Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

OPINION

Will Bradley Wiggins win the Tour dr France?

Seeing the pictures on the newly launched Team Sky official website (the supporters site here is well worth a look too by the way) started me dreaming... could this year be the year a Briton wins the Tour de France?

My initial thoughts were sadly not. Despite the clearly glitzy launch (which no doubt Dave and Tony are enjoying a prawn sandwich at right now!!) I cannot see where the riders are to support Bradley Wiggins to the yellow jersey are.

In addition I cannot see where he will gain time on Contador, or certainly enough of it to defend his position in the mountains.

So for me Bradley will not be a grand tour winner in 2010.

 

Add new comment

12 comments

Avatar
Karbon Kev | 14 years ago
0 likes

I doubt very much if he'll win it but it would be nice to see him on the podium somewhere. I don't think he's ready for a Grand tour win yet anyway. Same goes for Cav.

Avatar
kittyfondue | 14 years ago
0 likes

I agree that Twiggo doesn't have the team around him to win. Team Sky can talk as big and bad as they want but they really don't have the depth of team to help carry a guy through the Tour at the top of the GC - and it's their first year and with all the hoopla about Team Sky, the peloton is going to be watching them very carefully. I think it's strange that everyone seems to think Sky are going to sweep every race they're in! I believe they'll have a harder adjustment than they think.

For the Tour they're going against Contador (who won last year without Astana's help, he can very well do it again); RadioShack (you can never ever discount Lance, no matter how old and unexplosive he is in the mountains - he has cunning and guile to carry him a long way); and SaxoBank with the Schlecks, who have the mighty Jens Voight and the phenomenal Cancellara (be still my beating heart) to put down the hurt before the climbers do their stuff. Add to that, a rider that comes out of nowhere to surprise us (there's always one!) and then there's Garmin.

Although I don't see VandeVelde as a real contender, Twiggo said some ungracious things (the 'playing for Wigan' comment) about a team that only ever supported him when he was nothing on the road. I'm not a Garmin fan at all but I thought the whole 'will he won't he, I will, I won't, oh look, I did' garbage that was played out before he signed was pretty ridiculous. Garmin seem to hold grudges so I wonder if they will try to hinder his chances like they did when they were ordered to chase down Hincapie so that he couldn't take the yellow jersey during one of the stages last year. Just a thought. The peloton can be harsh ...

Avatar
AndyyK | 14 years ago
0 likes

I think Team Sky will learn quickly. And the management are in the kind of scientific mode that Lance has had behind him. If they get the mould right, you just never know, and Wiggo is certainly someone the younger lads will be able to learn off.

And who says Astana will be able to support Contador without the support he's had in the past? Although his sheer ability up the mountains will be difficult to beat.

Avatar
James Warrener | 14 years ago
0 likes

Froome...

... remember where you heard it first.

(or maybe second as I must have read it somewhere to have arrived at this conclusion!)

Avatar
DaSy | 14 years ago
0 likes

I would have thought that Boasson Hagen is a better bet for GC than Wiggins. He will be missing some major support from the likes of Millar, Vande Velde, Zabriskie and Martin who all know their way around a Grand Tour.

Avatar
Tony Farrelly | 14 years ago
0 likes

Missed the prawn sandwiches JTC, but there is an excellent selection of cakes…

Avatar
Tony Farrelly | 14 years ago
0 likes

That was just after some bloke from one of the big papers asked him if he was going to win the Tour this year… apparently he might was the gist, to be fair the emphasis seemed to be more on the 'might'

Avatar
Tony Farrelly | 14 years ago
0 likes

yeah, Wiggo is at the table opposite in the "media area" apparently there going to be a lot less shooting from the hip now he's at Sky… I'll save some space on the recorder then

Avatar
Jon Burrage | 14 years ago
0 likes

I would love to see Wiggo climb onto the podium but I just cant see it, as JTC suggests, sky just dont seem to have the firepower he enjoyed as support at Garmin. Time will tell though.

Avatar
dave atkinson | 14 years ago
0 likes

yes indeed. he's probably hobnobbing with wiggo et al right now.

Avatar
James Warrener | 14 years ago
0 likes

gutted!!!

So has Tony gone then?

Avatar
dave atkinson | 14 years ago
0 likes

No prawn sandwiches for me. someone's got to sit on the turbo trainer generator that keeps the site going. 'pedal powered' isn't just a clever strapline you know  1

Latest Comments