that gets in the way of true friendship?” Bradley touches on a thorny point here, many of his colleagues describe cycling not as their job, but as a hobby. The former leader of Sky holds his hands up. “I said the same earlier. But, as I get older, I come to see it more as a job. Take this last week, I don’t live in a hotel for my pleasure. My son turned 10 last week. I’ve missed his birthday because I’m sat here, in the lead up to De Ronde. I know that goes with the job, but every year it hits me harder because I know my son needs me more than I need bike racing”
    Next year he makes his farewell after a last trick on the track in Rio. “I’m going to prepare like a maniac. You could also call it a hobby project, but it will be fupping hard work” Wiggins sighs, he closes his eyes and thinks in his head if the answers are right. “Don’t get me wrong, I still love cycling. But when I go home and go for a ride, I use an old Colnago with the shifters on the frame and I ride at a pace I enjoy and for a distance I want to. If i contrast that to my work bike... It’s a sponsored Pinarello with electronic gears. My wattages, speed and heartrate are all prescribed and I send them to a coach. Do you see the difference?”
    Sir Bradley has yet another reason for his dwindling interest in cycling as a profession. Whilst he scratches at his beard he says “I can be properly obsessive”. Two seconds silence. “Note that down: I can be really obsessive. If I set myself a goal, I must do everything towards it. 2011 and 2012 were the most obsessive years of my life. In the preparation, I became so obsessive that it was unhealthy. The bike, the bike, the bike. I neglected my family, my friends, myself. I became an egotist, went and lived on top of a mountain and shut myself away from the world. Everyone around me was happy when the 2012 Tour was finally over. Not so much that I won, but because I was finally myself again.”
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    I'm about half way here, but theres a quote from Merckx at the top of the 3rd page

    "Wiggins the latest Merckx? But hasn't he only won the Tour once?"
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • me-109
    me-109 Posts: 1,915
    I'm liking that, thanks.
  • inseine
    inseine Posts: 5,786
    The translation must be hard work but I’m loving this. However, Wiggins did the Six Days of Ghent in 2003, so it’s not 17 years. Did he really misremember that?

    More veiled insults at Pinarello. I wonder what they make of those!
    Comparing it to riding his old Colnago? Thats not a pop at Pinarello.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,243
    Keep it up :)
  • Macaloon
    Macaloon Posts: 5,545
    Great stuff. Thanks.

    Hopefully the Simon Fuller fantasy factory will deliver a happy ending.
    ...a rare 100% loyal Pro Race poster. A poster boy for the community.
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    The epilogue of the Tour victory was again vintage Wiggins: Winning, and then never riding it again. That was not only down to Christopher Froome, the crown prince who wanted to be king himself. “I didn’t have a second to myself. For me, another year long preparation for a 3 week race: I can’t do it anymore. I was sick of the Tour. In the week after my win, I said to a journalist ‘if I never have to go back to the Tour, I’ll be glad.’”
    There follows yet another confession “I’d brought the Tour to a successful conclusion, physically and mentally, but I didn’t enjoy one second of it. The daily grind! Start at 10am, finish at 5pm, then eat rest and sleep. Three weeks and a bit! The daily stress of not crashing! No relaxation! The fact that I can’t have a pint! And every day the press conference in the yellow jersey, with every day the same questions ‘what about tomorrow? What about the next week? What about people who say you’re doping?’ And so every day you give the same answers: ‘tomorrow will be difficult. Next week will be difficult. I ride clean and I’m not Lance Armstrong’. The doping question you only get at the Tour, daily at least. Meanwhile in the week before De Ronde and Roubaix, I haven’t heard one doping question. I’ve also never seen a doping scandal the day before De Ronde. At the Tour it’s an annual tradition. On the Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont, do you see all the people standing on the side of the road with giant needles? No. In Flanders the race is still a festival, an annual celebration of the sport, without any hostility. I miss that in France. After I’ve stopped, I’ll probably pop over to Flanders on the day of the Ronde. With a long beard and a hat so that nobody recognises me in the cafes in Oudenaarde. But the Tour? I don;t know if I’ll ever go back”
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    Keep it up :)

    This issue also has Moser talking grapes and Longo talking Goats. And a feature about people who are also called Eddy Merckx. :?
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 13,200
    Great stuff, thanks.
    Is Longo talking disgruntled goats?
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,348
    (worth noting that to Belgians Merckx really is a bit god-like, but they know it's their thing and not international, so the idea that Wiggins, mod man could give Merckx Belgian levels of respect...Phwoar).

