# Wiggins- wow



## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

Thought for sure he would be dropped like I knew CVV would be. I was wrong. He may be the real deal. The Tour is basically over (for yellow jersey purposes) now, so it will be fun to watch the maneuvering for the podium.


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## WAZCO (Sep 16, 2004)

Coolhand said:


> Thought for sure he would be dropped like I knew CVV would be. I was wrong. He may be the real deal. The Tour is basically over (for yellow jersey purposes) now, so it will be fun to watch the maneuvering for the podium.


I thought that was awesome too. Maybe someday the Tour will be suited more for TT and Wiggins will actually have a chance to win the Tour. Gosh i hope so.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

If there was a much longer ITT, he'd be right up there.

I'll only see and judge how he is on the Ventoux. But I'm sure he'll be right near the biggest contenders.


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## coop (Jun 8, 2008)

I made a prediction earlier this year that VDV would not be the top finisher for Garmin in the tour, I just never thought that Wiggo would be!!


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## turbogrover (Jan 1, 2006)

Congrats to Wiggins!
So, does this mean Matt White has been absolved for his alleged "personal grudge" tactics on yesterday's stage? Because he certainly made the right call.


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## izzyfly (Jul 10, 2009)

That was prolly the biggest suprise in this stage with Wiggins finishing with Frank.


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

Fun to see him do so well, for sure. He's got to be thrilled with his performance.


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## TedH (Jan 1, 1970)

The top-10 jockeying should get interesting as the TT is only 50-60min long and then Ventoux. I rode it last summer and it is steep and long, so it will be interesting watching Wiggo go up it the first time at race pace. If he can put 2min into Andy at Annecy, that will be good b/c Andy will climb like a scalded monkey on Saturday.

Pass the popcorn; this week is going to be tres interessant.

And Lance gave a respectful interview to France2 at the end of the stage saying he suffered hard, will definitely have a beer at dinner tonight and Alberto showed he is the best.


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

turbogrover said:


> Congrats to Wiggins!
> So, does this mean Matt White has been absolved for his alleged "personal grudge" tactics on yesterday's stage? Because he certainly made the right call.


Hardly. Two different things. Chasing down George did not help today in the least seeing how much time he lost today. Just made them look petty.

Wiggens looked good- intersting to see if he can hold the leaders on Ventoux. If he can CVV's days as a TdF team leader are over.


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## lookrider (Dec 3, 2006)

Coolhand said:


> Hardly. Two different things. Chasing down George did not help today in the least seeing how much time he lost today. Just made them look petty.
> 
> Wiggens looked good- intersting to see if he can hold the leaders on Ventoux. If he can CVV's days as a TdF team leader are over.


Why the heck should Garmin play into the Astana strategy? Or should I say the LA strategy because Contador made strategy irrelevant? 

LA is a great tactician but Astana got too cute. If Hincapie had gotten the yellow by a minute or two it's a completely different race. That might have been enough of a cushion to keep him there thru today, with LA still having a shot.

Hincapie rode great today considering all the crying he did yesterday and considering that Columbia would have been all juiced up today defending the yellow.

I didn't see much today but it looked like it was Astana and Liquigas up front most of the time.


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## jorgy (Oct 21, 2005)

I don't think anybody thought George would hold yellow for more than a day. But Columbia would have spent the first two-thirds of the day controlling the race and letting Astana keep energy in the tank.

Yesterday's move by Garmin was the correct move for them.


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## 88 rex (Mar 18, 2008)

jorgy said:


> Yesterday's move by Garmin was the correct move for them.


Very Very true.


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## cpark (Oct 13, 2004)

After losing almost 10kg I thought he would do well.
I had no idea he will do this well....
I think he got a shot at a podium spot.
Kind of remind me Indurain little bit......


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## zosocane (Aug 29, 2004)

turbogrover said:


> Congrats to Wiggins!
> So, does this mean Matt White has been absolved for his alleged "personal grudge" tactics on yesterday's stage? Because he certainly made the right call.


