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news
Twitter logoTeam Sky WAGs show the strain as the Tour hots up… on Twitter
Emotions run high in the heat of battle in a major stage race and things can be said that might be better left unsaid… it can get pretty stressful on the bike too, but out there on Twitter everybody can hear you scream, especially when you've got 6,543 followers and the person who shouts back has 2,662. On the social network, one unguarded remark can set of a chain reaction unimagined when you hit the return key in the heat of the moment. Such was the case today when Cath Wiggins, wife of Bradley, and Michelle Cound, Chris Froome's girlfriend became embroiled in a what for all the world looked like a Twitter-spat moments after the two riders crossed the finish line on Stage 11.
Clearly, many of the people who follow both women on Twitter do so because of who their partners are, and many weren’t shy in chipping in with their own opinions in response to those tweets – it is, after all, a public forum. As a result, the episode took on a life of its own, to the bemusement of some and amusement of others – David Milar, watching from the sidelines, tweeted, “Oh SNAP! Sky have WAG WAR on Twitter. This shit just got real.”
The comments followed a gripping conclusion to the stage, with Froome riding away from team mate and maillot jaune Wiggins just after the pair had closed down a move from Vincenzo Nibali, with defending champion Cadel Evans already dropped. Shortly after his sudden acceleration, Froome slowed right down, pressing the radio button under his jersey, we’re guessing because someone – Wiggins, or sports director Sean Yates? – was screaming in his ear. Wiggins, perhaps diplomatically, said afterwards that it was difficult to hear over the sound of the crowd.
Froome would finish third in the stage, just ahead of Nibali and Wiggins, and immediately afterwards, Froome’s girlfriend tweeted: “Beyond disappointed…,” adding, “I know what happened just then.”
In another tweet a few minutes later, she continued: “If you want loyalty, get a Froome dog… a quality I value… although being taken advantage of by others!”
Mrs Wiggins, who earlier had tweeted with unwitting prescience, “Down tools everyone, the merde is about to hit the fan #whatgoesdownmustgoup,” tweeted after the stage – and after Ms Cound’s tweet about “loyalty” – “See Mick Rogers and Richie Porte for examples of genuine, selfless effort and true professionalism.”
That tweet was immediately retweeted by Ms Cound, prefaced by the word, “Typical!”
The tweets attracted attention from many Twitter users, with several picking up the fact that Froome’s name was missing from Mrs Wiggins’ tweet; she replied to one by saying, “I am sure he [Froome] gave everything he had too,” and to another by pointing out, “Mick and Richie's efforts will not really be acknowledged in the news, that's all.”
To Ms Cound’s comment of ‘Typical!” she replied, “It is true they rode their hearts out today.”
One Twitter user asked Mrs Wiggins, “Telling choice of phrase. Please tell me there are not any genuine issues between our 2 british heroes?!” to which there came the less than unequivocal response, “I only know Bradley and there certainly is not from him.”
As we said, the tweets and the reaction to them could simply reflect emotions running high at the end of the day’s racing – certainly, subsequent ones made by Mrs Wiggins suggest that’s the way she sees things – or it could be that it’s a sign that Froome and Wiggins view each other more as potential rivals than team mates; there’s no way of telling for sure, and as the maillot jaune’s wife herself points out, “I think people read far too much into 140 characters sometimes.”
In answer to the inevitable question, ‘is it news,’ we’d say it certainly is; it’s not every day that you have two British riders leading the Tour de France, with their partners taking to a public forum to give their version of events to followers running in both cases into the thousands, if nothing else it’s a glimpse of the tension that those closest to the men chasing the sport’s biggest prize feel, and moreover one unfiltered by a team’s PR machine. Similarly, Mark Cavendish’s girlfriend Peta Todd took to Twitter last week to bemoan the lack of protection he was receiving after he was caught up in a crash.
We expect both women’s accounts will be monitored particularly keenly by fans as the race progresses for any other signs of tension, and in the meantime perhaps the best third-party tweet on the episode came from cycling writer Richard Moore, author of Slaying The Badger, who said: “Just trying to imagine the Kathy LeMond / Martine Hinault exchange had twitter been around during @1986Tour.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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47 comments
I don't see why this isn't news! It will be increasing the likelihood of tension between Wiggo and Froome, and that's both relevant to the racing and interesting.
Thing is, I can't see that Froome did anything disloyal - he put the hammer down, thinking they could drop Nibali, got it wrong, realised he'd got over-excited and slowed right down again. It was hardly disastrous. What I find interesting is all the talk about how fragile Wiggo is and how he's been very forceful about his teammates roles, but the person who should be calming him down (his wife) is actually stirring it up!