    They bloody love Wiggins here. Its the longest feature I've ever seen in that magazine. I've bought my 6 day tickets this week as well, because the Cav rush will be as nothing to the stampede that will ensue if Wiggins is confirmed.

    When is it?

    Got a spare bed or sofa ;) ?

    back end of November and yes, yes I do. I need a references as to your drink and hot dog consumption ability though

    Hey woah woah woah, get in line Chasey!
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    His fiery argument in favour of De Ronde shows that Wiggins is still a fan at heart. He has been since he was 12 when, on his mother’s recommendation, he watched the final of the individual pursuit at the 1992 olympics. “That was my father’s speciality”, he says (Gary Wiggins left his family when Bradley was 2). This made sense to him. That his countryman Chris Boardman won the gold was a nice coincidence. Since that day, Bradley has been a bike geek, with a historical outlook. “I love cycling history. The names, their exploits, their equipment. I wanted a piece of the history for myself, so I started to collect old bikes. I have bikes from Bugno, Ballerini...” Bradley’s eyes light up, the resigned drawl that Wiggins sometimes gives interviews in disappears, this is true enthusiasm “My show-piece is Indurain’s time trial bike from 1990. Not the futuristic Espada that he broke the hour record with in 1994, but one with a steel frame. It’s in my living room at the moment, because there’s no more room in my garage.”
    That he has a bike from the Spanish tyrant as the pick of his collection is no coincidence. Wiggins Tour win did call to mind Indurain’s 5 victories in the mid 1990s.Huge performances in the time trial and following in the mountains. This rarely delivered a spectacle, but Wiggins couldn’t care less. “As a kid I had three cycling heroes. Indurain, Ballerini and Museeuw. I dreamed of being like Franco or Johan winning at De Ronde or Paris Roubaix. I was 16 in 1996 when Museeuw won the worlds in Lugano. Incredible how he beat Mauro Gianetti as a non-climber. And how Ballerini twice won solo in Roubaix in 1995 and 1998. I wanted to do that myself.
    It’s striking: years, locations, riders names. Everything Wiggins says is correct. He knows the history of his sport and the history knows him. Or wants him to know... “A couple of days before De Ronde, Servais Knaven ran into Museeuw. Museeuw asked if he could come and visit me in the hotel. Knaven answered ‘Bradley would p!ss in his pants if you stood in front of him!’” He laughs heartily “Its funny because its true. When Museeuw brought his son along to meet me, I did nearly p!ss myself I was so nervous . I didn’t know what to say, eye to eye with my hero”
    Bradley points to his long, black tracksuit bottoms. At the bottom is a knitted band in the coulours of the World Champions jersey. Retro and stylish, with understatement. “Thanks! I was thinking about cycling history and I designed them myself, I got my inspiration from... wait!” He takes his phone out of his pocket and scrolls through his photos. “Here!” A photo from the 70s. We recognise the protagonists of the era: De Vlaeminck, Maartens and... Eddy Merckx. “Look closely at Eddy’s black trousers. Do you see the band? Now you know where i nicked it from.”
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • dish_dash
    dish_dash Posts: 5,551
    Well that's cheered me up! Thanks DG...
  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    This is great, thank you.

    Also, where can I buy Ghent tickets? I'm struggling to get past the language barrier, rather embarrassingly.
    Ben

    Bikes: Donhou DSS4 Custom | Condor Italia RC | Gios Megalite | Dolan Preffisio | Giant Bowery '76
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ben_h_ppcc/
    Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143173475@N05/
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    This is great, thank you.

    Also, where can I buy Ghent tickets? I'm struggling to get past the language barrier, rather embarrassingly.


    http://www.uitbureau.be/default_uit1.aspx?ref=acad
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Nice work DG.
    Bradley points to his long, black tracksuit bottoms. At the bottom is a knitted band in the coulours of the World Champions jersey. Retro and stylish, with understatement. “Thanks! I was thinking about cycling history and I designed them myself, I got my inspiration from... wait!” He takes his phone out of his pocket and scrolls through his photos. “Here!” A photo from the 70s. We recognise the protagonists of the era: De Vlaeminck, Maartens and... Eddy Merckx. “Look closely at Eddy’s black trousers. Do you see the band? Now you know where i nicked it from.”

    4d51710cc5c99b864011dc4b014306ea.jpg
    Contador is the Greatest
  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    This is great, thank you.

