Bradley Wiggins joins Sky

Denia said:

Sky get their man at last. Now to see if he can get on the podium in 2010, I wouldn't bet against him with Brailsford masterminding the campaign.

I reckon Wiggo will count himself lucky if he gets top 10 this time round

Can't see the logic in that, he believes he can improve and the team and backroom staff will be able to provide him with more assistance than Garmin could. He will have some awesome talent to help him in the form of Boasson Hagen (a good bet to be the guy who delivers a TdF winner for Sky inside 5 years) and a clear focus on one single objective.

I don't see any real reason why he can't improve enough to beat Andy Scleck or Lance Armstrong, the one rider I can't see him ever beating is Contador. Boasson Hagen, on the other hand, could be good enough in 3-4 years to do just that.

Quoted post said:

Wiggins himself had hinted that he would leave Garmin early. In September, he told the BBC, "It's like trying to win the Champions League - you need to be at Manchester United, but I'm playing at Wigan at the moment so I have to make that step up."

I like Wiggo but sometimes his comments are a little misplaced... Way to cr@p on your team from a great height whilst you're still working for them.

I would have compared Garmin to Arsenal and not Wigan for Christ's sake... It's not like he was riding on a little Spanish team of dwarfs in bright orange with no hope of winning anything.

Wiggins oughta make sure he's secure in his nest in the lofty heights before spraying. There've been more than a few riders that have done well in the Tour (or other races), thought themselves the next incarnation of Buffy the Grand Tour Slayer, only to find themselves farther from the top than when they started flappin' their gums.

Wiggins does seem to have a habbit of talking like an a$$hat. Wiggins is going to need to ride a lot harder...especially compared to how he talks.

Interesting that no one has come on this thread pissin' and moanin' about how Wiggins doesn't know how to honor the contract he signed with a year ago with Garmin...appears he gets a pass for some reason...interesting...

gtm said:

I reckon Wiggo will count himself lucky if he gets top 10 this time round

Last Sunday in an interview BW was said that he reckoned he would finish Top 3 in TDF (ahead of LA) and that he was staying at Garmin !

Read here

Load of cobbles may give Bradley Wiggins Tour advantage | Sport | guardian.co.uk

limerickman said:

Last Sunday in an interview BW was said that he reckoned he would finish Top 3 in TDF (ahead of LA) and that he was staying at Garmin !

Read here

Load of cobbles may give Bradley Wiggins Tour advantage | Sport | guardian.co.uk

So much for having spine or character. What a hero.🙄

Perhaps it will be addressed? 😕

UCI Likely To Move On Breaking Of Contracts | Cyclingnews.com

Quoted post said:

Wiggins move puts spotlight on chasing of riders

The International Cycling Union (UCI) is planning to tighten-up on the contract rules next year, following recent events such as the unexpected jump of Cadel Evans to Team BMC, the transfer of Alexandr Kolobnev from Saxo Bank to Katusha and the chasing of Ben Swift’s signature by the new Team Sky.

UCI President Pat McQuaid told Cyclingnews on that he is 'concerned' at recent developments in this area. McQuaid said the governing body is likely to introduce new rules in 2010 to safeguard the rights of riders and teams alike, in relation to existing contracts.

This being Wiggo he was probably drunk when he made most of his stupid comments :eek:

Sky will build their team around him for the Tour, question is do they have enough strong climbers to act as domestiques? And even if Wiggo does improve this year in terms of his fitness can he compete in such a competitive field at the Tour?

I reckon he'll hit top 5, let down slightly by a weak team that gets destroyed by the firepower of the bigger teams. Won't be on the podium though, too many other strong contenders.

Wiggins might make the top 10. There's definitely at least one team that will work against him, thanks to him taking a dump on their efforts and his contract.

Eldrack said:

This being Wiggo he was probably drunk when he made most of his stupid comments :eek:

Sky will build their team around him for the Tour, question is do they have enough strong climbers to act as domestiques? And even if Wiggo does improve this year in terms of his fitness can he compete in such a competitive field at the Tour?

I reckon he'll hit top 5, let down slightly by a weak team that gets destroyed by the firepower of the bigger teams. Won't be on the podium though, too many other strong contenders.

This mornings Guardian newspaper has a double page spread on feature on BW and the SKY team.

BW's team is very very strong : they've signed Arvesen, Flecha, Boasson-Hagen, Geraint Thomas, Lovkvist, Cummings, John Lee Augustyn, Calzati, Froome, Cioni, Gerrans.
Very very strong squad.
On paper reckoned to be the second strong ProTour team there is.

limerickman said:

This mornings Guardian newspaper has a double page spread on feature on BW and the SKY team.

