Sir Bradley Wiggins’ debut as a competitive rower saw him deliver only a competent performance at the British Rowing Indoor Championships at the Lee Valley Velodrome. The former cyclist finished 21st out of 99 entrants in the 2km event in a time of 6m22s – 34s slower than Adam Neill who retained his title.
In the lead-up to the event, Wiggins was coached by double Olympic rowing champion James Cracknell. Speaking to The Telegraph this week, he said that a time of six minutes would be “ballsy for a first-timer but nowhere near the elite guys.”
Rocking the Bjorn-Borg-gone-feral look, Wiggins faltered momentarily early on, thinking he had false started, but recovered quickly.
#hurtlocker pic.twitter.com/dK7vFNlLIS
— Orla Chennaoui (@SkyOrla) December 9, 2017
He is unlikely to be happy with the result, having spurned the opportunity to compete in the ‘Masters’ event for 30-to-39-year-olds.
“I could’ve entered my age category and beat some bloke who works in Tesco’s during the week,” he said. “But to go up against British Olympians and try and get close to them, to see how close I can get to them, is a motivation in itself.”
Referring to Wiggins’ profile, Cracknell said: “The most requested interview on Saturday won’t be any of the rowers. It will be Brad. And if I was the press officer for British Rowing, I would want to use him to attract young kids to the sport.”
Sadly, Wiggins is reported to have left the competition area without speaking to the awaiting media.
“He’ll be hurting a lot, but he won’t leave it like that. He doesn’t want to go out on failure,” Cracknell told The Guardian. “He’ll regard that as failing to achieve his target and he’ll make sure he comes back and does it better.”
Wiggins later tweeted:
Huge disappointment today! Upon hearing a call in the background, I thought the race had false started so I put my ore down. School boy error but hey we live & learn as my plan was 6.02. Fantastic experience racing with everyone, will come back 12 months stronger next year! pic.twitter.com/xCBaNXOORI
— Brad Wiggins (@SirWiggo) December 9, 2017
42 thoughts on “Sir Bradley Wiggins finishes 21st on competitive rowing debut”
So almost in the top 1/5th.
So almost in the top 1/5th. Not bad considering. Would probably make a few people consider how good their professional standard was.
6:22 is really an average
6:22 is really an average time for a competive rower. I would expect an Olympian to be under 6:00.
It’s plausible for Wiggins to improve to below 6 minutes but I’d have thought the claimed target of 6:02 was more what they had in mind than his actual score – dropping the handle or not.
he’s a rower and this is a
he’s a rower and this is a cycling website…
OhYesWell wrote:
What is wrong with some of you people, Wiggins has done more for British cycling than just about anyone else.Have you forgotton he was the first Brit cyclist to win the TdF.He has almost single handedly made road cycling cool(even Paul Weller couldnt quite manage that back in the 80’s).
john1967 wrote:
The whole ‘jiffy bag’ thing and staying schtum about it kinda leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Just saying…
john1967 wrote:
Never knew Paul Weller was a cycling fan…
Didn’t look like Brad was trying very hard at the end there, almost as if he couldn’t be arsed.
That ore is his problem. Get
That ore is his problem. Get rid of that weight, he’ll be fine.
bendertherobot wrote:
Maybe Cracknell is having a little fun not telling him it is known simply as the handle on a ergo?
118 118
118 118
When I read about this competition a few weeks ago I must have missed an important paragraph ’cause I assumed he would be rowing, as in rowing a boat, not pillocking about on a gym floor. Is this what British sport is reduced to, simulated events in the warm and dry where there’s no danger of a collision or, even better, a sinking?
mike the bike wrote:
Certainly not a spectator sport!
mike the bike wrote:
No. You don’t watch much, do you?
mike the bike wrote:
http://africasteam.com/2014/12/31/contact/
That’s Team Dimension Data’s web site, you can send them an email and let them know what you think about Cav being on Zwift today 😉
“I could’ve entered my age
“I could’ve entered my age category and beat some bloke who works in Tesco’s during the week”
Keeping it classy I see Mr Jiffy Bag.
Needs a mystery jiffy bag pep
Needs a mystery jiffy bag pep. For his…allergies, I mean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch
He did make a mistake at the start, not enough to win but maybe top 10. Scope for improvement anyway. And that belly, he is eating for Britain at least; makes me think I might still be in ‘athlete’ shape.
Leviathan wrote:
Actually, watching that, he looks like he had a bit more to give. I think the fumble at the start will have cost him about 5-8 seconds but it being Brad, the fumble looks to have wrecked his headspace.
If there’s anything that will slow you down in an erg race it’s a lack of focus and determination.
Taking my comment earlier back – I want to see what he is actually capable of. Having said that, the field is hardly the national trials so his placing certainly doesn’t mean he’s the 21st best male rower in the country. A time like that with a fuller field would be really average.
He looked fucked, but seemed
He looked fucked, but seemed quite comfortable at the end.
I’ve some sympathy for
I’ve some sympathy for Wiggins after seeing the video. There was a very loud announcement over the tannoy telling people to put their handles down. Looked like he wasn’t trying coming up to the end which would have cost him a few more seconds.
