Wiggins out of TdF team for Sky

[spartanKid]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/tour-de-france/10880033/Sir-Bradley-Wiggins-will-not-ride-in-Tour-de-France-and-could-leave-Team-Sky.html

[Shortsocks]

Damn. Well, that really sucks. I was really looking forward to Wiggo being in the peloton. Mmmm....this really sucks.

[MattTuck]

You've got to love the [manufactured?] drama from Team Sky.

The real question isn't Wiggins or Froome, it is Porte or Froome.

[cfox]

They hate each other. If it can be avoided, it's best to not have teammates that hate each other riding in the same race.

[MattTuck]

They hate each other. If it can be avoided, it's best to not have teammates that hate each other riding in the same race.

best for who? I want some Hinnault vs. Lemond type intra-team hostility. The tour is a circus anyway, think of the column inches (and clicks) it would generate! :banana:

[bobswire]

best for who? I want some Hinnault vs. Lemond type intra-team hostility. The tour is a circus anyway, think of the column inches (and clicks) it would generate! :banana:

Let's not forget LA vs. Berto.

[alessandro]

Let's not forget LA vs. Berto.

Seriously: '“On this Tour, the days in the hotel were harder than those on the road,” Contador said.'

I almost felt some sympathy for El Pistolero.

[enr1co]

Damn. Well, that really sucks. I was really looking forward to Wiggo being in the peloton. Mmmm....this really sucks.

Too bad- now we'll have to endure seeing more of this:

http://chrisfroomelookingatstems.tumblr.com/

[Shortsocks]

Too bad- now we'll have to endure seeing more of this:

http://chrisfroomelookingatstems.tumblr.com/

Lol. Ahahahahahha!!!

Dude. That's the BEST!! This has got to be one of the funniest things that I've ever seen! On Man, no joke. There is coffee all over my ipad. Thanks. :mad:

[Bostic]

But my daily Rapha ads won't be the same without Sir Bradley Wiggins merch to buy.

[enr1co]

Let's not forget LA vs. Berto.

Let's do.

[David Kirk]

I just flashed on what a fist fight would look like between those two and all I could see in my minds eye was a cartoon done by Tim Burton.

I hope they each land someplace they feel at home soon.

dave

[LJohnny]

"...unless something happens to team-mate Chris Froome" LOL

:p :fight:

[fiamme red]

"...unless something happens to team-mate Chris Froome" LOL

:p :fight:Calling Tonya Harding! :p

[FlashUNC]

Means Wiggo's off to Alonso's new team then?

[tiretrax]

Means Wiggo's off to Alonso's new team then?

Or Oz - Orica-Green Edge is courting him (and Evans).

[Shortsocks]

Means Wiggo's off to Alonso's new team then?

Wouldn't that be a show? Wiggins Vs Froome in the next TDF....I guess that would depend on who else is on Alonso's new team and if Quintana doesnt smoke the the both of them. :eek:

[alessandro]

...Alonso's new team

Is that really a thing? What is the cycling equivalent of vaporware?

[FlashUNC]

Is that really a thing? What is the cycling equivalent of vaporware?

Alonso has said next year it'll happen. Already the press speculation is around Sagan jumping ship for Alonso's outfit.

Who knows? Nothing like the silly season of this stuff.

[bobswire]

Too bad- now we'll have to endure seeing more of this:

http://chrisfroomelookingatstems.tumblr.com/

And when he is not looking at his stem.....

http://i57.tinypic.com/2l87o1i.jpg


http://i60.tinypic.com/2aj3pue.jpg

[CunegoFan]

Why would a team want to rely on Wiggins? The dude is a total head case. While leading the Tour in 2012, he wanted to drop out because Froome showed him up at the end of a climb. He whinged to his team that it would be better if he went home. He was pathetic in last year's Giro once things did not go his way. Wiggins is a guy who needs everything to go right for him so he does not lose the will to ride.

I will be laughing though if Froome, who looks like a walking stick insect attacking a coat hanger when he rides, gets left behind on the cobbles, leaving Sky with no leader.

Forza Nibbles...or even Contador.

[goonster]

Wiggins is a guy who needs everything to go right for him so he does not lose the will to ride.

The chance to square off against Froome may focus and motivate him completely, one last time.

I'd pay to see that. :p

[Gfi3]

Too bad- now we'll have to endure seeing more of this:

http://chrisfroomelookingatstems.tumblr.com/

This is amazing...

