RavingManiac

I think I actally saw Wiggins get his butt off the saddle at the end of the stage today, woohoo! I've been a TDF watcher since the Big Mig days, this has been the most boring as far as the GC goes. But I still love the Tour, I look forward to it every year. Contador and Andy S. would have helped, there might have been some serious attacks in the mountains instead of the limp wristed pop and fizzle fest we had this year.

daveF

I think sepat maybe correct given certain conditions. It is the training & preparation that Wiggins & this whole tour team went through together that gave them the win. Wiggins on any other current team would not have been the same & I think he would probably agree.

seypat

I don't know why people give Wiggens such a hard time about staying in the saddle. Some people actually climb better in the saddle and only get out of it for a momentary change. He might be one of them. I'm sure that if the cameras focused on the sprinters during the climbs you would see them in the saddle a lot more than out of it. Those fast twitch muscles fibers don't like "dancing on the pedals" much.

seypat

What I am seeing is the Sky team is the best "sled dog team" in the race by a long shot. Their pace is controlling the race and running every other team into the ground. Wiggens is sitting on that sled going along for the ride. Put any of the other GC contenders on the Sky "sled" as a driver and I think they still win. Again, I take nothing away from Wiggens, because he wasn't tested. He might be the real deal. But his team has dismantled all attacks from the other teams so I don't know if he is the real deal or not.

cycle17

Wiggins will win this tour and only this tour, which is still a great accomplishment...congrats to him on that... but I agree with others that almost any other GC contender could have won on this team.... it was laughable and frustrating watching Froome keep waiting for "Wiggie" today instead of going and getting Valverde for the stage win, which he certainly could have done. Wiggins couldn't even hold his wheel on the last few km, after having his *ss pulled over virtually ALL the climbs in this tour... sad really. Enjoy your TDF win Wiggins... you'll never see another one. Sigh....

eja_ bottecchia

I've been to France and I know many French people. Most French people really do like Americans, especially older French people.

I have to admit, TV's facial expressions really are funny. Even when he is signing autographs, he has this jaunty little look. But the man is a total animal on climbs

FriendlyFred

That's what US Postal / Discovery used to say, too. Oh yeah, and they had the 'advanced scientific methods,' there, as well. Apparently none of the other teams of the GC contenders bothered to train at all.

eja_ bottecchia

You are correct Sir.

FriendlyFred

I agree, and I pray they never set a tour route up like this EVER again and Wiggins NEVER is in yellow again. A tour winner who can't even stay with or beat his own team-mate. Head to head, Froome would have won this tour over Wiggins. Wiggins wasn't that far ahead of Froome on the TT, and Froome would have absolutely kicked Wiggin's rear on the climbs. Enjoy your one tour win Wiggins, you did it as a passenger.

daveF

I wasn't saying whether they are clean or not. They know, you nor I do. But it is very obvious that they have trained together as a team versus sending only a couple of riders to an altitude training camp. They have "rehearsed" for this for a long time & much better than US Postal. As I stated in another thread, at the beggining or prior to this tour, Wiggins is the least likely of the favorites to be isolated. He hasn't been this tour & he hasn't been in a stage race for more than a few seconds in more than the last year.

seanthebear

Absolute bollocks. Every other GC contender is also hitched to the Sky train. They get the same benefit. But you need someone in peak form and with good legs to stay on that train and then keep going when the train is over and cover any attacks. That's what Wiggins has done. Sure it makes it a hell of a lot easier to have the train in place but its a risible notion to assert that just turning up and hitching on gets you the yellow in Paris.

Laggard

A load of crap so stinky it's not even worth a response.

dstrong 

I suspect that Wiggin's track background makes it possible for him to simply up his cadence when he has to accelerate, without up shifting also. A couple times when he and Froome bridged gaps back up to Nibali, I could swear he was spinning 120+ rpm.

dstrong 

TV reminds me of this guy:

nun

I don't understand this Wiggins hatred. He's had a brilliant career on the track, Olympics, and now crowns it with a fantastic season, winning everything he entered. It has been masterful and I predict that he'll pull out another couple mins in the final TT. Whether Froome could have won is academic. Sky and Wiggins will win the TdF and everyone (except grouches, retro or otherwise) will be happy. If anyone wants to see Fromme get his head watch the Vuelta. I get the feeling that Froome will stay with Sky next year and Wiggins might be his domestique as at 34 he will probably be just too old to do it again.......but he might be in yellow again after the 2013 Prologue.

OrionKhan

I don't think it's so much of hatred towards Wiggins. The anti-Wiggins voice seems to have more of a problem with what appears to be the stronger rider (Froome) holding back so Wiggins can win. Grand tours are generally won by mountain top finishes and time trials. Wiggo won the first ITT, but it seems painfully obvious that Froome has been holding back in the mountains. Especially these stages where he could have made significant time gains. Would he have gained enough time to win overall? We'll never know. But people would have like to have seen Froome ride to win. Not ride for someone else to win. Sure it's a "team" sport. But only one rider will stand atop the podium at the end. The headlines will read "Wiggins wins the TdF" not "Team Sky wins the TdF."

tcbrit

I don't understand this Wiggins hatred either. He is a fantastic cyclist and a great team leader (who also made a great attempt at a lead out for one of his team members in a sprint finish).
Why do the haters think he should have to compete against one of his support riders (Froome) as well as the other riders/teams? Do the haters think he should go up against Cavendish in a sprint finish as well????

dr_max

The only action that tour could have ever gotten was if Froome backstabbed that ****-haired wiggolo. Sad it didn't happen.

byhsu

I'm hoping for that too.

byhsu

+1

nun

Nope I'd say it's hatred. I can only imagine that the hatred folks haven't followed Wiggins from the start of his career and seen the things he did in the Olympics. This TdF win is great for someone closer to the end of his career than the beginning.

RIC0

I thought Voekler might have got a bee or wasp in his mouth at first then realized that's just how he rolls... LOL

chasm54

Hard to believe that anyone who follows pro cycling could be quite this clueless.

beavertoof

Yeah i really did not understand Nibali dropping back to the main group voluntarily. I understand why AV did not want him with him, but I cannot understand why Nibali just sez "ok" and goes back. Is it not his job to try to win the tour? Sure it probably would not have worked, but at least a try.

gsteinb

correct. I never, ever get out of the saddle, except for the last 200m of a race. Jumps, hills, whatever.... Not everyone rides the same. Christ, Pantani climbed in the drops and that's just dumb.