[Closed] Wiggins Giro (spoiler)

Looks thoroughly grim. Heard they are taking all GC times from the 3k marker, not the finish. Still likely to be carnage in the final few k's.

yeh, they just said that on eurosport (at least thats what i think he mumbled).

Thats pretty sensible really. I'm a bit surprised they haven't neutralised the stage

[i]The Guardian are reporting that Wiggins has claimed to have a cold and chest infection in an interview on Italian TV. [/i]

Nah, that's just a normal Chorley accent.

Great photo on the [url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/may/16/giro-d-italia-2013-stage-12-live ]Guardian[/url] website:

[img] [/img]

Damn, Wiggins is done....

wiggo not looking to good

don't know what happened but 1 min down with 20k to go

reckon he'll retire

looks like he's blown and the rest of the team have just gone. The times have started to come down fast 🙁

Unless he is genuinely sick or injured I will lose all respect for him if he retires.
He has to give respect to his fellow racers by carrying on.
edit - didn't pick up on the latest news to know he has a chest infection.

2min off the pink group

Wiggins 2 minutes off the back. Looks like it could be over for him.

abandonment imminent me thinks.

cheers_drive - Member
Unless he is genuinely sick or injured I will lose all respect for him if he retires.
He has to give respect to his fellow racers by carrying on

I honestly couldn't see him struggling this much on a stage like this unless he was sick.

Unless he is genuinely sick or injured I will lose all respect for him if he retires.
He has to give respect to his fellow racers by carrying on.

If he wasn't genuinely ill he would have bridged that gap with very little assistance. It would be helpful if he could tough it out for a couple of days (even if it's in the grupetto) so that he can come back and do a job for Uran in the last week. But if he feels the best course of action would be to retire, recharge and be ready for the tour then that would sound like a sensible plan.

soobalias - Member

"bit of a cold"
?
MTFU Wiggins

Hmmm, riding hard with a cold isn't recommended really is it?

recon the weather isnt helping anyone with a chest infection!

People are saying the same about Ryder being sick. I think it's more like they've realised they're not half the men Evans and Nibali are and they're having mental issues 🙂

gap going up, 9k to go but only 6k of racing

out of contention for sure

oh well at least cav is on form

in't Cav brilliant! 100 wins 😀

Steegmans lead out was great as well

Amazing sprint for Cav. He looked more battered than i have seen a cyclist at the finish. Totally shattered. Amazing!!

Yes, he's normally quite animated over the line. Looked like he was going to keel over today. Total machine.

you should have seen Cancellara after winning the Paris-Roubaix - he couldn't stand!

Just watched this. Wiggins is a sick man, get of your bike now !! Nothing to prove to internet pundits, get well and focus on your next goal.
Cav !! I don't do hero's but your getting close.

Injury or sickness excuse was on cards as soon as the TT didnt go to plan..

Th tt went to plan fine but he had a puncture he would have won it easily but for that

Yeah I don't know what to make of it all. I think his uselessness on the descents must make him feel like a right knob. Plus seeing his teammate attack and his competitors counter and then getting dropped. He's an unbelievable TT and Pursuit rider but was last year just a thin year competition wise and a incredibly strong team?

Such a shame, Wiggs looks dead on his clips, poor lad.

I'd recommend he et off, rest, eat pies and drink a pint or two of Black Sheep, that'll fix him. Carrying on will not help him nor the team.. Off you go son, back to bed.

T'is a shame Uran and Heano were pulled back early on in the race for Wiggs eh Brailsford...

What's Kath have to say on Twitter, anyone??

How was last year a thin year competition wise? Yeah there was no Bertie, but Evans,Nibs and Gesink were all Wiggo's competition at the Tour.....and are all at the Giro this year!

Ay up, Wiggs is out, Cyclingnews has a statement from Brailsford.. Uran FTW or in the top 3 at least..

Go Uran!!!

Shame Brads has pulled out, he deffo needs that pint now.. Off you go son.

Edit, should add Ryders out too...

I know how Wiggo's feeling... having just had my traditional 'summer cold' at this time of year and suffering like a dog on the bike!

This Giro is exciting innit? It's turning out to be nothing like anyone thought it would be beforehand... I mean:

- who would've thought Wiggo would be out of it?

- that Cadel would be on fire and challenging for teh lead?

- that there would be a repeat of the Sky "who's the leader" intrigue but with different riders?

- that Ryder Hesjedal would implode so badly?

.. and finally, how about that rain???

Exciting times! 😀

Dunno why, I now seem to have some kind of Sky are all heros mentality, I would like to Uran take the win now, with full team behind him.

Blimey Hesjedal is out too.

Wiggo and Hesjedal at the TdF with a point to prove?

shocks all round .... Interresting race i must say...

You have to love the way things can swing and change with a drop of form that you rarely see in many other sports..

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-pulls-out-of-the-giro-ditalia

It's a shame they pulled Uran back from the front group to help Wiggins early on, he'd be well up there on GC now, much closer to Nibali and Evans.

Sky messed it up the previous time when Wiggins crashed out of the TdF, they pulled the whole team over to wait for him. Geraint Thomas was 4th on GC and wearing the white jersey at the time - I know G was never going to win the Tour but white was a realistic prospect. But making the whole team wait until they realised Brad couldn't continue was a massive waste. G lost white and plummeted down the standings and for the rest of the Tour they were scrapping about looking to get in the break.