[gianni]

Why would a team want to rely on Wiggins? The dude is a total head case. While leading the Tour in 2012, he wanted to drop out because Froome showed him up at the end of a climb. He whinged to his team that it would be better if he went home. He was pathetic in last year's Giro once things did not go his way. Wiggins is a guy who needs everything to go right for him so he does not lose the will to ride.

I will be laughing though if Froome, who looks like a walking stick insect attacking a coat hanger when he rides, gets left behind on the cobbles, leaving Sky with no leader.

Forza Nibbles...or even Contador.

Anybody but Froome! I love the stick insect description; paints a nice picture.

Yes, Forza lo squallo and clembutador.

[Drmojo]

Too bad- now we'll have to endure seeing more of this:

http://chrisfroomelookingatstems.tumblr.com/


Either he has neck problems or..he's watching porn!?!?
Very funny stuff, thanks

[dpk501]

Poor Wiggo...but I thought he was saying that he didn't want to ride the tour back before the season started:

http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/08/news/wiggins-to-turn-focus-to-track-ahead-of-rio-2016_299515

then he changes his mind...

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/feb/14/bradley-wiggins-not-done-yet-with-tour-de-france

I thought when there are team aspirations for GC, you decide on your team early and develop the race and training schedule.

Still like Wiggo more than Froome.

PS: love the tumblr site!

[firerescuefin]

Froome is the better TdF rider and is trending upward. Wiggins is past the apex of his career.

No room for a melancholy type A who's likely not to play well with team orders. People can complain about Froome all they want regarding to the year that he begrudgingly rode for Wiggins the entire Tour. At the end of the day he did his job, and the stages he could have blown Wiggins out of the water, he relented….even if it was dramatically. This was the second Grand Tour he could've/should've won after he was the strongest rider in the Vuelta the year before, but lost after being Wiggnin's tour guide, where Wiggins finally cracked and lost. Personally, I can't imagine being the strongest rider in a Grand Tour and riding for the weaker, but that's the way the cookie crumbles and Porte may be in the same situation this year.

Anyhow, it's too bad, because if he was sold out to the team, Wiggins would be a great guy to to have in there. He can ride the cobbles. He can obviously TT, and he would be a great match to burn on the hard climbing stages.

[Shortsocks]

Very well written Robert Millar article about this:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/robert-millar/robert-millar-blog-man-down

[Climb01742]

Very well written Robert Millar article about this:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/robert-millar/robert-millar-blog-man-down

This. 1000%.

[1centaur]

It is very British to set a course, follow it with determination, intellect and grit, and achieve the outcome (or, most usually, fail and hail the manner of the attempt). That was the course of British track cycling, and that is what Brailsford has done at Sky.

In setting the course for 2014, Brailsford had a dominant Tour rider with discipline, and a one-time Tour winner who was sketchy. It would have been inconceivable to set the 2014 course for the sketchy one. And while the optionality of having the sketchy one alongside the disciplined one might have plenty of appeal, the personal knowledge of the relationship both between the two and between Brailsford and Wiggo may have suggested that this was a more perilous option for the team than results alone would suggest.

That Wiggins has chosen to become a legitimate contender this year (after saying he was done with the Tour last year) complicates the decision, but when British people on a disciplined course face a difficult decision, they make it with discipline (at least as far as they are concerned). Above all, Brailsford actually knows the Froome and Wiggins interaction, and has better insight to whether Wiggins is the kind of guy who might subtly undermine Froome at the Tour than we, or journalists, do. It's not like there is not a recent history of #1 and #2 options at the Tour undercutting the other.

So regardless of that article, which focuses on soft factors, I think it likely that Brailsford is set on his predetermined course and executing it with discipline.

And I agree that Orica would be nuts to gamble a lot of money on which Wiggo shows up for next year (and the year after that)...if money for results is the game they are in.

[bobswire]

It is very British to set a course, follow it with determination, intellect and grit, and achieve the outcome (or, most usually, fail and hail the manner of the attempt). That was the course of British track cycling, and that is what Brailsford has done at Sky.

In setting the course for 2014, Brailsford had a dominant Tour rider with discipline, and a one-time Tour winner who was sketchy. It would have been inconceivable to set the 2014 course for the sketchy one. And while the optionality of having the sketchy one alongside the disciplined one might have plenty of appeal, the personal knowledge of the relationship both between the two and between Brailsford and Wiggo may have suggested that this was a more perilous option for the team than results alone would suggest.