BW's team is very very strong : they've signed Arvesen, Flecha, Boasson-Hagen, Geraint Thomas, Lovkvist, Cummings, John Lee Augustyn, Calzati, Froome, Cioni, Gerrans.
Very very strong squad.
On paper reckoned to be the second strong ProTour team there is.

It's a good team but limited vis a vis mountain goats to bury themselves for Wiggins in the mountain stages.

anybody else seeing this as another black eye for mcquaid's administration of professional cycling? too concentrated on building the international racing scene like formula 1 while sweeping the lesser problems off to other administrators or just ignoring them?

From the way Wiggins talked to the press this Tour, he didn't seem to cope well with the pressure. Now that the cooker has been turned on, it will be fun to watch whether or not he completely implodes. I don't care either way, I just want it to be a good show!

limerickman said:

This mornings Guardian newspaper has a double page spread on feature on BW and the SKY team.

BW's team is very very strong : they've signed Arvesen, Flecha, Boasson-Hagen, Geraint Thomas, Lovkvist, Cummings, John Lee Augustyn, Calzati, Froome, Cioni, Gerrans.
Very very strong squad.
On paper reckoned to be the second strong ProTour team there is.

It's a very strong team for classics, medium mountain stages, flat stages, smaller tours. In fact it's strong enough in those situations to destroy most other teams out there. Should make the cobbled stages of next years tour very interesting. But I think when the high mountains rear their ugly heads this team doesn't have enough dedicated climbing firepower beyond Wiggins to do anything.

This may not be too much of a problem, I don't think Wiggins will be in yellow come the mountain stages and so Sky won't have to control the race. Stage 9 could be problematic with lack of climbing support, as could stage 17. Stage 16 is basically neutered by the 60 clicks from the top of the Aub to the finish.

gtm said:

It's a good team but limited vis a vis mountain goats to bury themselves for Wiggins in the mountain stages.

I might be wrong but my recollection of the mountain stages in 2009 was that most of the time the top contenders climbed together and didn't have team mates burying themselves for them. Wiggins followed his maind rivals, the Shclecks and Armstrong, and had the ability to stay with them most of the way as they lack any great punch (unlike Contador).
Elsewhere, Wiggins TT'ing in 2010 should be far superior to Andy Schleck and also to Armstrong who showed in 2009 his dominance in this area is finished.

Then consider that Wiggins won't be splitting his focus as he has done previously with Olympics and World track meets and instead working solely for a podium spot at the Tour and I think he has a decent shot at it.
The Sky team is going to be a lot stronger and better prepared than many are suggesting - as a Brit I really hope they pull it off as it will give the next crop of youngsters a huge incentive to stay in the sport.

slovakguy said:

anybody else seeing this as another black eye for mcquaid's administration of professional cycling? too concentrated on building the international racing scene like formula 1 while sweeping the lesser problems off to other administrators or just ignoring them?

No. Being one person's fault is a bit simplistic, isn't it? I see it as a strike against the characters of Wiggns and Brailsford. They're as much to blame as anyone else. Personally, I'll giggle loudly if Wiggins has to abandon.

Nothing in cycling will ever get better so long as people are content to blame only one faction....er the UCI or whoever. The typical human response: throw blame without having given any effort at thought.

alienator said:

No. Being one person's fault is a bit simplistic, isn't it? I see it as a strike against the characters of Wiggns and Brailsford. They're as much to blame as anyone else. Personally, I'll giggle loudly if Wiggins has to abandon.

Nothing in cycling will ever get better so long as people are content to blame only one faction....er the UCI or whoever. The typical human response: throw blame without having given any effort at thought.

so your position is that it is everyone's fault and therefore no one's to blame? mcquaid, being at the top of the administrative ladder, should be something more than a figurehead trotting out to smile, shake hands and talk up anne gripper's activities. sky, the murdochs, and their cohort of lawyers shook down a smaller team with the threat of legal action in order to secure wiggins. sadly, mcquaid could only stand by with palms upward because his uci have been caught out again in their impotence to actually regulate the sport.

by the bye, i, too would like to see wiggins blow up come the tdf.

slovakguy said:

so your position is that it is everyone's fault and therefore no one's to blame? mcquaid, being at the top of the administrative ladder, should be something more than a figurehead trotting out to smile, shake hands and talk up anne gripper's activities. sky, the murdochs, and their cohort of lawyers shook down a smaller team with the threat of legal action in order to secure wiggins. sadly, mcquaid could only stand by with palms upward because his uci have been caught out again in their impotence to actually regulate the sport.

by the bye, i, too would like to see wiggins blow up come the tdf.

Sorry those are your poorly chosen words, that "no one's too blame." If that's the level of critical thought you're going to use, perhaps going back to third grade would be a good idea.