"Gutted" - Sir Bradley Wiggins confirms he won't ride Tour de France

When Bradley won the tour in 2012 I thought it would be a nice gesture if he helped Froome win it in 2013 but if Froome has purposely prevented him from taking part then it seems clear to me that Froome is just a a$$hole and a weak minded one at that.

Brad is our first winner of the Tour and he has never had the opportunity to defend his title.

Do Sky believe all 8 of the other riders in the team are stronger than a previous tour winner? Brad needs to get himself out of Sky at the first opportunity.

Good article in The Guardian about it all.
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/jun/06/sky-limit-sir-bradley-...

I still can't work out why people are getting so emotional about it all. You pick the best team to do the job. Same in any walk of life.

What I don't understand is why Wiggins was allowed, if indeed he was, to go to the media to tell of his omission before any teams have been announced. Odd that it's about the same time as Froomes book is due out.

Perhaps all the froome haters should read this thread and take note of what DB said .....proves my earlier point that wiggo is diplomatically spitting the dummy out ....again!

http://road.cc/content/news/120735-geraint-thomas-says-he-doesnt-envy-br...

The tdf is devalued without Wiggo in it!

Hmm? I suspect that there is more to it than a straight out "We don't need you" from Team Sky.

Are we sure that Wiggo won't be there soley because CF does not want him there, or because Wiggo is also not quite towing with line?

Perhaps the good knight asked that (like LA on his comeback on the same team as Contador?) he not be required to *solely support* but also be allowed to go for the win if in the lead.

I know that Wiggo said he would support CF, but 100%? Any past winner of the tour would find a 100% support role a little irksome methinks.

Even Wiggo is not pledging 100% servitude, personally I wish that like the LA/Contador thing they allow a bit of friction in Team Sky, because I love Wiggo.

If it should transpire that it is really just a case of CF saying "No Wiggo, not even as my slaverider (soigneur?)," then I guess that even us Brits will hoping he gets loads of flat tyres! Boo!

'If you mean me ( I think it was me that made that comment first) it was spelled correctly.'

so perhaps I meant someone else? Not a difficult one, that.

'I still can't work out why people are getting so emotional about it all. '

Yeah. Sports fans getting emotional. What's all that about. Anyone would think they enjoyed cycling rather than just treating it as a business.

I am currently massively gutted about this but have since cheered up thinking that he will lead the squad in the Vuelta D'Espana.

You cant comfortably have two GC contenders in a team, just think of the Armstrong/Contador controversy at Astana.

Hopefully Froome will Pi$$ off in search of more dollar next year.

I reckon that Michelle Cound should put her legs where her mouth is and get herself a bike and get into the Sky squad for the tour. Brailsford will probably let her have a go. Last 'man' in the string before Froome!

Seriously though, the Cound is most likely to be the stealth-bomber behind all the unrest at Sky, rather than Froome himself.

Wiggo, get out of Sky as soon as you can and try to take your loyal lieutenants with you.

I wonder why this interview wasn't on Sky news

Brailsford will live to regret this I think. As much as Brad is a bit of a bellend, he's clearly back to near top form at the moment and would bring more to the team than a lot of the other rumoured squad. Letting personal politics get in the way of taking the best team possible to le tour is a mistake. Either Brailsford is loosing his touch, or Froome has him so tightly wrapped around his finger that he's been able to veto riding with Brad through fear of an internal challenge for 'his' malliot juane.

Having watched the video I think he comes across well. He is polite, sensible and seems to be honest about the situation. As for Froome, I don't see any issue with him. He seems a little less interesting a character than Wiggins but that's by the by, as for exciting racing. I think his attacks on the hills last year were far more interesting than watching the whole Sky team ride tempo up the hills to keep Wiggins safe from attacks.

I like his anorak

Stay tuned for more insightful cycling analysis from me - coming up after this short commercial break.

Anybody else noticed that Sergio Henao is currently listed in the Sky Team start list for TdF?

http://www.procyclingstats.com/race/Tour_de_France_2014-Startlist

Is he back on the roster?

So you spelled it correctly, but another person spelled it incorrectly and you think for some reason that the spelling correction was aimed at you?

I bet you think Carly Simon wrote a song about you.

I think Wiggins is playing this really well. I've noticed, though, that he keeps chucking in (including on the BBC this morning) the comment that Froome has the right to be there and lead as defending champion. Now, we all know how things panned out in the end last year and with injuries and what not Wiggins wasn't in a position to go to the TDF and defend, but there was no way Froome was going to afford him the same right.

I think Froome has pushed it too far in (what I believe is) his attempts to ensure the team is his call, i.e. not including Wiggins. I'm all for backing all the Brits but he's making it bloody hard this year to back him.

Regardless of whether you prefer Wiggins or Froome, this is a potential PR disaster for Team Sky.

People keep on saying its just business - but this is about as personal as it gets. Cycling is about marketing, and there are many many fans of Wiggo who will be disappointed by this.

Cycling is about the fans and Froome and Team Sky clearly aren't giving them enough consideration.

I doubt this will go away. TDF history will say that Froome didnt let Wiggins ride the tour.

Tbh considering that less than a week ago db put it to media that nothings set in stone around the tdf squad of 13/14 provisional riders then I think this is def a case ,like 2013, of wiggo taking himself out of the squad because he will have to ride for froome, all be it this time a lot more diplomatically than back then when he really did throw his toys out and didn't want to ride for anyone other than himself

I just can't believe what I am reading, if anything happens to Froome where is the 'Ace in the Hole' ?

I just can't believe what I am reading, if anything happens to Froome where is the 'Ace in the Hole' ?

Zzzzzzzzzz.

I don't really care about the theological arguments about personalities, I'm just very sad that one of our greatest cyclists will not be participating in the greatest road race when it is spending a rare few days in England.

Taken the gloss off the TdF for me.

Bollox..... Sky have lost a massive PR hit there and it's a bit of a kick in the nuts for all the fans going to Yorkshire, me included

Oh well, come on Bertie

Regardless of the team strategy, leaving out a long serving iconic cyclist who's in great form just because the team captain doesn't like him is bad form and reason enough for me to hope team Sky fails miserably.

I'm disappointed, was looking forward to seeing him ride after his ToCali ride, where he looked to me very strong with what seemed a weaker team than would have been expected.

I'm sure there are a lot of other teams who will be happy he won't be in the Sky team for the tour.

Poor man management is all I can say. The fact that petulant behaviour has been tolerated and sniping has gone on for so long means that here could only be one choice and here we have it. Quite frankly it's a PR disaster.
Wiggins is and always will be the bigger draw to the crowds as the first British winner and his prior achievements need no introduction. Whatever Froome does achieve (fine cyclist that he is) denying the public why they want to see will be a massive long term own goal for which he will pay over the long term. That said, given he lives in Monaco and doesn't really pay any tax, he's probably not too worried about that.
Perhaps we have this all wrong and Brad wouldn't really play second fiddle. Anyway, it's a rubbish outcome and not seeing the best riders in the biggest race is crap.