That Wiggins has chosen to become a legitimate contender this year (after saying he was done with the Tour last year) complicates the decision, but when British people on a disciplined course face a difficult decision, they make it with discipline (at least as far as they are concerned). Above all, Brailsford actually knows the Froome and Wiggins interaction, and has better insight to whether Wiggins is the kind of guy who might subtly undermine Froome at the Tour than we, or journalists, do. It's not like there is not a recent history of #1 and #2 options at the Tour undercutting the other.

So regardless of that article, which focuses on soft factors, I think it likely that Brailsford is set on his predetermined course and executing it with discipline.

And I agree that Orica would be nuts to gamble a lot of money on which Wiggo shows up for next year (and the year after that)...if money for results is the game they are in.

Better yet if Froome had any sense and shown true leadership he would have made overtures to Wiggins. Wiggins disciplines could have been a great help to Froome as well as a PR move. I think Froome ····ting on Wiggins in his book is real culprit here, not Wiggins. Wiggins was no real threat to Froome in the mountains but could have been a great help in setting tempo on the flats as well as the mountains in shredding GC contenders.

[1centaur]

I don't doubt contributory strife, some of the irony of which is that Froome knows how he behaved when he was better so he has reason to suspect how Wiggins would behave if he were better (though perhaps with less certainty because Wiggins seems more unpredictable). I simply don't know Wiggins well enough to be sure how he would respond to a sincere olive branch, and perhaps neither does Froome. Predictability is what Tour teams long for. A 100% no-I-in-team Wiggins would have been a great addition to Sky's campaign this year.

Seems that Froome feels he has his key lieutenant in Porte. Does he need two? He might. The potential for second guessing is high.

[CunegoFan]

After reading excerpts from Froome's autobiography I have a bit of sympathy for Wiggins. Froome comes across as a giant, manipulative doosh on the same level as Armstrong. He hates Wiggins and has issues with a lot of others. This is one slippery character that someone with Wiggins personality does not have the means to deal with.

[Climb01742]

There are legitimate arguments on both sides. On Wiggo's side is that he has proven himself over a longer period of time as an elite rider. Froome has a shorter resume and may not prove as reliable. Wiggo made Sky legit when they needed it most and deserves something for that. While neither guy is blameless, Froome does seem like the bigger d**k and giving in to his wishes for who's on the Tour team feels like a lack of leadership by DB. Given Wiggo's form in Cali, having two contenders on Sky might give them a better shot at victory. Yes, putting those two together wouldn't be easy, but since when have championship teams been required to be lovefests? I admit I like Wiggo better but I think there's an argument for his side of this.

[firerescuefin]

There are legitimate arguments on both sides. On Wiggo's side is that he has proven himself over a longer period of time as an elite rider. Froome has a shorter resume and may not prove as reliable. Wiggo made Sky legit when they needed it most and deserves something for that. While neither guy is blameless, Froome does seem like the bigger d**k and giving in to his wishes for who's on the Tour team feels like a lack of leadership by DB. Given Wiggo's form in Cali, having two contenders on Sky might give them a better shot at victory. Yes, putting those two together wouldn't be easy, but since when have championship teams been required to be lovefests? I admit I like Wiggo better but I think there's an argument for his side of this.

To be a GT winning caliber rider you've got to be an/THE alpha male. When has co-leadership ever worked amicably or very well for that matter. Froome rode as a Lt. in 2 grand tours that he could have/should have won. Not podium'd….won. All the while, he was not shown the respect from Wiggins he thought he was due. Heck, Wiggins didn't pay him his share of the winnings until a year after the TdF he won, and only after being encouraged by Brailsford to do so. If I'm Froome, short of Wiggins coming to me and burying the hatchet and selling me that he want to make this right, I want no part of him or his potentially caustic/dysfunction near MY team as I go about repeating the Tour. Calling him the bigger dick is a little shortsighted IMO.

[Climb01742]

To be a GT winning caliber rider you've got to be an/THE alpha male. When has co-leadership ever worked amicably or very well for that matter. Froome rode as a Lt. in 2 grand tours that he could have/should have won. Not podium'd….won. All the while, he was not shown the respect from Wiggins he thought he was due. Heck, Wiggins didn't pay him his share of the winnings until a year after the TdF he won, and only after being encouraged by Brailsford to do so. If I'm Froome, short of Wiggins coming to me and burying the hatchet and selling me that he want to make this right, I want no part of him or his potentially caustic/dysfunction near MY team as I go about repeating the Tour. Calling him the bigger dick is a little shortsighted IMO.

part of the beauty of sports is the event itself will test various opinions. lets watch the tour and see if sky's bet on froome pays off. it's fun debating this stuff then seeing how it all plays out.