****** did make the right call. He's a second year DS, first year DS on the TdF on his own (last year he shared with JV). He's going to make mistakes, but one thing he doesn't want to screw up again is risk his big man Wiggo getting gapped. So George doesn't get to wear the Yellow Jersey for one day? Boo hoo. :cryin: George wore yellow for a day in 2006. Tough for George, but maybe his own team shouldn't have been hung up on that green jersey points competition for once.


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## bsdc (Feb 15, 2002)

I can't believe Contador didn't slow down wait for him. Wiggins could have had the yellow jersey. What was Astana thinking?


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## izzyfly (Jul 10, 2009)

cpark said:


> After losing almost 10kg I thought he would do well.
> I had no idea he will do this well....
> I think he got a shot at a podium spot.
> Kind of remind me Indurain little bit......


Wiggins lost 22 lbs? How heavy was he before?


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## lnin0 (Apr 8, 2002)

Wiggins has a good shot at 2nd if he can keep alongside of LA through the remaining mountains. I think he will take time out of LA on the ITT. Evans and Sastre are all but through. Andy has a outside chance at second but really has to fly on the mountains while everyone else has pretty bad days.


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## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

Both Wiggins and Cavendish are products of the Brit track scene where the UK pretty much cleaned up at the Beijing Olympics. Wiggins is a triple Olympic Gold Medal Winner + multi world champ medalist including several Golds, so once he put his mind to road racing it was likely that he would be pretty good. He is really talented.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

lnin0 said:


> Wiggins has a good shot at 2nd if he can keep alongside of LA through the remaining mountains. I think he will take time out of LA on the ITT. Evans and Sastre are all but through. Andy has a outside chance at second but really has to fly on the mountains while everyone else has pretty bad days.


I think more realistic is battle for third - Schleck (and Contador) should keep putting enough time into Wiggo. Nonetheless it was unbelievable ride. Makes me wonder what I could do if I could shed 20 lbs!


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## godot (Feb 3, 2004)

Great riding by Wiggins. Also, how classy was VDV in his interview, saying he doesn't have it this year, and that he's all on board to do everything he can to help Wiggins.


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## DZfan14 (Jul 6, 2009)

Coolhand said:


> Hardly. Two different things. Chasing down George did not help today in the least seeing how much time he lost today. Just made them look petty.
> 
> Wiggens looked good- intersting to see if he can hold the leaders on Ventoux. If he can CVV's days as a TdF team leader are over.



Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft. Today Matt looks like a genius. And Tony Martin isn't even in the white jersey anymore. Garmin has been nothing but honorable in looking out for their own interests. God forbid someone should actually race in a bike race. Seems to me that Garmin has taken the Highroad, and Columbia is just pouting and reading Lance's tweets.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

DZfan14 said:


> Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft. Today Matt looks like a genius. And Tony Martin isn't even in the white jersey anymore. Garmin has been nothing but honorable in looking out for their own interests. God forbid someone should actually race in a bike race. Seems to me that Garmin has taken the Highroad, and Columbia is just pouting and reading Lance's tweets.


Why exactly does Matt White look like a genius? Because Wiggins performed better than expected in the mountains?


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## cpark (Oct 13, 2004)

izzyfly said:


> Wiggins lost 22 lbs? How heavy was he before?


I think he went from 180 to 160 in a year and half or so.....


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## Monty Dog (Apr 8, 2004)

I was lucky to meet Brad earlier this year - it was in a bike shop - and he was kind enough to autograph his book which I happened to have in the car. He's going to put a couple of minutes into the Schlecks in the TT and will shadow them on the climbs. Can't see any reason why he's not going to out more time in LA either - my hope if he'll podium in Paris.


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

cpark said:


> After losing almost 10kg I thought he would do well.
> I had no idea he will do this well....
> I think he got a shot at a podium spot.
> Kind of remind me Indurain little bit......


Here is a picture of him from 2007. 
https://blogs.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/worldcup/BradleyWiggins.jpg
Which part of his body has been amputated to loose 22 pounds? 
In Beijing he was 76kg at 189cm. 65 kg @ is on the light side for sure. That would put him lighter and shorter than Gesink.


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## pretender (Sep 18, 2007)

den bakker said:


> Here is a picture of him from 2007.
> https://blogs.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/worldcup/BradleyWiggins.jpg
> Which part of his body has been amputated to loose 22 pounds?
> In Beijing he was 76kg at 189cm. 65 kg @ is on the light side for sure. That would put him lighter and shorter than Gesink.


