That's Entertainment: Bradley Wiggins reinvents the post-race press conference (+ video)

pwake wrote:

Tour winners are selfish, they're team leaders, the team is there for them. It can't be any other way and never has been.

Well, at the Tour, yes, but other leaders have been prepared to ride as domestiques in other races to show their appreciation to their team-mates (Hinault gives examples of him doing so in his book). And when it was the last day of the Tour, and Wiggo wasn't going to win it, and he had nothing else to save his legs for, he could have pulled for Farrar, couldn't he?

It seems that he's changed his attitude a bit though - he rode brilliantly for Cav at the World's last year and he's been thanking the team in a more Cav-like way at races this year. And yes, it's nice to see someone with a little character give the journalists a bit of a hard time when they can't ask anything interesting.

pwake wrote:

Tour winners are selfish, they're team leaders, the team is there for them. It can't be any other way and never has been.

I'd say its more than selfish to have the leader of the Vuelta working as his domesique as Wiggins did last year.

Though I think the main reason I can't cheer him on with any real enthusiasm was the way he joined Sky while still under contract. In my book that's breaking your word in a sport where this type of thing was sruprisingly rare (though will no doubt become more and more common).

TheHatter wrote:

pwake wrote:

Tour winners are selfish, they're team leaders, the team is there for them. It can't be any other way and never has been.

I'd say its more than selfish to have the leader of the Vuelta working as his domesique as Wiggins did last year.

Though I think the main reason I can't cheer him on with any real enthusiasm was the way he joined Sky while still under contract. In my book that's breaking your word in a sport where this type of thing was sruprisingly rare (though will no doubt become more and more common).

I think you will find that Wiggins always said he would not ask to leave Garmin and it would be upto them to negoatiate with another team (aka Sky) as to whether he would leave or not. He never asked to leave always saying he was under contract and Sky paid Garmin a massive amount of money for him.

stumps wrote:

I think you will find that Wiggins always said he would not ask to leave Garmin and it would be upto them to negoatiate with another team (aka Sky) as to whether he would leave or not. He never asked to leave always saying he was under contract and Sky paid Garmin a massive amount of money for him.

I know he said that - he also made the comment about needing to leave a team he compared to Wigan to go to a team he compared to Man Utd so I think its fair to question how uninvolved he was in the process.

TheHatter wrote:

I know he said that - he also made the comment about needing to leave a team he compared to Wigan to go to a team he compared to Man Utd so I think its fair to question how uninvolved he was in the process.

Does depend on context though - cycling teams are known for not having a hugely refined or polished approach, whereas Sky is known for the complete opposite, and this probably would feel very different. Bernie Eisel echoed the same sentiment when he moved across, if I recall correctly he said Sky was run more like an F1 team, something like "everything is catered for, for the riders, all we have to do is ride our bikes. It's how a professional team should be".

The other thing is, we don't know if a spat occurred between him and Garmin during the negotiations, that might have been enough to encourage a little dig.

Anyway, not being funny, but for someone with the psyche required to have the drive necessary to compete as a top-level athlete, he seems relatively normal to me.

GO GO WIGGO!

mancsi wrote:

Just wish he would relax and crack a smile (Not when juiced on morphine)

1. Why on earth should he 'crack a smile?' He's a top pro cyclist, he's not there to perform and please an audience by grinning and being nice.
2. He does in fact smile a lot in this interview, and in others sometimes.

I think he's caught between not wanting to bother with interviews and having an obligation to do them. He seems to see them as a contactually necessary pain in the arse. If he feels resentful at having to be there, it would explain the snipes and the lack of too much smiling. Also, the annoyance you might feel would allow you to be free enough to bat things around like he does above, make jokes etc., because you wouldn't care.

He does come across as a bit arrogant sometimes, and, worse, as cool, which must be linked with his 'mod' image. Look however you like, obviously, but being a 'mod' at thirty - forty plus years old, and being cool is a bit of a contradiction in terms. In my humble opinion.

bikeylikey][quote=mancsi wrote:

. Look however you like, obviously, but being a 'mod' at thirty - forty plus years old, and being cool is a bit of a contradiction in terms. In my humble opinion.

A bit harsh - The Mod Father P Weller still looks better than the average old bloke ( well - like Dot Cotton in a punk wig to be honest..) so if Brad wants to keep the feather cut into old age good for him.

I remember the massive amount of interest in Wiggo's hair two years ago when he first grew it. There was a lot of conservative comments then along the lines of "For godsake get your hair cut for the good of British sport!" I suspect it was a few slap-headed journos without Olympic Gold medals pushing that story..

And you wonder why Wiggins is bored of answering piss poor questions...

Why do you say he is an idiot?
There is so much more to the life of a pro cyclist that goes on around just riding your bike. He was obliged to meet the press and did a good job.
He wants to get back to the hotel,shower, eat, massage, team briefings, more media,maybe, phone the family, Sleep etc etc.
Bradley has always had a strong character but the nature of the job can make you introverted, just think of all the interviews with most cyclists you have seen. Its great to see a sportsman use his wits in an interview.

festival wrote:

Why do you say he is an idiot?
There is so much more to the life of a pro cyclist that goes on around just riding your bike. He was obliged to meet the press and did a good job.
He wants to get back to the hotel,shower, eat, massage, team briefings, more media,maybe, phone the family, Sleep etc etc.
Bradley has always had a strong character but the nature of the job can make you introverted, just think of all the interviews with most cyclists you have seen. Its great to see a sportsman use his wits in an interview.

Quite. Especially compared to the average football player:

"Well, you know, it's, you know a game of two halves, you know, we gave, you know 110%..."

Coleman wrote:

festival wrote:

Why do you say he is an idiot?
There is so much more to the life of a pro cyclist that goes on around just riding your bike. He was obliged to meet the press and did a good job.
He wants to get back to the hotel,shower, eat, massage, team briefings, more media,maybe, phone the family, Sleep etc etc.
Bradley has always had a strong character but the nature of the job can make you introverted, just think of all the interviews with most cyclists you have seen. Its great to see a sportsman use his wits in an interview.

Quite. Especially compared to the average football player:

"Well, you know, it's, you know a game of two halves, you know, we gave, you know 110%..."

I'm reading David Millar's bio at the moment and he's no fan of Bradley. Relates to when after the team helping him get 4th in the tour he didn't do his turn in Paris to help Farrar.

He's an athlete, not a poet.

Does it really matter how much of your preferred qualities he shows in a press conference or interview?

I would prefer him to just try his best to win races and be Bradley Wiggins.