No Wiggo for TDF, WTF!

[RobNewcastle]

If Porte gets shelled out the back door badly on Saturday which is a proper mountain stage then you really have to start asking questions. Sure riders can often need the final few weeks before the tour to tweak fitness but not a full on rescue situation. I suffered from virus related condition a few years ago and it played havoc with energy levels and I'm just Joe public not a rider about to take on the toughest event going. Hope he makes it though, great rider.

 

[rich p]

Porte will be in TeamFroome whatever happens between now and July IMHO.

 

[oldroadman]

agreed but last year was poor and he really should have pushed on - he will not win another GT. i really do think he was lucky to have had Sky around him in 2012 - he was gifted his win (if you can say such a thing in the hardest sport in the world). Even if he joins another team - and he has said that track is his focus next year - he would need a great team around him and im not sure he would get the investment from anyone else.

Only my opinion but I think Wiggins lacks class as well - Sky will be glad to be rid when it happens.

An opinion on all matters you are entitled to express. Nobody is gifted a TdF win, and anyone who believes that is just plain wrong. The Sky team was built around BW is 2012 because the parcours suited him and gave Sky the best shot at a win. There are other teams with enough budget (or who would find it) to offer a contract to BW - just look east or southern hemisphere.
Lacks class - do you do other jokes??
I'm not particularly a BW fan but to make comments about like that about the first ever British TdF winner....it amazes me how miserable the natives are and how there is a desire to knock success. No wonder for years GB failed to win anything. And now we do it's "bring them down they are all useless anyway". Former riders who went and tried might see things differently!

 

[MikeG]

..it amazes me how miserable the natives are and how there is a desire to knock success. No wonder for years GB failed to win anything. And now we do it's "bring them down they are all useless anyway"...........

Abso-bl**dy-lutely! The British love setting people up on a pedestal only because it gives them the chance to mock louder and longer. They do it in all sports, and it is as predictable as the rising sun.

 

[simon briggs]

An opinion on all matters you are entitled to express. Nobody is gifted a TdF win, and anyone who believes that is just plain wrong. The Sky team was built around BW is 2012 because the parcours suited him and gave Sky the best shot at a win. There are other teams with enough budget (or who would find it) to offer a contract to BW - just look east or southern hemisphere.
Lacks class - do you do other jokes??
I'm not particularly a BW fan but to make comments about like that about the first ever British TdF winner....it amazes me how miserable the natives are and how there is a desire to knock success. No wonder for years GB failed to win anything. And now we do it's "bring them down they are all useless anyway". Former riders who went and tried might see things differently!

Ok maybe a few words were a little harsh - I do not make a point of bashing the British believe me. I know its not a popular view but I believe that Wiggins lacked class last year not congratulating Frome after his TDF win.

Yes the 2012 team was built around him but Frome could have equally won if it had been the other way round.

I think if you look at the history books - yes Wiggins was the first British person to win the TDF - but has he really pushed on from there - where are the other GT successes - why not go all out to win the Giro or Vuleta, spring classics - show that class on the road (BTW I fully respect his olympic track success)

 

[MikeG]

.....congratulating Frome after his TDF win.

....... but Frome could have equally won .......

I believe you have been told about this before. Frome is a place in Somerset. Froome is a professional bike rider. Could you make it clear which one you are talking about, please?

 

[smutchin]

has he really pushed on from there - where are the other GT successes - why not go all out to win the Giro or Vuleta, spring classics - show that class on the road

Look at the sacrifices he made in the build up to the 2012 TdF - aside from the physical rigours of the intense training, he also spent the best part of a year away from his family. It's one hell of a commitment. Maybe it's a temperament thing - some other riders seem more driven to make those kind of sacrifices but you can hardly blame him for not wanting to go through all that again.

And if all had gone well in 2011, the 2012 TdF might not even have been his first GT win. (Not forgetting 2009, when he came a very creditable 4th against a bunch of dopers.)

As for the Classics, he made a pretty good stab at Paris-Roubaix this year and might even have won it with a bit of luck on his side.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I reckon it's far too early to write Porte off. If I remember correctly, last year he did sterling service but then disappeared and we all thought Froome was left on his own to go for the GC win. But Porte came back and was there at the last big climb.

I don't reckon it is a parcours for a Wiggins yellow but he looks to be in good form. If last year's events are really but behind both of them, Wiggins would really add value to the Sky team, IMO.

 

[oldroadman]

Ok maybe a few words were a little harsh - I do not make a point of bashing the British believe me. I know its not a popular view but I believe that Wiggins lacked class last year not congratulating Frome after his TDF win.