[Jgrooms]

Tinkov will pick up Wiggins and give him a go at Froome. For all of Sky's supposed attention to detail they've botched this. I hope Contador hands it to them in a major way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[weisan]

This is stupid.

Why would you let out internal conversations to the mass media unless you want to solicit the kind of sympathy and public outcry you intended all along?

If I am the team manager, I consider this a breach of trust and I would NEVER let you get on the tour team. Washing dirty laundry in public.

I don't care about Froome. I care more about Sir Wiggins time and again public display of his lack of discretion and maturity.

You wanna get on the team and you never talk or attempt to build bridges with the team leader, and you address him by his last name?

You got to be kidding me.

[Jgrooms]

High strung horses. Not the first such athlete to use the media. For all of Wiggo's wiggyness, lets remember Froome committed the ultimate sin by attacking a teammate on the road.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bluesea]

Who cares about personalities unless one is looking for a hero or role model? It's sad to see an athlete lose a precious season for being stuck on the wrong team.

[weisan]

Never mind....not my fight.

[CunegoFan]

To be a GT winning caliber rider you've got to be an/THE alpha male. When has co-leadership ever worked amicably or very well for that matter. Froome rode as a Lt. in 2 grand tours that he could have/should have won. Not podium'd….won. All the while, he was not shown the respect from Wiggins he thought he was due.

Let's review a little history.

In 2011 Froome had been a total failure at Sky. His contract was expiring and the team was not offering him another. In an interview Brailsford graphed the usual progression of riders and how the duties they are suitable for changes as they age. All the riders were put on the graph, showing where they were at in their career. Froome was rated as the worst rider on the team. The only reason he went to the 2011 Vuelta was because another rider became sick. His job there was to fetch bottles and try to survive as long as possible. The team did not expect him to finish the race.

According to Froome he was disrespected and deserved to be a protected rider, but any sane person would have counted himself lucky to be given a start in the first place.

Before the 2012 Tour, Wiggins had won every stage race he entered. The team was built around him. The course was soft and perfectly suited for Wiggins. The best stage racer in the world was not going to be there, and two of the other main contenders cannot time trial to save their lives. This was the best chance the team might ever have of winning the Tour. Again, expecting the team to select Froome as its leader based was insane.

One thing becomes clear from Froome's book. He is guy with huge insecurities who always blames others when things go wrong and takes credit when they go right.

[enr1co]

Imho, Sky is stacked well enough to support both Wiggo and Froome.

Lots of flat stages and the highly talked about cobble stage prior to the mts to take out riders. Better to play the numbers and have two contenders
to survive those stages rather one egg in the basket strategy.

Instead of being concerned with the drama between the two, Sky from the business perspective and sponsor should just tell both of them to put on the big boy bibs and have them both race. Whoever has best form will play itself out in numerous mt stages and if not, the one individual TT will surely distinguish who is the strongest.

Nothing wrong with having two on the podium as in 2012 regardless of the order.

My guess is that Sky corp and sponsors will recognize the negative social media reaction to Wiggins being left off in a week or so then and pressure cycling management to reconsider this decision.

[firerescuefin]

He was the strongest rider at the Vuelta. He was the strongest rider when Wiggins won the Tour. He would be the strongest rider this year. It could work….It could fracture the team. I would leave Wiggins at home.

Everything else you listed is noise…..unless you're Wiggins.


Let's review a little history.

In 2011 Froome had been a total failure at Sky. His contract was expiring and the team was not offering him another. In an interview Brailsford graphed the usual progression riders and what duties they are suitable for changes as they age. All the riders were put on the graph, showing where they were at in their career. Froome was rated as the worst rider on the team. The only reason he went to the 2011 Vuelta was because another rider became sick. His job there was to fetch bottles and try to survive as long as possible. The team did not expect him to finish the race.

According to Froome he was disrespected and deserved to be a protected rider, but any sane person would have counted himself lucky to be given a start in the first place.

Before the 2012 Tour, Wiggins had won every stage race he entered. The team was built around him. The course was soft and perfectly suited for Wiggins. The best stage racer in the world was not going to be there, and two of the other main contenders cannot time trial to save their lives. This was the best chance the team might ever have of winning the Tour. Again, expecting the team to select Froome as its leader based was insane.

