Bradley Wiggins - Can he win it ?

[Doggy Styles]

How can he be the class of the field when he's not even in it? You seem to be obsessed with the idea that the result of this years tour is invalid because Contador isn't in it, that sounds pretty fan boyish to me.

This.

I said myself that Froome is one to watch, but he won't win it this year as he is under orders. I even went so far as to say he was better than Wiggins in the mountains (he is).

From what I've seen he is faster than Wiggins up mountains but not as quick on the flatter stages. Swings and roundabouts.

I agree though that he's probably good enough to have a chance of winning it. I hope he'll be someone's team leader one year, maybe next.

[doodab]

I agree though that he's probably good enough to have a chance of winning it.

+1. And still relatively young as well.

Froome says the plan was to stay together and that's what they did. He definitely has what it takes to win, but so does Wiggins which is why he's where he is. They've blown the competition away today and although he probably couldn't have stayed with a free Froome today he was still there long after Cadel, Nibali had gone out the back.

Better interview quotes from letour.fr.

“We were talking about Nibali [in the last few kilometres] because we knew he was on his limit. Chris said he wanted to go for the stage and I said, ‘Yeah... ah... pff'. You know. I wasn't too sure on the time gap at that point but from the moment I crossed the Peyresourde [1.5km from the finish] I allowed myself to drift; at that point it was the first time I allowed myself to think that I've won the Tour. All the way up the last bit my concentration had gone. Everything about performance had gone and Chris was egging me on to take time and, ah, I was just in another world really.
“Today it was more a case of everyone faltering around us and us just continuing what we were doing. That's very much how it was today as opposed to yesterday when we were taking on the attacks of Nibali and all that...
“Once we saw that Nibali had cracked at the top of the Peyresourde, we knew we didn't have the danger of him attacking in the final so it was at that point that I knew it was pretty much over.
“We rode away from the rest of the field and I lost concentration. I was thinking of lots of different things at that time. Chris wanted more but the fight had gone from me at that point.
“The nature of the Tour is that people fall by the wayside as the race goes on. That's the affect of the length of the race and how hard it is; it's the nature of the Tour de France. I said at the start in Liège that it's about being good for 21 days and never really having any super days or any bad days. I think we saw that today: Nibali was super strong yesterday and perhaps didn't back it up today. It's about consistency really.
“It was an ideal situation. As soon as we went of the Peyresourde, I knew that that was the climbing done, really. It was an incredible feeling because that's where everyone said that I was at my weakest – in the mountains – so it was good to go over the last summit. All the way up the last climb I almost had tears in my eyes. It's a really nice feeling.
“Chris was super strong again today. He's super excited. He's been a fantastic team-mate during this Tour de France. For sure, one day, he'll win the Tour and I'll be there beside him to do it.”

[Doggy Styles]

Super sprint by Cavendish, although devalued obviously by Contador not being there.

Cavendish could still end up with three stage wins on a tour in which he wasn't team leader, putting him clear 3rd in the all-time list.

It was strange having the yellow jersey as his lead-out man. Do yellow jerseys do that very often?

[doodab]

Super sprint by Cavendish, although devalued obviously by Contador not being there.

Cavendish could still end up with three stage wins on a tour in which he wasn't team leader, putting him clear 3rd in the all-time list.

It was strange having the yellow jersey as his lead-out man. Do yellow jerseys do that very often?

Nope. I think sky have shown exemplary team spirit despite the media's best efforts to stir things up. A star team not a team of stars as Wiggins described in an interview the other day.

[ctdctd]

Can he win it?

Quite possibly

[doodab]

Absolutely awesome. Champagne in my house tonight. Off to watch the olympic road race next weekend.

[adubya]

[Doggy Styles]

Good ol' Wiggy!

I suppose he'll be favourite for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award now.

[TimberWolf]

Well done and all that, but aren't people who are saying it's our greatest sporting achievement ever and our best sportsman ever a bit OTT?

He certainly deserves a good hearty meal or two now. His spindly arms freak me out.

[doodab]

Well done and all that, but aren't people who are saying it's our greatest sporting achievement ever and our best sportsman ever a bit OTT?

He's certainly up there IMO. 3 golds from 2 olympics and a victory in probably the toughest contest in the mainstream sporting pantheon, not to mention the rest of his career. Another shot at olympic gold in the time trial on 1st August where he's probably favourite or 2nd favourite after Cancellara.

Having said that Cav is rewriting cycling records and will quite possibly top the all time list of stage winners in the TdF before he's done.

They are certainly worthy of comparison with any british sportsmen I can think of.