Bradley Wiggins is good enough in the mountains

Jul 18, 2012

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Plenty of people are bitching and moaning about how no-one’s attacking Bradley Wiggins in the mountains. There seems to be an assumption that as Wiggins is a time triallist, the likes of Nibali and Evans will be able to gain some time in the Pyrenees.

Well, that simply isn’t happening. If Nibali is better than Wiggins in the mountains, the gap isn’t so great that he can actually achieve anything whatsoever. And for his part, Evans made an even more comprehensive rear exit today than he did on stage whatever-it-was.

When Nibali attacked, only two riders went with him – Wiggins and Froome. Clearly these are the top three for a reason. The Sky riders have matched everything Nibali has done and may even have more in reserve. No wonder no-one’s attacking them. It would be like attacking a threshing machine armed with your private parts.

Bradley Wiggins Yellow

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2 responses to “Bradley Wiggins is good enough in the mountains”

daneel

July 18, 2012

To be honest, I’d never heard of Nibali before this year. He seems good, though. Was he expected to be competing for the GC?

I know that you can only beat what’s in front of you, and Wiggins et al seem to be doing a bang up job of that, even if it’s in what appears to be a very efficient, not very exciting fashion, but I can’t help wondering what The (other) Schlecks and Contador would be making of this tour. As you say, it may be that no-one is really attacking the Sky team because they’re setting such a strong pace in the mountains that no-one is really capable.

Also (and I ask because I genuinely don’t know) – is this a typically balanced tour route (if such a thing exists?)? Does this year’s tour have the normal amount of climbs versus time trials?

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1. Alex
  
  July 18, 2012
  
  Nibali won the Vuelta d’Espana the year before last, so he’s got grand tour pedigree. Also, people WILL NOT stop going on about how good he is going downhill. He’s a very good rider.
  
  As for the rest of the competition, Cadel has a couple of Tour second places as well as last year’s win; Menchov has no fewer than three grand tours to his name; and Ryder Hesjedal impressed a lot of people while winning the Giro earlier in the year. It’s not a weak field, but obviously not as strong as if The (Andy) Schlecks and Alberto Contador were there.
  
  Route-wise, it’s very time trial heavy this year.
  
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Bradley Wiggins is good enough in the mountains

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2 responses to “Bradley Wiggins is good enough in the mountains”

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