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At Lotto the management had no interest in the tour as they're a classics team so he rode all the big mountains on his own. He couldn't defend all the attacks.
Charlie W would disagree with that
After recent tour i'm unsure if Cadel can do it. He had practically no team around him for most of it, in fact if he had a sky jersey on you would think he was part of the team. He seemed to be struggling on alot of the climbs as well. Wiggo looked smooth, bridging gaps with ease at times. The only thing he misses is that instant accleration of contador or schleck.
I wouldn't write of the Schlecks either, the tour seems to be made for them. Think Andy will produce the goods.
Think this could be the best tour ever though, liquidgas/cannondale pre tour have been dominating alot, sky looks amazing, radioshak/trek have some awesome characters, euskatel riders are good climbers, saxobank haven't produced anything but have the ability to do so and omega have some potntial stage winners and obv BMC. ALot of strong teams this year
RSNT with Fran & Mandy have kept well under the radar and will surprise a lot of people at the Tour. my money is on Mandy. ( I just hope he doesn't start crying about having to go down hill again ) 😀
Very much a fan of the nickname 'Abandy Schleck' as coined by Blazin' Saddles on Twitter.
With so much tt i thought more tour built for wiggins since schleck cant tt
As for them attacking in mtns we saw the devistation caused by them doing that last year . 99% of it to leopard trek !
liquidgas/cannondale pre tour have been dominating alot
Burned themselves up in the Giro though. Drove the pace but didn't have anything left for the GC so unless they change their tactics I don't see them as a GC threat.
I think this year it's unlikely RSNT will have a GC contender. If they're lucky, a podium finish but the guess is top 10 with a top 5 an outside chance. My guess though is that to silence the critics somewhat they'll rip everyones legs off on some of the mountain stages to recoup some TT losses. As Contador is signed to Saxobank again, it seems unlikely that Frank and Andy will go elsewhere next year so they need to do something for the sponsors.
Frank looked strong in yesterdays Tour de suisse, will be interesting to see how he comes on this week. could be a real threat this year.
Just hope Wiggo can keep himself upright this year.
Interesting comment from Tony Martin about the domestiques at Sky being capable of being captains in other teams. You'd have to wonder then whether this HAS to be the year. With the new Swiss team next year and Saxo needing points, surely Sky might struggle to keep key members of staff in place
I don't follow it closely enough that I can pretend to know who's in with a shout, but [url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/may/23/bradley-wiggins-tour-de-france ]this Grauniad article about Wiggins training in Tenerife is interesting.[/url]
if you want to get wound up about wiggo and his form.. Go read [url= http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=12858716 ]this thread[/url]
Frank looked strong in yesterdays Tour de suisse, will be interesting to see how he comes on this week. could be a real threat this year.
Except he's even worse in a TT than his brother (44th in the opening TT, losing 36s over 7.3km to somebody who's nowhere near as good as Wiggo). For those who haven't noticed, Andy is out. It should be between Wiggo, Evans and maybe somebody else you've not really heard of before - I don't think any other "big" names will really be contenders.
I have had a road bike for well over a year now so obviously know everything about road racing and the classics and I do believe he can do this. I can almost feel the momentum building from the office here in Manchester!
Providing he doesn't fall off and hurt himself......
Even money on my betting account now Schlek has quit, Is he really that strong now? will not be getting any of my hard eaened coin bet on him at that price,anything can happen in a race of that length.
Wel wel well...... It's not over till the fat lady sings of course...............
And now it's done...... Well done wiggo, truly brilliant result for British cycling.....