Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Freewheeling => Racing => Topic started by: rafletcher on 06 June, 2014, 10:02:25 am
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...so maybe the move to Orica is on the cards for next year.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/27729769
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He was very diplomatic! What's the deal with his contract at Sky? Surely he must want out now?
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Runs out this year, I thought.
Could be to do with Froome not wanting Wiggins supporting him. The remarks about 'mental weakness' suggest a lack of confidence. Not a good relationship, by the look of it.
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Wiggins is highly strung. It will be interesting to see if he manages to get a media role if he doesn't ride the Tour. It's a good time to transition to that sort of job.
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It was probable Wiggins wasn't in the TdF squad once the Tour of Romandie team was announced without him. Orica's DS made positive noises about having Wiggo on his team, and I suspect he might fit in a bit better there. His days as a GC leader are probably over, but I could see him filling a Jens Voigt-type role (as a character rather than riding style). Brailsford obviously has to put his eggs in Froome's basket, and Wiggo would be a source of tension and potentially conflict which Sky can do without. I don't see a role for Brad at Sky now, and I wouldn't be surprised if he leaves within a month or two.
Edit: Doh; I meant Criterium Dauphiné, not Tour of Romandie!
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My respect for Froome has fallen massively in the last few days...
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My respect for Froome was never that high anyway. On the other hand, Wiggins isn't exactly a Sport publicist's dream either - definitely fragile, and not a very good public speaker. If I was funding a pro cycling team with TdF winning aspirations, I'd go with Froome.
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http://t.co/SBYgXWppey
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That combover is something else though. There's being in denial, and then there's that hairstyle.
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Robert Millar says it all here
http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/robert-millar/robert-millar-blog-man-down
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There's no prologue and only one TT, it's not a course for Wiggins. They could include him for PR reasons in the UK, but his presence across the Channel would just be a problem.
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When Ritchie Porte did not ride the Giro due to illness the writing was on the wall that Wiggins would not be in the Tour squad. Frome always appeared to want Porte as his number 2 and doing two grand tours may have reduced his ability to perform that role for Frome in the Tour. But as my father-in-law would most likely have said "a case of political flu."
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Sir Dave Brailsford has been reported as saying that the team selection is his decision alone, and it's not yet finalised. In the light of Wiggo's reported comments, make of that what you will...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/27753300
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/brailsford-speaks-about-wiggins-froome-spat
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I think if I was Adam Yates I'd be disappointed to see Wiggins come to Orica as the designated GC man.
He and his brother are, I understood, on record as saying they didn't go to Sky because they didnt want to ride as domestiques for years.
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Sir Dave Brailsford has been reported as saying that the team selection is his decision alone, and it's not yet finalised. In the light of Wiggo's reported comments, make of that what you will...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/27753300
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/brailsford-speaks-about-wiggins-froome-spat
Wiggo really doesn’t do himself any favours in interviews, does he?
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I think if I was Adam Yates I'd be disappointed to see Wiggins come to Orica as the designated GC man.
He and his brother are, I understood, on record as saying they didn't go to Sky because they didnt want to ride as domestiques for years.
For that strategy to work you need to be a serious GC contender!
(I hope these too fulfill more potential than the Schleck Sisters.)
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I think if I was Adam Yates I'd be disappointed to see Wiggins come to Orica as the designated GC man.
He and his brother are, I understood, on record as saying they didn't go to Sky because they didnt want to ride as domestiques for years.
I think it'll be a couple of years yet before they're ready to compete for GC at the TdF, by which time Brad will have retired, so I doubt his presence for effectively just one full season would upset their career aspirations.
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Excellent article (IMO) as to why a Froome/Wiggins pairing would not work.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/cycling/27735785 (http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/cycling/27735785)
Sky and Brailsford will be looking at the bigger picture and Froome is a safer bet. Compare and contrast the atmosphere on the final as they crossed the line in Paris: Wiggins relatively isolated while Froome with all his team. What did that suggest?
Also, TDF is not all about Yorkshire and I'm sure the crowds will be there come what may. After all, what would have happened if Wiggins was the main GC rider and he crashed prior to TDF. Race continues and plenty other stars to watch.
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Compare and contrast the atmosphere on the final as they crossed the line in Paris: Wiggins relatively isolated while Froome with all his team. What did that suggest?
That Wiggins had just worked his a**e off leading out one his team mates for the win on the Champs Elysees! More to the point, where was Froome whilst all that was happening? No sight of him anywhere...
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That Wiggins had just worked his a**e off leading out one his team mates for the win on the Champs Elysees! More to the point, where was Froome whilst all that was happening? No sight of him anywhere...
Fair point!
I had forgot that Cav was the bidon boy for Wiggins and he was returning the favour.
I think Froome was at the back reflecting on the fact he could have left Wiggins in the mountains and won the TDF by building a lead that would have seen him OK in the TT.
Other than the Brits, I think Sky's riders have more confidence in the Froome/Porte relationship than with a Wiggins/? pairing. Froome is the future for Sky and Wiggins did himself no favours after the TDF regards his treatment of Froome and the small matter of the bonus payment which was churlish to say the least and ensured that Froome would never have a good working relationship with Wiggins again, which Wiggins has pretty much admitted.
I could not see Wiggins burning himself out for Froome, but I could see him trying to minimise any losses in the mountains and trying to claw it all back in the final TT, which no doubt has crossed the minds of some others too!
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We're more concerned about a Tour start for Ben Swift in this house.
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Compare and contrast the atmosphere on the final as they crossed the line in Paris: Wiggins relatively isolated while Froome with all his team. What did that suggest?