Anyway, pro cycling is always as interesting for it's politics and personality clashes as it is for sporting endeavour - each contributes to and enhances the other, and that's what makes it such a complicated and intriguing sport. Don't ignore the politics road.cc!
This IS DEFINITELY NEWS and thank you for reporting it. Oh to be a fly on the wall in the Sky bus
Now, the thing is this: where the hell does Cav fit in if Sky have 2 riders capable of winning grand tours? Say they chuck Froome-dog a tilt at the Vuelta, or the Giro next year, who the hell is going to lead out Cav? And in what races? The man lives for the Tour, and deprived of this platform he is not likely to keep schtum for long. And to my knowledge, all 3 are under contracts of decent length with Sky. Personally I wonder whether what goes around will come around, and having bullied Garmin into releasing Wiggins, Sky will see some of their biggest stars looking to break their contracts and head out the door. Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians, people were saying over the winter, and that was before Froome-dog started pummeling the peloton into submission on la Planche des Belles Filles 
Yes, I agree about that aspect of Twitter too Martin, although of course if you delete the Tweet that's a good way of signalling that maybe you've thought better of your initial reaction. As for damaging Sky's esprit de corps? I'm not sure, these tweets are only people expressing feelings that would anyway be reflected in private, I'm not sure that us knowing about them makes that much difference - maybe I'm wrong?
Maybe you're right Tony - can't help thinking it's easier to patch up differences when they've been aired in private though. But as someone else said (too lazy to check who), it's all a bit of a storm in a teacup isn't it? Froome didn't show any disloyalty, just a tiny bit of entirely understandable frustration - and only that when he had a mic shoved in his mush two minutes after finishing. I don't think there's anything to see here...time to move on. Agree that Brad needs to show us what he's got at some point though - if only to cock a snook at his new best mate Nibali
It is news and road.cc is right to run the story, but it also highlights an aspect of Twitter that I find a bit unfortunate: the instant public outlet it offers for feelings that would otherwise dissipate a bit, more often than not.
I bet thousands of tweeters have regretted stuff they've said and wished there was a way of unsaying it. It's all good juicy fun for us on the sidelines...let's just hope it doesn't do anything to mess up Sky's esprit de corps. It's going to be hard enough to win the Tour without internal strife innit?
I can't help thinking though, that if I were either of them, I wouldn't want something said in public that I didn't agree with - the last thing you would need is to be ringing your missus asking her to lay off arguing with your mate's missus because it's making things awkward at the dinner table.
who gives a $hit about these silly squabbling women? pathetic!
'Cage fighting' in the Twittersphere', very interesting.
I have to say Miss Cound does have a point - Froome looked like he could have ridden away. If Wiggins wins then he has only won because of the massive amount of work done by the rest of the team. Also Wiggins has had reported issues in the past with working for other people in a team.
Ms Todd also has a point any partner would not be happy to see their loved one smashed up in a crash- (even mine I think) Cav also happens to be World Champ and the action is live on TV. I think Ms Todd might have been expecting a bit more help for World Champ as I did.
Also Mr Wiggins could take a lesson from Cav in how to thank your team mates in public.
Yes, that's how cycling works . . .
Definitely is news ... love it!
It was a deliberate scam to make other teams think there is a problem, just like the apparent weakness shown in St 7.
It's the job of the press to report this as a story, because it is… as that TV reporter told Dave Brailsford when Brailsford said exactly the same thing outside the team bus after the stage.
Hmmm. I reckon Froome, on another team, would be Wiggy's biggest rival. But he's on the same team and knows the score. He knows *exactly* what his job is and I hope Sky (and Wiggy) repay him in a future GT. Sure, there's precedent (Hinault/Lemond anyone?) but the press are *desperate* to make this a story. Sadly for them, Wiggy and Froome don't seem to be co-operating.
Sorry it's interesting and it's news,or do you just want us to pretend that slightly awkward stuff like this doesn't happen and keep it a secret known only to Cath Wiggins and Michelle Cound and their 9000 followers on Twitter and the exponential number of followers of their followers? Oh, plus the tens of thousands that follow David Millar.
And btw I think both Mrs Wiggins and Ms Cound have every right to say whatever they like, on message or off, it makes a refreshing change from the anodyne pap provided by the teams.
If there are any more rows on Twitter you'll be reading about them here too.
+1 @some fella; road.cc please do not buy into this kind of reporting, very disappointing!
Come on road.cc! You are better than this. Not only is this not news but it does nothing but sustain the unnecessary focus on a perceived 'tension' within the (winning) Sky Team.
Lazy journalism and not welcome.
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