I think he's still doing daily interviews for Velonews.

He went from being cyclist-skinny to being climber-skinny, apparently without losing hardly any power.


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## turbogrover (Jan 1, 2006)

Coolhand said:


> Hardly. Two different things. Chasing down George did not help today in the least seeing how much time he lost today. Just made them look petty.


Yeah, but the entire strategy DID work perfectly today. It's not how much time George lost, but how much time was gained by Wiggins letting Astana do the work instead of Columbia. Perhaps they knew just how good Wiggins legs were, and this gave him the best opportunity to make time. I just feel that George was the unfortunate victim. I just can't find fault in Matt White's decision to give his own team the best shot. It DID keep Columbia from riding up front and defending the Yellow.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

cpark said:


> I think he went from 180 to 160 in a year and half or so.....


I suspect the 22 lbs figure is overstated.

"I was climbing fairly well in the 2007 Tour, but I've lost seven kilos since then: 78 to 71. It's taken nine months, in little increments, without any sort of crash diet."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/jul/19/bradley-wiggins-tour-de-france

this is 15 lbs (from about 171lbs down to 156lbs), and not quite 22 - but still impressive. That's like losing a whole bike weight.

edited: and back in 2001 he was listed as 173 lbs:
http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/teamprofiles/2001/brad_wiggins.shtml
so he is not that far off his "old" weight as 21-year old.


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## moabbiker (Sep 11, 2002)

albert owen said:


> Both Wiggins and Cavendish are products of the Brit track scene where the UK pretty much cleaned up at the Beijing Olympics. Wiggins is a triple Olympic Gold Medal Winner + multi world champ medalist including several Golds, so once he put his mind to road racing it was likely that he would be pretty good. He is really talented.


Also note that JV stated how Wiggins was always more of an aerobic power track rider to begin with, compared to the other guys who go anaerobic on the track. That makes a world of difference on the kind of riding he did today.


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## Maximus_XXIV (Nov 10, 2008)

Coolhand said:


> Hardly. Two different things. Chasing down George did not help today in the least seeing how much time he lost today. Just made them look petty.
> 
> Wiggens looked good- intersting to see if he can hold the leaders on Ventoux. If he can CVV's days as a TdF team leader are over.


It kept Columbia from chasing at all and left Astana in the wind for much of the stage. This forum needs to take off the American rose colored glasses.


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## DZfan14 (Jul 6, 2009)

How much time can Wiggo realistically take out of Andy Schleck at Lake Annecy? I think Brad can maintain his climbing form if he stays relaxed, recovers well and takes it day by as he is planning to, but I don't harbor any illusions about him taking time from Andy in the climbs that remain. I think if Brad can hang on and finish third then that would be pretty awesome.


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## Maximus_XXIV (Nov 10, 2008)

55x11 said:


> I think more realistic is battle for third - Schleck (and Contador) should keep putting enough time into Wiggo. Nonetheless it was unbelievable ride. Makes me wonder what I could do if I could shed 20 lbs!


Wiggins to something like 30 seconds out of LA on a cat 1 climb. Lance is going to do well to keep a top 5.


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

DZfan14 said:


> How much time can Wiggo realistically take out of Andy Schleck at Lake Annecy? I think Brad can maintain his climbing form if he stays relaxed, recovers well and takes it day by as he is planning to, but I don't harbor any illusions about him taking time from Andy in the climbs that remain. I think if Brad can hang on and finish third then that would be pretty awesome.


He took 40 seconds on the 15k stage 1 TT. 2:15 would be my guess.


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## DZfan14 (Jul 6, 2009)

55x11 said:


> Why exactly does Matt White look like a genius? Because Wiggins performed better than expected in the mountains?


That was hyperbole on my part. He definitely looks smart. All these wild arguments that they wasted energy pushing the pace because a few riders who aren't even in GC contention worked their way into the rotation seem totally groundless at this point.