That guy behind him, number 25, had awful technique
Madness. They’re not even
Madness. They’re not even wearing lifejackets. They are asking for it #helmetdebate
“I could’ve entered my age
“I could’ve entered my age category and beat some bloke who works in Tesco’s during the week,”
He’s so many good things to say about his fellow man.
So I take it that whats going
So I take it that whats going to happen is that hippy Wiggins gets a job at Tesco’s stacking shelves so he trains up to snuff for rowing – do Tesco have a jiffy bag policy?
“Could the elite rowers
“Could the elite rowers gather over here, please? Not you, fat Jesus.”
Obviously poor Bradley is not
Obviously poor Bradley is not up to par, it was misleading when announced that he was turning to rowing. Never expected it to be just a warm up excerise competition.
He should bow out gracefully under the cloud of the Jiffy bag saga.
Quit while you’re ahead Bradley.
I wouldn’t knock him for
I wouldn’t knock him for trying. Was anyone actually claiming he was the next James Cracknell?
And he’s probably better at rowing than he was at cyclo-cross:
Guys, you’re turning these
Guys, you’re turning these comment threads into a copy of those on cycling weekly.
Let that be a warning to you.
Quote:
If he plans on being an elite rower, knowing how to spell a key piece of equipment (and let’s face it, there are only two vital bits) might help.
When his next tweet takes about the “bote” sinking we’ll know that he was just playing at it.
Richard D wrote:
If he plans on being an elite rower, knowing how to spell a key piece of equipment (and let’s face it, there are only two vital bits) might help.
When his next tweet takes about the “bote” sinking we’ll know that he was just playing at it.
I think you’ll find that blade is the correct term but having said that he wasn’t actually in a boat anyway so I guess it’s just a handle of some sort really.
psling wrote:
Cleaver at Olympic level
Richard D wrote:
Don’t talk such rowlocks.
People are harsh on here eh ?
People are harsh on here eh ?
He clearly didn’t empty the tank on that. What would be the point after the mistake ? Not a true reflection. I’m sure he’ll bounce back and show what he can do.
fenix wrote:
Yep. It saves them having to face up to their own weaknesses and failings. It says more about them than about Wiggins or whoever it is they’re dissing.
He will have trained harder in 1 year than most of us would bother doing in 10 lifetimes.
Simon E wrote:
Yep. It saves them having to face up to their own weaknesses and failings. It says more about them than about Wiggins or whoever it is they’re dissing.
He will have trained harder in 1 year than most of us would bother doing in 10 lifetimes.— fenix
At least give Lance a credit when you’re going to rip off his work.
Jackson wrote:
Ha ha, that’ll be the day!
Er… Google translate doesn
Er… Google translate doesn’t appear to know what you’re on about…
no surprise to be honest, he
no surprise to be honest, he looked nowhere near in shape in that video and his upper body lacking. Sure he might have lost a couple of seconds but there wasn’t even a full compliment at this event and he hasn’t even got on the water yet. Some of the best ERG numbers particularly in llightweight have come nowhere on the water.
Cracknell must surely have being trying to inflate his own ego or simply pushing his own share value (& that of his client) by saying what he did, how he couldn’t know where Wiggins was given his numbers in the summer which were an absolute mile off (I looked them up yesterday) is anyone’s guess.
On the ERG you should be looking for around 5:50 for an Elite time (2s slower then the winner).
That he didn’t hang around for the media shows yet again that Crackhead hasn’t got a fucking clue and Wiggins is a twat. I hope now that he knocks it on the head and goes and does something away from sport in a competitive environment.
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
They both speak very highly of you…
The British Lance Armstrog is
The British Lance Armstrog is still only a fraction of the genuine article.
Skylark wrote:
I don’t think either of them have admitted to taking drugs and they have a full compliment of bollocks…
J H Christ!
J H Christ!
You guys are brutal on a guy who wants to challenge himself.
Remember he is coming from a sport which makes the riders shrink their upper bodies as much as possible to a sport where the best guys look like some kind of gorilla.
I don’t know if the muscle/anaeobic/strength package is adaptable at all, but he is trying.
The fact that he didn’t want to talk to media after a disappointing performance says a lot about his competitive fire. The fact that he wants to be a beginner and accomplish as much as he can is admirable and something I try to do myself.
Don’t chide people for being a beginner at a sport! Working toward a goal is the objective that gets people to greatness….and to personally satisfying endeavours.
remy1234 wrote:
[quote=remy1234]
[quote]Don’t chide people for being a beginner at a sport! Working toward a goal is the objective that gets people to greatness….and to personally satisfying endeavours[quote]
All true. But most beginners have the humility to start at the bottom, and not tell the world that they are going to be great and get the press to come and watch. They also don’t sneer at their fellow beginners, amateurs and shelf stackers.
Meanwhile I note that the second British tdf winner also has been having issues with his asthma medication….
cleaver at pretty much any
cleaver at pretty much any level these days, but ‘handle’ is correct on an erg…