That "Wiggins at all costs" attitude isn't helpful.

soobalias - Member
"bit of a cold"
?
MTFU Wiggins

Posted 1 day ago # Report-Post

Don't mock the afflicted

[url= http://manflu.info/ ]http://manflu.info/[/url]

Best Giro for years.

^^ agreed ^^

But for the Tour I guess it'll be " Froome at all costs " too..

It's a shame they pulled Uran back from the front group to help Wiggins early on

The wonders of hindsight!

That "Wiggins at all costs" attitude isn't helpful.

But they're a team hell bent on winning, so will put all eggs in one basket, as oppose to coming 2nd or 3rd or 10th or whatever they end up if they spread support.

I've had summer manflu, i just became really clumsy and was knocking everything over, I would have been a liability in a peloton , Wiggins is doing the right thing... 😉

On other news, the Tour of California has been excellent, day 2 44 degrees, at the top of the final climb they had to have people grabbing the riders and wheeling them off to safety to stop them all just toppling over into a heap. The moment they crossed the line everything went, ruined ruined people right there...

Yeah I know that and I know it's a tactic that Lance and USPS used to great success (ignoring the fact that they were all doped up to the eyeballs).

But with Uran right up at the front, it makes sense to leave him there, use the rest of the team to help Brad. The more team members you have high up on GC, the more options you have with forcing opponents to chase down attacks. Not talking about spreading support in terms of having 2 leaders, just keeping as many people up there on GC.

Best Giro for years.

+1. And what's with the weather this year?! It's never normally that bad is it?

ALL road races could do with a little more of this. 🙂

[img] [/img]

Northern Italy's weather is very unpredictable at best, so yes some years are like this. Good though in a Hard Bitch kinda way.
I've done at Tour of Lombardia and quite a few Gran Fondos in the Eastern Doli's, some days blessed with epic 30c following days 11C and rain/fog.. Mental riding.

Best Giro? Hmmm next couple of days and I might just comment on that.

Today's stage looks epic, monster climb and swoopy flats.. I do think the Peloton will pace back now Wiggs is out, the Ave for today I recon will be 40k's and a mad break possibly with Pirazzi/De Luca in it again.. Maybe Scarponi..

Where does Froome's missus get her voodoo dolls from? I want to know. 😯

shame Brads out but in my view, he still couldn't cut it on the real steep stuff even without sickness- it would still have been a tough Giro, regardless of the fact it was said that the course suited him.

I wonder what odds you could have gotten on Uran at the start of the Giro? May not be a bad bet the way he rode away from Nibali the other day and given the profile of the stages to come, just needs to chip away at the gap on the summit finishes.

My fault, knew I shouldn't have picked him for my Velogames team. 😥

Pfft, I had him and Ryder.

Real shame about Wiggo. Load of nonsense about last year's tour being easy. It might have suited him but it was not easy.
What amazes me and perhaps it is heresy to mention it but I'll do it anyway, how did Armstrong manage to stay upright and healthy for 7 tours. Now I know he was on everything but so were all the rest of the contenders. But he never seemed to get ill or really have a bad prang or even get things tactically wrong. Makes for much more interesting racing now the teams are all over the place IMO. Before I get flamed, I'm not holding up Armstrong as any kind of hero just commenting how remarkable it was.

Galibier not looking good for Sunday. Still lots of snow to clear.....

[url= http://www.ledauphine.com/savoie/2013/05/17/giro-la-meteo-menace-l-etape-du-galibier ]Snowwwwww[/url]

LA did far fewer races compared to most modern GC guys, he specialized in the Tour and didn't ride much else, so less long term stress on the body, less exposure to viruses, and less riding in lousy conditions.

And all the drugs.

I can't be the only one feeling guiltily glad Wiggo's gone. I'm looking forward to seeing Uran let off the leash and hope the support he'll receive will be given a little more wholeheartedly than it was to Sir Brad.

Shame to see him gone but when he crahsed out in '11 I think it gave him the focus and desire to come back even stronger in '12. Maybe this will be the kick he needs.

As for the Tour, Froome came in second riding as a domestique for Brad. I imagine Brad will be told to ride for Froome but in the back of his mind will be thinking that if he can stay with him and not lose too much time he could get a good position and possibly nail the TT to get some advantage.

Sky need to put all their eggs in the Wiggins basket. You cannot spread yourself out on races like this and hope to do well. You need to commit to win and risk big failures.

Real shame about Wiggo. Load of nonsense about last year's tour being easy. It might have suited him but it was not easy.

It was [i]relatively[/i] easy: Sky had by far the best team, long TT stages, and Shleck and Contador were both missing. Not easy, of course, but relatively so.

He picked a good time. 250km today and this is a current view of where they're riding next week;

[img] [/img]

So will they all be riding fatbikes on the stage up the Galibier?

So basically that Giro was ideal prep for the Tour for Wiggins, hard racing without having to do a full 3 weeks. Not good news for Froome, great news for the public. Tour might kick-off in the way it looked like it might last year.

101?

Love it, looked even more blown than yesterday... long sprint that..

Edric 64 - Member

Th tt went to plan fine but he had a puncture he would have won it easily but for that

No it didn`t .. he was meant to put a couple mins on everybody. A buffer for the time he would lose in the mtn top stages.

Would he be pulling out if he had a 2min advantage 🙄