Yes the 2012 team was built around him but Frome could have equally won if it had been the other way round.

I think if you look at the history books - yes Wiggins was the first British person to win the TDF - but has he really pushed on from there - where are the other GT successes - why not go all out to win the Giro or Vuleta, spring classics - show that class on the road (BTW I fully respect his olympic track's a rite of passage for even workers to get round any GT success)

Crikey, the majority of riders in the peloton have no chance of winning a GT and would love to be able to win one. Isn't that enough? It's a pro rite of passage for stage race riders to get round a GT, very few will ever do more than that, but still be proud of it. The multi-winners of the past may have dominated in their day, in a different time and with different methods. Why not criticise anyone else who managed GT one win?

 

[simon briggs]

Crikey, the majority of riders in the peloton have no chance of winning a GT and would love to be able to win one. Isn't that enough? It's a pro rite of passage for stage race riders to get round a GT, very few will ever do more than that, but still be proud of it. The multi-winners of the past may have dominated in their day, in a different time and with different methods. Why not criticise anyone else who managed GT one win?

all fair points - but my point was really about the decision (potentially) to omit BW from the TDF team. There is no doubt that he is a very talented rider who deserves his place in the history books - however his attitude / arrogance does not sit well with me - perhaps the Knighthood (WTF was that about!) has gone to his head. The internal politics - potential problems his inclusion will raise are obviously major concerns for DB.

As someone else has said SKY will want a GT winner whoever it is and its DB's job to deliver that.

In regards to history - if you look at Merckx (I have just finished reading the excellent "cannibal") his passion to win everything he entered was total. I would love to see the riders of today take on the Giro, TDF and classics. Of course its a different time and we can all count the drugs into the mix, but if you factor in the technology, diet, planning that all the teams have at their disposal today verses the steel bikes, toe clips, poor planning, diet, multiple stages in one day - perhaps the playing field is closer that you think.

 

[smutchin]

perhaps the playing field is closer that you think.

Perhaps oldroadman is more clued up on this subject than you realise (there's a subtle hint in his username).

 

[TissoT]

A report says "wiggo" is back in training on the track ... this will explain his absence from the grand tours

 

[rich p]

And if all had gone well in 2011, the 2012 TdF might not even have been his first GT win. (Not forgetting 2009, when he came a very creditable 4th against a bunch of dopers.)

.

In my eyes he won the 2009 TdF. Contador, Schleck and Armstrong were undoubtedly doped up.
I think it's fair to say that Sir Brad hasn't done himself any favours sometimes in the past in the PR department. Middle finger salute on leaving hospital, swearing in public, drunk in public etc. For me it largely adds to his charisma as a maverick but I can understand why others might view it differently.

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

The whole Wiggins is arrogant thing is based on what?

We see, at best, snippets of these riders through press conferences, snapshots and on the television. How can anyone be completely judged on such short, pressurised appearances - viewed from what can only be described as a keyhole?

There will be other perspectives too: Wiggins the friend, Wiggins the father, Wiggins the husband, Wiggins the son etc etc etc etc.................

The above are more likely to know the person slightly better than the armchair viewer who picks up a newspaper and see pics of Wiggo on a night out and think "alcoholic", "wasted talent" or similar.

He might come across as arrogant and short with the press, in some instances, but would it be better if he wasn't honest and merely replied to questions with pre thought out answers? Wiggins, imo, is a breath of fresh air in all sport, not just cycling.

 

[oldroadman]

The whole Wiggins is arrogant thing is based on what?

We see, at best, snippets of these riders through press conferences, snapshots and on the television. How can anyone be completely judged on such short, pressurised appearances - viewed from what can only be described as a keyhole?

There will be other perspectives too: Wiggins the friend, Wiggins the father, Wiggins the husband, Wiggins the son etc etc etc etc.................

The above are more likely to know the person slightly better than the armchair viewer who picks up a newspaper and see pics of Wiggo on a night out and think "alcoholic", "wasted talent" or similar.

He might come across as arrogant and short with the press, in some instances, but would it be better if he wasn't honest and merely replied to questions with pre thought out answers? Wiggins, imo, is a breath of fresh air in all sport, not just cycling.

Yep, like the rest of us humans, he has his failings and moments. Much rather that than some bland PR speaking clone, which is what some seem to expect. Message, as above, we're all allowed to be ourselves, get annoyed by stupid questions, foul innuendo by people looking for an "angle" who don't believe plain hard work can deliver results, and be a "character". I can recall a lot "worse"! No names, etc.