brad wiggins has been boring this year.

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Comments

  • rockmount
    rockmount Posts: 761
    zammmmo wrote:
    ...I suspect its the lull before the storm for Wiggo
    Don't hold your breath !
    .. who said that, internet forum people ?
  • Bakunin
    Bakunin Posts: 868
    Wiggins seems primed for that 7th place.

    Vaughters gets the last laugh.
  • the grand scheme of things 7th would be very good. proof wiggo can compete and with luck a podium.

    and i too a dissapointed he did not show at all during the classics so far.
  • msw
    msw Posts: 313
    ...Bertie and Cancellara, who are once-in-a-generation riders...

    Well OK, twice ;-)
    "We're not holding up traffic. We are traffic."
  • Tom Butcher
    Tom Butcher Posts: 3,830
    Bit unfair to knock Wiggins - judge him on how he performs in the Giro or the Tour. I thought he did attack last year - maybe not late on in the race when he clearly was hanging for dear life but there were a couple of times earlier when he tried to put his opponents in trouble on climbs - seem to remember he succeeded once but the way it played out meant he didn't gain from it in the end.

    it's a hard life if you don't weaken.
  • andyrac
    andyrac Posts: 1,123
    Somebody has already mentioned it, but it seems as though Sky are putting all their eggs in the TDF basket. Which, while i can understand - seems risky. Only needs a crash pre-Tour and it's all over.

    But, what do i know?

    I'll leave it to infinitely better judges than me.
    All Road/ Gravel: tbcWinter: tbcMTB: tbcRoad: tbc"Look at the time...." "he's fallen like an old lady on a cruise ship..."
  • antfly
    antfly Posts: 3,276
    I ride Wiggins` favourite routes but I never see him out training. Where is he?
    Smarter than the average bear.
  • Tom Butcher
    Tom Butcher Posts: 3,830
    I'll say one thing for Sky - in this country at least the amount of hype they generate is way out of proportion with their results. I know some see this as a negative but that's what they are there for - to give publicity to the sponsors - and even if they aren't winning many races they are doing that bit right.

    EBH not being fit was a massive blow - who knows - if he wins a classic then it's a great start to the season - in the short term luck plays a big part - over a few years if they continue to be unluck you start to think they might be doing something wrong. Early days yet.

    it's a hard life if you don't weaken.
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    SKY have had some OK wins this year. They certainly have more wins than a lot of other teams.

    Let's face it - they don't have a Cancellara or Contador or Boonen or Gilbert to work with. They have to make do with what they have - and they have done OK so far.
  • stefrees
    stefrees Posts: 137
    britain has waited 20+ years for someone we can class as a gc rider for the grand tours, and all that happens is wiggo has been boring/rubbish/unexciting.

    i appreciate the views of some enthusiasts on here who just prefer not too like country bias but love cycling and apprecaite each rider for what they are good/bad at, but i sense the typical sentiment of build wiggins up to knock him down. look at his palmares, from track to road he should be applauded for doing what hes doing, not shot down for riding as a team mate in the ardennes classic in the season of biggest importance in his road career
  • Wheelspinner
    Wheelspinner Posts: 6,551
    I predict Wiggins will be British (road) cycling's answer to Tim Henman. Wiggins and TdF will be the same as Henman and Wimbledon. Very talented, and almost-always-but-not-quite-nearly-there or thereabouts when it comes to handing out the big prize in the sport. The pressure on Henman from the public must have been appalling to deal with, and to his credit he did damned well. Buuuuuuuttt..... Wins: 0

    I'd be happy to be wrong though, if only because I'll back almost anybody who can beat AC (fairly!)
    Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS
  • pedro118118
    pedro118118 Posts: 1,102
    Pokerface wrote:
    SKY have had some OK wins this year. They certainly have more wins than a lot of other teams.

    Let's face it - they don't have a Cancellara or Contador or Boonen or Gilbert to work with. They have to make do with what they have - and they have done OK so far.

    If the press are to be believed (?!), with Sky's budget, they could've signed all four of 'em and cleaned up! But the focus is on a British core of riders and generating a British TdF winner (within 5 years is it?). Perhaps they should've broke the bank for Cav and Chinny (guaranteed high-profile wins) and still persevered with Wiggo as the GT overall contender, but perhaps with a little less pressure. It's all or nothing on the Tour and that is a massive burden on any rider. But, as GM said, you gotta have faith...
  • A top ten, no twenty finish in the Tour or the Giro is an outstanding effort. People forfet how far British Cycling has come in three years.
    Dan
  • Cumulonimbus
    Cumulonimbus Posts: 1,730
    Posted this in the other thread but FWIW Wiggins says he is going better than at this time last year in testing,

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/ap ... ns-cycling

    Guess we'll see for ourselves fairly soon.
  • pedro118118
    pedro118118 Posts: 1,102
    Posted this in the other thread but FWIW Wiggins says he is going better than at this time last year in testing,

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/ap ... ns-cycling

    Guess we'll see for ourselves fairly soon.

    £800k-a-year for posting good test numbers.
    Nice work if you can get it.
  • He'll be following a steady build up and is being looked after by a team that are experts in building peaks and sustaining good form. He has no control over what his rivals do, he'll be concerned in doing what he has to and performing when it matters.