    Also, where can I buy Ghent tickets? I'm struggling to get past the language barrier, rather embarrassingly.


    http://www.uitbureau.be/default_uit1.aspx?ref=acad

    I am much obliged.
    Ben

    Bikes: Donhou DSS4 Custom | Condor Italia RC | Gios Megalite | Dolan Preffisio | Giant Bowery '76
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ben_h_ppcc/
    Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143173475@N05/
  • mm1
    mm1 Posts: 1,063
    Really enjoying this DG, many thanks.

    Haven't been to the Gent 6 since the 1980's, may have to do something about that.
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    What if Bradley Wiggins didn’t become a bike rider? He gives us a piercing look as if its the first time he’s heard the question and, therefore, the first time he’s ever thought about the answer. “I’ve no idea what job i’d be doing, maybe I’d have ended up in prison. As a juvenile delinquent, I think. As a child, I lived in Kilburn a suburb of North London. I hung out with some bad friends. They stole, took drugs, did stupid stuff. I didn’t do any of it, I had my bike, but if I had stayed in that environment I could have gone that way, I think. In that neighbourhood you didn’t have much of a sense of the future. There weren’t many people that became “something”.
    Wiggins pauses. Suddenly, I see the young Bradley. A street kid roaming London looking for mischief. He seems to read my mind. “It’s crazy: I was a potential young offender, now I’m a professional cyclist”.
    The bike was a step to a better life and a title, the pedals his engine. Wiggins would stay quiet about cycling “In the place I grew up, I never advertised my life on the bike. Racing wasn’t cool. If i went training, I didn’t set off in cycling clothes. Other kids would have laughed and thrown bottles at me. So I wore other clothes over my cycling kit. I’d go a couple of kilometres, stop, take my other clothes off, put them in my rucksack, stuff it in the bushes and go training. On my return, i’d do the opposite. Put on normal clothes before I went back to our neighbourhood and when I got home, straight up the stairs with my bike into our little flat.”
    He still returns to the place he grew up “Not a lot has changed, except the people there have more ambition than in the 80s, thank god!”
    Wiggins knows his ambitions too, until the summer of 2016 at least. Ending with a gold in Rio and then... retirement! First though, he has another appointment with history: The hour record. When you read this, you’ll know already if he succeeded, but Bradley doesn’t doubt it.
    “Physically, I was ready to beat the hour record the week before Flanders, only i wasn’t ready in my head. I need seven weeks of obsessive training, in order to set a record that is truly the best I can do. Why not in the region of 55kph? It’s like i’m preparing for a boxing match.
    A classic fight. In the red corner: Bradley Wiggins! In the blue corner: Time! And with history as the referee. That’s also the reason he wants to put his name on the World Hour Record: A place in history. “It’s great on my Palmares. My name would stand next to Ole Ritter, Coppi, Indurain, Rominger and, of course, Eddy Merckx”
    Rider Wiggins has already spoken with Baron Merckx about the record. Nobles speaking amongst themselves. “He wanted me to do my attempt in Stuttgart where the track is longer” which puts Wiggins in the wind less “I have to do it in London, for commercial but also for personal reasons. If I break the record I want to be able to celebrate close to home. And i want to out of there quickly. Maybe there’s another world record in me...”

    Bradley laughs, but he means it. And us? We wish it for him.
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • deejay
    deejay Posts: 3,138
    The translation must be hard work but I’m loving this. However, Wiggins did the Six Days of Ghent in 2003, so it’s not 17 years. Did he really misremember that?

    More veiled insults at Pinarello. I wonder what they make of those!
    Comparing it to riding his old Colnago? Thats not a pop at Pinarello.
    So that's normal, he prefers riding his "Hack" bike and probably why they didn't make too much fuss when the stupid cow knocked him off his bike.
    Organiser, National Championship 50 mile Time Trial 1972
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    The translation must be hard work but I’m loving this. However, Wiggins did the Six Days of Ghent in 2003, so it’s not 17 years. Did he really misremember that?

    More veiled insults at Pinarello. I wonder what they make of those!
    Comparing it to riding his old Colnago? Thats not a pop at Pinarello.
    So that's normal, he prefers riding his "Hack" bike and probably why they didn't make too much fuss when the stupid cow knocked him off his bike.

    I read it more that training is "work" and he likes to keep the fun part of cycling completely seperate.
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,348
    Great work Geit van Gent!

    Always great to read other nationalities view of GB Cyclists
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver