Spoiler : Tour of Oman. 11 - 16 Feb

[Crackle]

I've been a fan of Wiggins' fresh, shoot from the hip (and mouth) approach to PR in contrast to the mundane, trite guff most riders give us but I don't think the way he has handled the Froome affair reflects too well on him. The way he has behaved when they're in public together, the lack of even a congratulatory handshake after the London TT, not lining up together at the start in Oman etc.
He is still saying he'll defend the yellow jersey if he feels fit enough. It may be the case but the team orders are the thing and he should toe the line in public at least.

I agree but the very thing that makes him fresh is the same thing that stops him toeing the line, it's his fatal flaw, at least he's not a sociopath.

 

[400bhp]

I agree with all of this except your very first statement. I just can't warm to him. He just doesn't have the personality I need in my sporting heroes.

This isn't a sleight and is more of a rhetorical question, but why do we place emphasis on a sportsperson's personality?

Would we remember their personality 20 years down the line?

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

This isn't a sleight and is more of a rhetorical question, but why do we place emphasis on a sportsperson's personality?

Would we remember their personality 20 years down the line?

Fair enough but I think this bit of the thread is about how we watch and align ourselves with the battles in the present. CF and AC are looking like the people to watch and I don't think either are ''sympa.'' So in a way my head is looking forward to the battles much more than my heart is.

 

[Radchenister]

This isn't a sleight and is more of a rhetorical question, but why do we place emphasis on a sportsperson's personality?

Would we remember their personality 20 years down the line?

Interesting take on it, not sure I'm following you though ... I've got a feeling they'll (meaning every person in a pub) be talking about last year's TdF winner like they have the '66 World Cup for at least 50 years ... as long as cycling is kept in the focus of the public IMO.

In this family 'Sir Brad' can do no wrong, even when he does a few things wrong ... people like him because the fan thing requires some empathy and he's hit the Zeitgeist perfectly, there's not much to look forward to in the news these days and a 'normal bloke from Kilburn' chalks up at the front of the TdF, is refreshingly rude to journalists and the wider media, yes he says what he thinks to everyone but does it with wry British humour and a lack of any real malice; he has put cycling right back in focus ... my kids report that they talk about him in lessons at school.

Froome offers less in the way of a media riling reportable character but as long as he produces racing like in this tour, then no-one will be too bothered.

 

[thom]

Froome offers less in the way of a media riling reportable character but as long as he produces racing like in this tour, then no-one will be too bothered.

He's beat Contador, something Wiggins has never done (I think) and probably never will do.
He can be really big and Sir Brad can see that.

 

[tigger]

This isn't a sleight and is more of a rhetorical question, but why do we place emphasis on a sportsperson's personality?

Would we remember their personality 20 years down the line?

It does seem a bit sad in this celebrity obsessed world but I think it's only natural for people to be interested in people. I read lots of biographies of all types, but probably more cyclists biographies than any other genre. Much of the appeal of the sport is built upon nostalgia, romance and acts of human suffering, so it's important I think that our champions are also our heroes. Lets say for example Cav and Froome were both sprinters and won the same number of races, in the same style etc etc. Who's biography would you rather read?

Taking this on a step and debasing the argument somewhat. I'm sure Froome is a lovely guy, but there's something about him I just cannot warm to and In a way I don't trust him.

Edit, that said, he is a very talented bike rider and I suppose he should be judged on that. If the main players all hit form at the Tour this could be one hell of a summer and maybe I'll warm to Froome in the end?!

 

[Hont]

FWIW I quite like Froome, but he's not properly British is he, so I'll always prefer Sir Brad, even though he can be crass at times.

 

[tug benson]

FWIW I quite like Froome, but he's not properly British is he, so I'll always prefer Sir Brad, even though he can be crass at times.

he`s as british as wiggins

 

[smutchin]

That is a moot point.

 

[oldroadman]

It would be easy to get irritated at some of the comments, but overall it's interesting that tere are now two Brits at the top of the tree, and likely to stay there a while, so we now have almost football-fan like camps developing. To think, a few years ago a single Brit placing top ten in any major race made him/her a hero, and nobody cared what their "personality" was like. How times change!

 

[smutchin]

I like Cav best.

 

[thom]

but overall it's interesting that tere are now two Brits at the top of the tree

3 surely : Froome, Wiggins and Cavendish ;-)
Spoilt for choice really !

 

[oldroadman]

3 surely : Froome, Wiggins and Cavendish ;-)
Spoilt for choice really !

Fair point, I should have included the phrase "GC riders" after "Brit." Cav's clearly a hero with a different - and no less worthy - agenda to exploit his brilliant talent.

 

[montage]

It would be easy to get irritated at some of the comments, but overall it's interesting that tere are now two Brits at the top of the tree, and likely to stay there a while, so we now have almost football-fan like camps developing. To think, a few years ago a single Brit placing top ten in any major race made him/her a hero, and nobody cared what their "personality" was like. How times change!

I'd be over the moon if either won - though to be honest, it's almost an expectation that one will win, and will be a disappointment if one only managed 2nd. It would be nice to see Brad beat a full field though. I don't reckon Contador and his amigos would have had a chance last year, shame he never raced it.

 

[montage]

3 surely : Froome, Wiggins and Cavendish ;-)
Spoilt for choice really !

....wait until the classics season, might need two hands to count them if we are lucky!