Bradley wiggens tour de france

[pottert]

I know there is an official thread on this but I just thought somebody could explain to me something.

I understand that it is very tactical & teams work together but why are the top 2 in the tour de France not racing against each other.i know they both ride for the same team but why can't they race each other.

 

[essbee]

Unless I'm mistaken,

they have an 'understanding' based on team orders - established before the race started as to who
was the main 'person' and who they would all support. It's Brad - but maybe next year it might be
different.

 

[coagulantwolf]

Brad is the team leader, simples. Reckon Froome will be team leader maybe next year, or if not the year after.

Even if you don't fully understand it, just watch it too see how fit the athletes are! Especially those few not on drugs!

 

[essbee]

..and also how to spell WIGGINS.

 

[JCL - the new kid in town]

you have a team leader who the team will work for to get them in the best pace to win. If however something happens to the main man and he loses too much time to be in with a shout they will then move to the best placed rider and support them. You can't win without a team and if you're not team player then you're not going to be able to command a good team ride.

Last year Cavendish's team were mostly set up to get him the green sprinters jersey and more or less ignoring the other ones whereas this year since changing teams he is supporting Wiggins bid for victory.

 

[Pat McCrotch]

Froome must be gutted. He could have pissed this race if he'd been 'allowed' to. I like Brad a lot, but the best cyclist won't be winning this years tour.

 

[Wardy]

Like the others have said it is a team sport. If they were allowed to race each other they would run the risk of tiring each other out and thus neither of them winning.

 

[Wardy]

Froome must be gutted. He could have pissed this race if he'd been 'allowed' to. I like Brad a lot, but the best cyclist won't be winning this years tour.

You may be right, but when the route was announced this year, the low number of climbs meant that it was an ideal race for Wiggo. Added to that is the fact that Froome was a little bit of an unknown. He has shown the last 3 weeks that he can last the whole tour and if like expected the race contains more climbs next season then Froome will more than likely be the main man in team Sky. That said Wiggo will give everything he has to support him.

 

[Stoichkov]

I know there is an official thread on this but I just thought somebody could explain to me something.

I understand that it is very tactical & teams work together but why are the top 2 in the tour de France not racing against each other.i know they both ride for the same team but why can't they race each other.

Its a good question

Think of the professional cycling bunch or 'peloton' as a workplace and that sort of provides the answer - the peloton is a self-governing world where what goes around comes around. If Froome decides to ignore team orders, sooner or later (sooner rather than later) there'll be enough riders to work him over at some point in the future - again and again if they're unpopular enough.

The collectice strength has the ability to ensure someone never gets away on their own, let alone wins.

Lance Armstrong is viewed as being a bully when he was at his peak - if he didn't want a rider to win, they didn't. The French call riders who boss the rest 'Patrons'.

The riders race with each other for days on end - its such a dangerous, stressful environment that you end up with 'codes' of behaviour that seem almost old-fashioned by other sports standards but its what keeps the whole sport together - without them it would be carnage

 

[ifuhatepalacestandup]

so the result is fixed then

 

[Horsham Gull]

Can we just appreciate what Brad Wiggins is going to do here, for those who aren't aware he will be the FIRST ever Englishman to win the tour now we cant take that achievement away from him even if he isn't the best cyclist in the tour.

 

[JCL - the new kid in town]

Froome must be gutted. He could have pissed this race if he'd been 'allowed' to. I like Brad a lot, but the best cyclist won't be winning this years tour.

its difficult to tell who the best rider is because they aren't allowed to race. Theres no saying Wiggo couldn't have responded to Froome's attacks and at the times when it has looked like he could have got away it was towards the last few km of the race so he wouldn't have gained that much time and with Wiggins superior time-trialling i think he would still have just snatched it but it is a shame not knowing if Froome could have beaten him.

 

[Norman Potting]

Interesting thread, I am a little puzzled by how it all hangs together and am getting quite excited by the prospect of an English winner even tho' I am one of those rare folks who has never learned to ride a bike. How does the minutes lead thing work, looking at the "winners" of the last few stages I couldn't see Wiggins' name amongst them although I believe his lead has increased by a few seconds?

Coming soon to NSC - how does the scoring work in tennis?

 

[essbee]

result fixed?

No. But having a good team is a great start.

 

[JCL - the new kid in town]

Interesting thread, I am a little puzzled by how it all hangs together and am getting quite excited by the prospect of an English winner even tho' I am one of those rare folks who has never learned to ride a bike. How does the minutes lead thing work, looking at the "winners" of the last few stages I couldn't see Wiggins' name amongst them although I believe his lead has increased by a few seconds?

Coming soon to NSC - how does the scoring work in tennis?

Because its based on the overall time you complete the whole tour in so he may not be winning every stage but where he has won he has gained time on his closest competitors. All the riders start together each day but their overall time to complete each stage is recorded

 

[JCL - the new kid in town]

Froome must be gutted. He could have pissed this race if he'd been 'allowed' to. I like Brad a lot, but the best cyclist won't be winning this years tour.

Don't forget Wiggins has also helped in leading out the sprinters, it was Bohausen(sp) the other day and Cavendish today

 

[Wardy]

Don't forget Wiggins has also helped in leading out the sprinters, it was Bohausen(sp) the other day and Cavendish today

Agreed and did you see the reaction of Wiggo when Cavendish won?

 

[essbee]

all I know is that on Sunday (fingers crossed a little) - the achievement of Brad will eclipse
any England football moment since 1966 I know of - any of Chris Hoy's victories , England's rugby World Cup
etc etc.

 

[Pat McCrotch]

Totally agreed. He has been a superb ally as have all the Sky boys this year. Just look at Cav going back and doing the super domestique bit dishing out water bottles last week. I'd just have been very interested to see how Brad would have coped if Froome had let rip approaching some of those summits where he clearly held back under team orders.

 

[Deleted member 18477]

I've never understood the tour de France. And probably never will. All I can say though is come on Bradley wiggins!