Wiggins- no more playing w/ roadies

[enr1co]

Originally Posted by Lewis Moon

He has the TT chops to be a good Classics rider.

Heard his guitar chops arent bad either...or at least has some pretty cool vintage pieces in his collection. Nice 50's tele and ES 335 block he's got in the pics

[T.J.]

Originally Posted by CunegoFan

Track? Isn't that where nearly all of the talented riders switch to road because they can make good money instead of survive on a government stipend and the hope that years in the future it might pay off?

What has he done lately other than get ten years older, say that the dedication to train for the Tour is too much, and complain that roadies are mean? No one knows from week to week whether he'll be training on his bike or training in the local pub. That for two million pounds a year...I don't think so.

Well he did just win the tour a couple of years ago. Who knows, maybe the in fighting at Sky drained a little motivation? Dunno, just spitballing

[Vientomas]

Originally Posted by enr1co

Heard his guitar chops arent bad either...or at least has some pretty cool vintage pieces in his collection. Nice 50's tele and ES 335 block he's got in the pics

Brad has a little Paul Weller crush.

[1centaur]

Assuming he actually knows what he wants, his pitch to a team is, "I want to use my road (team) to complement my (end of career) track ambitions."

Hard to say what that is worth to a team. Do classics wins complement track preparation? Do sprint lead outs complement track preparation? If those goals REALY line up then he's worth something, maybe a $500k 2-year contract. If the road racing calendar is just glorified cross training, he's not worth a contract of any size just for showing up. If I were writing the check I would be dubious that not wanting to be a classics winner as a primary goal is likely to lead to a classics win.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by 1centaur

Assuming he actually knows what he wants, his pitch to a team is, "I want to use my road (team) to complement my (end of career) track ambitions."

Hard to say what that is worth to a team. Do classics wins complement track preparation? Do sprint lead outs complement track preparation? If those goals REALY line up then he's worth something, maybe a $500k 2-year contract. If the road racing calendar is just glorified cross training, he's not worth a contract of any size just for showing up. If I were writing the check I would be dubious that not wanting to be a classics winner as a primary goal is likely to lead to a classics win.

Considering he more or less just showed up to Roubaix and was in the Top 10, I wouldn't rule him out for a classics win even if it is just glorified cross training.

[1centaur]

I wouldn't rule out a lot of people I would not put money on. And if he's really focused on track then maybe he is less motivated for classics next time. He's a heck of a rider but he does not fit the puzzle well.

[Bstone]

He definitely has honked somebody off big time.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Lewis Moon

I'm sure one of the oligarchs could pay him with the spare change he found in his sofa.

No kidding...2 of the top teams sponsored by the Russian Mafia..

I'm surprized Tinkoff isn't making a play for him...as he solidifies his control over the new Cannondale/Garmin/Tinkoff team....

[redir]

Originally Posted by enr1co

Heard his guitar chops arent bad either...or at least has some pretty cool vintage pieces in his collection. Nice 50's tele and ES 335 block he's got in the pics

Nice!

[Saxon]

Originally Posted by Vientomas

Brad has a little Paul Weller crush.

If he thinks road racers are cut-throat he should read Weller's ex-band members accounts of how they were treated

Still, anybody that plays a tele can't be all bad

[gemship]

Wiggins is a very strange looking dude.

[DukeHorn]

Originally Posted by CunegoFan

What has he done lately other than get ten years older, say that the dedication to train for the Tour is too much, and complain that roadies are mean?

I dunno. Win the Olympic time trial and the Tour de France in 2012. Win the Tour de California in 2014. Unless by lately, you mean the last month....

[Grant McLean]

Originally Posted by DukeHorn

I dunno. Win the Olympic time trial and the Tour de France in 2012. Win the Tour de California in 2014. Unless by lately, you mean the last month....

Even in his "write off" 2013, after coming back from the knee injury that
had him WD from the Giro, he still won the (ITT) Tour de Pologne in August,
the overall Tour of Britain, and a silver medal at World's Time trial in September.

[CunegoFan]

Originally Posted by DukeHorn

Win the Tour de California in 2014. Unless by lately, you mean the last month....

Ah, two million quid a year for the Tour of California, the race that euro pros use as a vacation (and to engage in drinking contests) and those who target the race are people who cannot win in Europe (like Tom Danielson) and need to provide some sort of value--no matter how little--to justify their contract. Meanwhile, the riders a team has faith in are racing the Giro.

[Llewellyn]

Originally Posted by CunegoFan

Ah, two million quid a year for the Tour of California, the race that euro pros use as a vacation (and to engage in drinking contests) and those who target the race are people who cannot win in Europe (like Tom Danielson) and need to provide some sort of value--no matter how little--to justify their contract. Meanwhile, the riders a team has faith in are racing the Giro.

Too true.