One thing becomes clear from Froome's book. He is guy with huge insecurities who always, blames others when things go wrong, and takes credit when they go right.

[Jgrooms]

And Froome just looks like an alien on the bike. Why does so much talent have to be encased in one with so little style?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dk2ck]

I am bummed I won't be seeing Wiggins in the peloton in the TdF this year. Sure, Froome probably has a better chance of winning... but Wiggins is a character and is a lot more interesting.

[bluesea]

Another opinion.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/robert-millar/robert-millar-blog-man-down

[firerescuefin]

...as noted in Cyclingnews


“We all know that Brad has a special personality and evidently Chris must do as well. If you want to win the Tour de France you have to be a bit of a special dude. I think Brailsford understands that you can only have one special dude in each team and they’ve chosen the one that gives them the most chance of winning.”

[enr1co]

9 hours ago...

Team Sky chief David Brailsford on Sunday insisted he has yet to decide on his Tour de France squad despite claims from former champion Bradley Wiggins that he will not be selected.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/06/news/sky-boss-david-brailsford-weighs-tour-team-selection_331039#7Hpp2KlX85U7ym9m.99

[CunegoFan]

Michelle Cound (AKA Lady Macbeth) seems quite adamant that Froome and Wiggins will not be at the same race in the same kit. I suspect there is an agreement between Froome and Brailsford about this. Last year after Wiggins said he did not think he would do the Tour again, such an agreement was not a problem. Right now Brailsford is probably trying to talk Froome into avoiding the PR disaster of not having Wiggins at the Tour when it starts in Yorkshire.

[bluesea]

The impression is Brailsford is talking out of his butt hole. Robert "man of the Pyrenees" has become quite the *newsman*, but his interpretation seems more grounded.

[Len J]

They are both a-holes from what I can see.

Len

[bluesea]

^ Absolutely. Apparently More so with Wiggo and the rest of the team.

[bobswire]

Velonews poll:

1. If you were Sky manager Dave Brailsford, given the history between Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, would you take Wiggins to the Tour de France?


Yes - 75% (10543 votes)
No - 25% (3592 votes)

Total Votes: 14,135

Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding
View Results

Read more at http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/06/news/poll-sky-manager-dave-brailsford-take-bradley-wiggins-tour-de-france_330929#P1vdG4TiUguHejpX.99

[enr1co]

Too bad- now we'll have to endure seeing more of this:

http://chrisfroomelookingatstems.tumblr.com/


A new pic for the gallery from today's Dauphine stage 2 :D

http://cdn.velonews.competitor.com/files/2014/06/SPTDW833-660x440.jpg

[54ny77]

barring no mechanical or health issues, i bet froome would trounce wiggins at the tour.

his dauphine performance was staggering. just said it was nice chattin' with ya amigos, gotta run, adios.

must be good bangers and mash.

[ultraman6970]

IMO sky needs a plan B in case some crap happens, last year movistar saved the day with Quintana or their tour would have been a real disaster. The same could happen again to Movistar if they dont take Quintana and the same could happen to sky if something happens to Froome, the problem is that we could see a team split in a half like happened to lemond 25 years ago.

Lets see how they resolve the problem, either way won't be a nice solution.

[Rada]

Problem for Sky is that Porte is having a terrible season. Dropped big time today and already something like 11+ minutes back.

[bobswire]

Though I was supporting Sky include Wiggins for the TdF but If this is what I can expect seeing from Froome at the TdF maybe it's better not to include Wiggo and let Froome fly. Pretty exciting watching the last 5km today.

[christian]

Say, what kind of stem is that?

[54ny77]

its the kind that says, "go. go again! go faster!"


Say, what kind of stem is that?

[bluesea]

IMO sky needs a plan B in case some crap happens, last year movistar saved the day with Quintana or their tour would have been a real disaster. The same could happen again to Movistar if they dont take Quintana and the same could happen to sky if something happens to Froome, the problem is that we could see a team split in a half like happened to lemond 25 years ago.

Lets see how they resolve the problem, either way won't be a nice solution.


What you are talking about is for the most part a luxury, a capability, not a need.

[CunegoFan]

Shamelessly stolen from elsewhere. Froome and Porte.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bpom9yrIcAAGfsS.jpg
http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100803173400/muppet/images/4/4b/Cousin_Rosie.JPG

[LeadoutTrain5]

Nice