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## Italophile (Jun 11, 2004)

How good has Wiggins been on climbs in the past? I don't recall _ever_ seeing him anywhere near the front group on any climb of any race, but maybe I just didn't mark him. Maybe he does have an Indurain-scale aerobic engine, and merely needed to learn technique, shed a few pounds, but.... It's a huge surprise to me.

If Wiggins really is that good aerobically, then Andy Schleck will probably not finish on the podium. Armstrong and/or Klöden will stay near enough to Andy on Ventoux, and crush him in the TT along with Wiggo and many others. Schleck will be fourth at best in Paris. ...Which is pretty dang good!

I still don't get Wiggo, though! Where has he been? ...He did beat 20-year-old Andy Schleck on a couple of climbs in Stage 8 of the 2005 Tour de l'Avenir. Hmm. That looks like his entire climbing resume until this Tour. Weird.


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## Jokull (Aug 13, 2007)

Italophile said:


> How good has Wiggins been on climbs in the past? I don't recall _ever_ seeing him anywhere near the front group on any climb of any race, but maybe I just didn't mark him. Maybe he does have an Indurain-scale aerobic engine, and merely needed to learn technique, shed a few pounds, but.... It's a huge surprise to me.
> 
> If Wiggins really is that good aerobically, then Andy Schleck will probably not finish on the podium. Armstrong and/or Klöden will stay near enough to Andy on Ventoux, and crush him in the TT along with Wiggo and many others. Schleck will be fourth at best in Paris. ...Which is pretty dang good!
> 
> I still don't get Wiggo, though! Where has he been? ...He did beat 20-year-old Andy Schleck on a couple of climbs in Stage 8 of the 2005 Tour de l'Avenir. Hmm. That looks like his entire climbing resume until this Tour. Weird.


Wiggins has never really _tried _in a Grand Tour before. He's said himself that up until this year, he's "played" at being a road cyclist, whilst focusing on the track. I do remember a few years ago (2006?) watching him drag one of his teammates back up to the front group on a climb - he ripped through the peloton, got whichever Cofidis teammate he was working for back into contention, then sat up.

I think that it is a little under appreciated just how good a pursuit rider Wiggins is - he's probably one of the greatest pursuiters ever, and although I suspect that many people think that more or less any road rider could take up pursuiting and become succesful right away, I don't think that's the case. He's also obviously a world-class (but not the very best) time-trialler.

All that said, his transformation this year is amazing to see. I really hope he manages to keep his position all the way to Paris - venturing into unknown territory like this means there's always the possibly of a bad day. It would be so cool if he could go into the TT looking to _gain _time on the other GC riders.


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## cpark (Oct 13, 2004)

den bakker said:


> Here is a picture of him from 2007.
> https://blogs.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/worldcup/BradleyWiggins.jpg
> Which part of his body has been amputated to loose 22 pounds?
> In Beijing he was 76kg at 189cm. 65 kg @ is on the light side for sure. That would put him lighter and shorter than Gesink.


I said ALMOST 10 KG, not 10 kg.
Here is the article where it says he went from 180 to 160, that would be 9.080177971488241 KG........almost 10kg

https://www.velonews.com/article/95081


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## cpark (Oct 13, 2004)

55x11 said:


> I suspect the 22 lbs figure is overstated.
> 
> "I was climbing fairly well in the 2007 Tour, but I've lost seven kilos since then: 78 to 71. It's taken nine months, in little increments, without any sort of crash diet."
> 
> ...


20lbs....
http://www.velonews.com/article/95081


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## jlgoodin78 (Dec 13, 2007)

Wiggins has raced so well in this tour because of one little secret: he races day by day. If CVV raced every day day by day he'd be in better position in this tour day by day. It's important that in each stage you race day by day because day by day you can't predict what's going to happen 2 or 3 days away, but day by day you have the chance to race day by day and race your day by day race.

I couldn't believe how many times Wiggins said the phrase "day by day" in a 90 second interview. I thought my TV had a skip in the audio!

But, teasing of Wiggins aside, he did have an amazing stage today. I would never have expected his performance to be so strong thus far.


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

cpark said:


> 20lbs....
> http://www.velonews.com/article/95081


somehow the weight might have been there.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/slipstreamsports/3434625727/
From Paris-Roubaix this year.


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