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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.
Latest Comments
- andystow 8 min 28 sec ago
At least one of my local Aldis has a nice stainless bike rack, but it can't be seen from inside the shop.
- Legin 10 min 9 sec ago
It's a little known fact that she models her person on that 1970's toy, "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down".
- Patrick9-32 55 min 36 sec ago
Annnnnnnd the twitter account is gone. I am guessing there were some awkward conversations in the Froome household this morning....
- don simon fbpe 1 hour 8 min ago
An end of season used pro bike for £1500 is affordable, just choose the rider carefully.
- lesterama 1 hour 35 min ago
Not an advertorial, and you've not used one yet, but:
- Flâneur 1 hour 47 min ago
From a population density 6 times higher?...
- bobbinogs 1 hour 47 min ago
Corrected that for you
- Secret_squirrel 4 hours 40 min ago
You do get that there will be no material differences between the 2 right? Apart from 150g (1/3 of a poo or a 1/3 of a water bottle full) or so or...
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47 comments
Froome's too far behind to win the tour in any case. If there was a 40" difference this would be interesting. Froome will do what he's told and win La Vuelta. Wiggins won't attack anywhere. He likes a constant pace. That's why Froome had to back off. From a sports science point of view it's the best option. Stay on the saddle, keep it steady. It saves energy. Evans didn't attack last year and he was still a worthy winner. Brad will be as well, (barring accidents).
Are you suggesting that if Froome had continued his attack he wouldn't have beaten Wiggins to the line? Not sure even Mrs W would have said that.
ps on the spat I love Millar's comments.
I always thought 'Wiggo' was an unimaginative nickname. He likes his music, so how about 'Ringo', as in, 'Is Ringo Starr the best drummer in the world?...'
Nice one, wild man - subtle but very funny, if you know the original reference
A lot has been said about this but nothing is said about TJ leaving Evans and having to be told to slow down for the current tour champion
Or is it because they are both British and we are again trying to find fault where there is none ?
There's the real story!
Tony, there is a sensible part of my brain telling me to leave this debate alone...oops...I must have damaged the sensible bit last time I fell off...
...as I have already pointed out, I am a big fan and avid reader of road.cc, and usually I find the reporting of a high standard (in fact it was your - I think - video review of the Betty Leeds which led me to buying one!). I rarely post, however, I did in this instance because I felt strongly that the decision to run this story a a separate piece was a mistake. It was very obvious from the title what the piece was about, however, I read it to make sure before commenting. I hope you would agree that is not lazy commenting.
You (and Dave) are also right about the fact that I could have spared myself and simply ignored it, but the 'if you don't like it, don't read it' argument is a bit flimsy and somewhat defencive and makes one feel that you're not really entitled to challenge the the decision made to run the piece, or any other piece for that matter.
With regards to is it news or not, I have already agreed it is, I personally find it a poor example of news. With regards to all the interest the piece has had, well I suspect the interest is now more about this debate than the actual content of the piece.
As to this 'knowledge' being restricted to twitter, well, twitter is open to everyone and is fully in the public domain so it's hardly restricted.
Lastly, what really gets under my skin is why, (and it does seem to be something we Brits do very well), do we have to start undermining our sporting heroes just as they are on the brink of something great by giving credence and fuel to silly stories like this.
From the Cycle Sport article about Sky at the Dauphine in 2011:
"Earlier in the day, Sutton had said that if he had his way, he’d ban the riders and staff using Twitter. “You make a negative story if you ban it so it’s not worth it. But last year a few things got said that weren’t the image we wanted to project. We’ve told the riders, you’ve gotta be careful.”"
Stumps - different situation, Evans was having a bad day and just couldn't go with Van Garderen, different to the overhead shots of Froome absolutely launching himself (whatever the reason behind that was).
It's not a case of anyone trying to drive a wedge between the riders or undermine British success - well not us anyway, though some others might - but it was a very strange incident between riders lying 1 and 3 on GC and where you also have the backstory of what happened on the Vuelta.
There are a lot of people out there who believe that Froome would have won that race if Sky had focused on him once he was in the jersey.
And this wouldn't be the first time by any means that a junior rider on a team had ambushed a leader on the Tour - plenty of examples throughout the race's history.
On Eurosport yesterday, after watching the replay a few times, David Harmon was absolutely adamant that it couldn't have been anything other than an attack - we've stopped short of saying that, it's one possible explanation of several. Who knows if we'll ever find out what really happened?
I'm puzzled though djm778 why you think talking about this will undermine our sporting heroes?
I don't see that anything in this story, or in the comments below can be seen as undermining our sporting heroes - because it's all stuff they surely know already.
It's not telling us anything their wife and girlfriend weren't broadcasting on Twitter to their many thousands of followers and saying to them in private. Incidentally I think it's a good thing that Cath Wiggins and Michelle Cound feel free to air their feelings on Twitter and their partners obviously don't have a problem with it either.
There's also the point that Wiggins and Froome aren't necessarily heros to every British cycling fan, just the same as every italian doesn't like Nibali, and not every Australian is an Evans fan.
I'm sure Wiggins knows well enough that some British cycling fans prefer Froome, and I'm sure he's know for years that some British cycling don't like him for whatever reason - that's the way sports fans are. Similarly when I chose to run the piece I knew some people wouldn't like it, but I also knew that that wasn't a good enough reason not to run a strong news story… and anyway, I like a good debate
Hope you're still enjoying the Betty Leeds - lovely bike and a shame there won't be any more of them.
tony
your wrong this is a non story fit for ok hello or the sun not what is expected of a series sport site it demeans your site and who amongst proper fans gives a S... what a WAG has to say in their bid for self-publicity
Simon i wasnt having a pop at yourself, far from it as i enjoy reading the articles you produce. What i meant was that something quite minor in the big picture of things provokes quite a bit of controversy in this country when other minor points - such as the evans / tj incident rarely get a mention. I know the Evans / tj incident was different but there was nothing said about it other than a quick comment on Eurosport. Harman was possibly right about it being an attack but with only a couple of Kms left i dont believe it would have done any real damage and the whoever the DS in the car was has panicked and told Froome to stop. I personally hope it doesnt make any difference in the GC standings come the end of the tour.
Anyway you cant beat 2 lasses having a good old beef about their hubbies can we
My only opinion on the matter too. He is batting well above his average there. Good on him.
We're not a sports site watercrook we're a news and reviews site about cycling, all aspects of it. So if a similar story comes along we'll run it.
As for who amongst proper fans gives a shit? Well, the stats for this story suggest that quite a lot of cycling fans are do indeed give a shit, or maybe they're not proper cycling fans?
All of this stuff has always gone on in cycling… the only difference is now you can read about it straight away (if you want to) rather than waiting for someone's memoirs a few years down the line. Oh, and if you lived in a country where cycling was a bigger sport this sort of stuff would be in the media all the time.
I wish my life was so simple that I could justify giving over my free time to following Mrs Wiggins on this "Twitter" thing.
Good article. Thanks.
As a professional journalist I just want to weigh in and say that of course road.cc were right to run this article. If something cycling related has occurred, then why not report it? Doesn't matter whether it's reporting positive or negative news, high or low minded subject matter, it's whether it's true or not that is important. Writers should not be made afraid of a backlash from readers who think they are above tittle-tattle.
And it's a good article.
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