That Wiggins had just worked his a**e off leading out one his team mates for the win on the Champs Elysees! More to the point, where was Froome whilst all that was happening? No sight of him anywhere...
I'm sure Brad's not easy to get on with in a competitive situation, but I'm equally sure no top athlete is. If winning wasn't important to the exclusion of almost all else, they'd be also-rans with the rest. But I'm also pretty sure that, outside of the peloton, Wiggo's a decent bloke. I'm not sure I get that impression about Froome! However, that's as maybe. If Sky have decided on Froome as their main man for the TdF (and I entirely understand why they've done that), then it's probably best that Brad moves elsewhere.
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I'm on holiday (Champagne region and sampling if you're interested) but, from what I've read, Porte seems to be struggling in the Dauphine.
Could that open the door for Wiggins in the TdeF ?
Given every thing that's been reported, I can't imagine anything more likely to motivate Wiggins to be the the ultimate Domestique.
Brailsford has some tough decisions to make; growing a pair and standing up to Froome could be the least of his issues.
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But why would Wiggins wish to ride his guts out and be domestique to Froome?
Admittedly he could podium, but I reckon he would still want to win it again and would not sacrifice himself for Froome like Porte would.
Also early days yet and Sky must have had the stats for Porte. Remember he had an 'off day' in the TDF last year. See what happens as the week progresses and then see what happens in Switzerland.
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That Wiggins had just worked his a**e off leading out one his team mates for the win on the Champs Elysees! More to the point, where was Froome whilst all that was happening? No sight of him anywhere...
Fair point!
Indeed! Wiggo has ridden like a champion - in many ways -,more so than most recent Tour winners.
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..and Wiggo may have had a wry smile as Talansky wins the Dauphine, with Froome finishing 5 minutes down and out of the top ten
The winner of the Dauphine is often the winner of the TdF so to lose emphatically is not a good sign for Froome
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The winner of the Dauphine is often the winner of the TdF
Not really. Only 5 times in 33 years (or 3 in 31 if you ignore the void results).
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I haven't seen it but Froome is saying his fall had a significant impact (excuse the pun) on his performance and five minutes is probably a sign he eased off the gas knowing he wasn't going to win. If you haven't got he form to compete and want to not use too much energy then it really doesn't matter if you lose by one minute or five
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What happened to Wiggins in the TT at the Tour of Switzerland? Looks like he had a mare but not seen any reason anywhere.
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What happened to Wiggins in the TT at the Tour of Switzerland? Looks like he had a mare but not seen any reason anywhere.
He placed only 14th in Stage 1, losing over 30 seconds to Tony Martin on a lumpy 9.4 km course, which has made some people elsewhere wonder where his Tour of California form has gone, and whether he was soft-pedalling as a yuck foo to Team Sky management. :demon: Finished safely in the bunch yesterday.
The TdS is a bit back-loaded, though, so it's worth waiting until the time trial on Friday to see if he's motivated or not.
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And he lost more time on today's stage (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/27872722), dropping back to nearly 3 minutes behind the race leader on the GC. Going by what the Telegraph have posted, it looks like Wiggo's been training for the track and not the road lately.
Wiggins told the Dutch newspaper Brabants Dagblad before the start of Monday’s stage that he would have been better prepared had he not been training on the track in recent weeks.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/bradley-wiggins/10904361/Sir-Bradley-Wiggins-chances-of-competing-in-Tour-de-France-recede-with-average-showing-in-Switzerland.html
In the meantime, Team Sky put the best gloss on Wiggo spending the latter part of the race sat at the back of the peloton.
“Everybody played their part today but it was unfortunate the Bradley [Wiggins] lost time and he’s out of the general classification hunt now. The road was really twisty at the end and the fact he was at the back of the peloton meant he was on the wrong side of the late splits. It would have been nice to have him there but now he can focus on the time trial on Friday whilst helping the other guys as much as possible.”
http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,17553_9351117,00.html
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I get the feeling he's having a 'why should I bother?' moment! If Sky don't believe in him, and he's looking at other priorities now (the Commies, World TT Champs, another team), I can quite understand why he might look after his own interests and not Sky's.
What's the betting he rides a stormer at the final TT after doing nothing for the rest of the week?
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...with a hangover!
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It's confirmed... http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/28052516 Wonder when he'll make a move.
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I think he'll wait till after the World TT Champs. As Sky sponsor the GB team, which he wants to be part of in Rio 2016, I don't think he'll want to piss them off by leaving too early. And I've no doubt there's lots of thought and discussion to be done yet!
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Jezuz H Christ ...Wiggo just won the British TT Championship with 26 miles in 53 mins 56 secs.
That's 29 mph !!! (46.5km/hr)
I may stand a chance if it was all downhill.
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SPOILER!
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I was selected for TdF last week, then they pulled me last night. Wiggo, Dowsett, Pete, Swifty, fancy a city break? I hear York's nice.
That's quite a few British riders not going to France!
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They'd make a hell of a wildcard team!
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Might spice up the Commonwealth Games with that lot available!
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It was probable Wiggins wasn't in the TdF squad once the Tour of Romandie team was announced without him. Orica's DS made positive noises about having Wiggo on his team, and I suspect he might fit in a bit better there. His days as a GC leader are probably over, but I could see him filling a Jens Voigt-type role (as a character rather than riding style). Brailsford obviously has to put his eggs in Froome's basket, and Wiggo would be a source of tension and potentially conflict which Sky can do without. I don't see a role for Brad at Sky now, and I wouldn't be surprised if he leaves within a month or two.
Edit: Doh; I meant Criterium Dauphiné, not Tour of Romandie!
Hope he is kicking himself right now!