    He's got a nice contract which is only right but he'll be having a good go. If this years Giro or Tour are too tough for him, he'll just hope that next years suits him more. It doesn't make a difference to what he's paid though so no huge pressure there.
  • rockmount
    rockmount Posts: 761
    A top ten, no twenty finish in the Tour or the Giro is an outstanding effort. People forfet how far British Cycling has come in three years.
    Some folks round here would tell you 3rd in the TDF is rubbish !
    .. who said that, internet forum people ?
  • avoidingmyphd
    avoidingmyphd Posts: 1,154
    £800k-a-year for posting good test numbers.
    Nice work if you can get it.

    If you can post the numbers pedro, I'm sure you'll get the work!
  • Posted this in the other thread but FWIW Wiggins says he is going better than at this time last year in testing,

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/ap ... ns-cycling

    Guess we'll see for ourselves fairly soon.

    That is the worst article I've ever read. It says nothing.
    "A cyclist has nothing to lose but his chain"

    PTP Runner Up 2015
  • pedro118118
    pedro118118 Posts: 1,102
    £800k-a-year for posting good test numbers.
    Nice work if you can get it.

    If you can post the numbers pedro, I'm sure you'll get the work!


    Believe me, my average heart rate and lactic acid numbers are up there with the very best of 'em!!!
  • Cumulonimbus
    Cumulonimbus Posts: 1,730
    Posted this in the other thread but FWIW Wiggins says he is going better than at this time last year in testing,

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/ap ... ns-cycling

    Guess we'll see for ourselves fairly soon.

    That is the worst article I've ever read. It says nothing.


    Well it says that he is going better on his local climbs than he was at this time last year and therefore thinks that he will do better in the Giro... not an article full of facts, detail, analysis and goal-oriented comments no, but thats why i put FWIW rather than proclaiming it to be the answer to the whole thread.... :wink:

    as i said we will fairly soon be able to see for ourselves how the local climbs translate to a GT. :)
  • thamacdaddy
    thamacdaddy Posts: 590
    And this is the problem drugs has skewed people's perception of the sport.

    In all honesty You can't judge someone on a part season. Some riders somehow seem to be able to perform at a super human level all season but no one is questioning that. Most professional sportsman work on hitting form at the right times for their objectives but also naturally will hit form and bad spots. Look at football generally the players who are setting leagues alight at the start of the season are long since a memory by the end of it.

    It's way too much to expect someone aiming for Grand tours to compete vs someone aiming for classics part of the season, unless you accept they some how have some magic formula to retain crazy levels of form or are competing at the same level as others at that time of season.

    So right now Cav is bang out of form but is anyone writing him off that he won't be there or there abouts buy TdF and World champs?

    Thing is Wiggo has big targets for TdF and he would be silly to push it unless he knows that he can do i.e. he found out last year he can compete in the tour when he concentrates and to repeat that feels he needs to be in top condition mentally and physically this year. If he doesn't repeat it he knows what that means in terms of press and fans alike.

    We have been spoilt with some great performances elsewhere this season but if you were to ask someone who only follows GTs their opinion on Gilbert I expect you would get a different impression to someone who follows classics or a full season.

    I know someone who works for a pro team and was really disappointed with how some of those inside the sport feel about some of the best performances we have seen this season, I don't want to believe what they feel on some riders but guess that's part of the sport unfortunately.

    I don't think we have really seen many of the major GT contenders light up the field yet this season so why single one of the riders that people don't even think is a credible top 3?

    As for sastre this month in the Giro preview in Cycling Plus they comment on sastre that last season he felt he was disillusioned with the sport and in a bad place mentally. He said he would disappear this season and return for the TdF only but has chosen the Giro to give his legs a test on his training so far this season. Says he feels in a much better state than he was at the end of last year and has the hunger for it again.
  • pedro118118
    pedro118118 Posts: 1,102
    So what we're really saying is Wiggo's racing season equates to 3 weeks?
    Whilst I can understand it, I can't say as I agree with it.
    I suppose if he wins the Tour, we'll all be eating humble pie (I hope).
    Then again, if he finds it tough going and doesn't get on the podium, what will he have to show for 2010?
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    So what we're really saying is Wiggo's racing season equates to 3 weeks?
    Whilst I can understand it, I can't say as I agree with it.
    I suppose if he wins the Tour, we'll all be eating humble pie (I hope).
    Then again, if he finds it tough going and doesn't get on the podium, what will he have to show for 2010?

    But it's worth giving it a go, isn't it? Just for one season devoting everything to just three weeks, using a similar type of 100% focused build-up that brought him success on the track and seeing what happens.

    If it doesn't work out there's always next season and different targets. He certainly wouldn't be first rider to have a season with little to show for it.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • Fogliettaz
    Fogliettaz Posts: 180
    Its still April, are you all writing the season off already?
  • micron
    micron Posts: 1,843
    I thought Wiggins was boring last year as well. I'm still struggling to see how he aims to win a GT when he can neither outclimb or out time trial the very best
  • We should be glad that after all these years we can even have this conversation! fOR YEARS we'v had not interest at all because we've had noone!

    That's what he has achieved on the road. He's put us on the GC map. He's raised awareness and hopes by his 4th place, so much so that we have people criticisng him for an amazing rise to prominence!

    The effect of his next five years will be felt in 10 years time, when perhaps the people inspired by him are challenging for GT wins.

    EASE UP PEOPLE, he has done fantastically well, and it isn't over yet. Are you saying that he should stop hoping, stop trying because there are those better than him?

    If so, then he's be just another person with a big mouth but no achievements. Life, and these boards, are full of them!!