The enigmatic Bradley Wiggins
Brad Wiggins is an enigma. There is a lot about him that makes him easy to dislike. That mopey, Pete Townshend look on his face and mop hairdo are the low-hanging fruit in this case, with the length of his socks being there to round out the podium in a close third. Also, he dropped Bont for Giro, which is unacceptable mostly because the Giros make his feet look like dolphin flippers. And don’t get me started on the beard.
His Tour de France win in 2012 was probably the least interesting of this century; the standout memory from that event being the rumours of back-of-the-bus catfights between him and Chris Froome. I’m picturing something out of the broom scene in Fantasia, which almost makes up for how crap the actual race was.
When he targeted Paris-Roubaix this year I was haunted by visions of him sitting on some hideous throne while trying to hoist that beautiful cobble over his head. Fans at the roadside were waving WIGGO flags around that had a cobblestone on it, which made me want to stop and start drinking simultaneously.
I’ve never been a fan, but somehow I’ve always found him to be one of the most interesting characters in the peloton and one who I continue to have my eye on, watching for his next move.
I feel strongly that when someone is at the top of the sport, there comes with that a responsibility to lead and to be an ambassador. At the same time, I’ve always appreciated his unapologetic uneasiness with leadership and with being in the spotlight. He was also the first person in history to call the whole of the Cycling public both cunts and wankers in a single press conference, which is so wildly offensive that it kind of goes full circle to being funny.
He was born in Belgium. You have to love that. And he’s the only Grand Tour contender to target a cobbled classic since Greg LeMond, albeit not in the same year. Finally, he has a deep respect for the sport’s history, to the extent that he raced up the Ventoux with a photo of Tom Simpson in his jersey pocket in honor of his fallen countryman. Not to mention that he’s a bit of a fashion hound, striving to look as Fantastic off the bike as on it. Our personal tastes may differ, but at least he’s a Velominatus.
Finally, he’s the only one of the Time Trial Triumvirate of Faboo, Wiggins, and Der Panzerwagon to stake out the Hour Record as a goal immediately after the UCI modified the regulations, and went on to crush it, restoring honor to what was once one of the coolest events in Cycling.
In a modern Cycling model where the principle objective appears to be repeating the same feats as many times as possible, I find it incredibly refreshing that Wiggo seems satisfied with achieving a goal once and moving on to the next challenge with little thought of repeating. What’s next for Brad Wiggins? Sounds like he’s hoping for some Olympic shenanigans but who knows. He’s done that before.
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@Nate
Sorry, still mining gold from the old thread-pits around here but this fucking killed me. Both the original comment and Nate's response.
Granted the original poster said he was a young cyclist but there is much, much work to be done here if he thinks that any Froome victory "was agressive and majestic, unlike the monotonous circles and power meter calculations ...." Brother, we need to chain this lad down and make him watch Merckx or Le Blaireau or Fignon and LeMan battling it out in TDF's past. Not demeaning him, just pointing out that there is so much that he needs to see.
Love or hate his personality, he's a legend through and through. It's worth mentioning that his arrogance since 2012 has mellowed considerably and appears to be quite a good guy to be around judging by comments about him among the pro peloton. Let's not forget Nibali was there at the 2012 TdF and Cadel Evans wasn't lying down so the competition wasn't as sparse as everyone makes it out to be and while Froome is better in the mountains, Wiggins still gashed him by 20+ seconds and then over a minute in the TT stages. No mention of leading out the rainbow jersey to victory in the last few stages including the Champs-Elysees? I don't think we'll ever see that done again.
There's something to be said for TT specialists who can dominate the field against the clock and then hold onto the lead. Doesn't make for exciting entertainment but as an athlete, that's something to be well respected. Then to be up there with Tony Martin and Spartacus while also being a GC contender at the same time, something the other two couldn't dream of doing...
It's great that he's always targeted a single thing and then moved onto the next. Rainbow jersies and Olympic gold on the track, won a grand tour, podium on another, won a bunch sprint, won a one day road race (national road race in 2011 and yes, Froome was there too along with Kennaugh, G, and Stannard), rainbow jersey and Olympic gold on the road, placed well in Roubaix, hour record, and now back to the track to bring it full circle.
@Billy Whitmore
Well said, I agree. I thoroughly enjoyed his win in the Tour and all his other amazing performances - as you say, when will we ever see the Tour winner leading out on the Champs again? He's a class act and it's a great shame he's been so dismissed.
i like Wiggins. his looks, his ink, his track-honed pedal strone. ain’t a fan of the socks, but who cares? i’m old and slow. and i couldn’t care less about his TUE scandal.
@Cary
I like Wiggo too but if he is a doper, which I now believe is probable, I like him considerably less. What would make him different than whats his name from Texas?
@Rick
that’s obvious. Wiggo only won one tour.
@Cary
But if he won by doping, he is as guilty as that other guy.
..and the rest of the peloton, too. even after all these scandals, i understand the tendency to assume there are still “clean” riders. (whatever that means) but c’mon man, how many times are you going to be let down before you realize that the pharmacy is, and has been, a decade-plus ahead of the testing labs. and even that is taking on the now naive belief that testing labs will be used to out dirty athletes, as opposed to protecting them.
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