Tour de Romandie ** SPOILERS **
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Keith Oates
Janner
I hope I'm wrong but I don't see Wiggins being a force to reckon with in the future!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
raindog
er.....
This thread has kind of died a death. 
Last stage today and the front runners are still very close. Evans looking ok, but will Vino try a last ditch attempt at glory? He's the kind of bloke who's capable of it.
1 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 13:00:58
2 Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad 0:00:18
3 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Pro Team Astana 0:00:19
4 Marco Pinotti (Ita) HTC-Highroad 0:00:31
5 Beñat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:41
EDIT
Froome still the highest placed Sky rider at 15th......
Last stage today and the front runners are still very close. Evans looking ok, but will Vino try a last ditch attempt at glory? He's the kind of bloke who's capable of it.
1 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 13:00:58
2 Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad 0:00:18
3 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Pro Team Astana 0:00:19
4 Marco Pinotti (Ita) HTC-Highroad 0:00:31
5 Beñat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:41
EDIT
Froome still the highest placed Sky rider at 15th......
Flying_Monkey
Recyclist
A nice sprint win for Ben Swift, and really good to see Cadel winning the overall. I think he's planned his season very well so far.
Flying_Monkey
Recyclist
The only explanation I can think of is that it was because Swift isn't your classic sprinter, so they were trying to knacker a few of the more typical sprinters and mess up their game plans before the end.
Dave_1
Senior Member
From Yates at Romandie, assuming journo did his job correctly
" where were Swift’s Sky teammates when he needed them most? The 23-year-old British rider, who’s developing into a new-generation Freire who can get over hills and contest a sprint, has already taken three wins this season and looked headed for another one. His team’s coming up short didn’t please Sky sports director Sean Yates.
“It was extremely disappointing,” Yates told VeloNews. “Ben obviously had the legs. He won that sprint ahead of the three-time world champ (Freire). But Ben was alone. We had the firepower there, in Bradley (Wiggins), to close that gap down. But there was no commitment from Bradley to help Swifty.
“Rabo had no one else; they’d been chasing all day. And, yes, BMC had someone there for GC, but they didn’t have a sprinter, and the real commitment is obviously for the stage win.
“Rabobank was committed but they’d been on the front for 150K. We’d been on the front with Morris (Possoni) for 20K; he did his bit. I wasn’t expecting (climbers) Chris Froome or Dario (Cioni) to close down gaps or put Swifty in the right place. G (Geraint Thomas), who would normally do that job, was dropped with Michael Barry, so the only guy left was Brad.
“I’m disappointed in the situation (with Wiggins) but it’s nothing new, and without being too derogatory, it’s just frustrating basically. It’s not every day that an opportunity like that comes along. And except for Oscar Freire there was no other sprinter there.”
http://velonews.competitor.com/2011...our-de-romandie-pavel-brutt-keeps-lead_170413
" where were Swift’s Sky teammates when he needed them most? The 23-year-old British rider, who’s developing into a new-generation Freire who can get over hills and contest a sprint, has already taken three wins this season and looked headed for another one. His team’s coming up short didn’t please Sky sports director Sean Yates.
“It was extremely disappointing,” Yates told VeloNews. “Ben obviously had the legs. He won that sprint ahead of the three-time world champ (Freire). But Ben was alone. We had the firepower there, in Bradley (Wiggins), to close that gap down. But there was no commitment from Bradley to help Swifty.
“Rabo had no one else; they’d been chasing all day. And, yes, BMC had someone there for GC, but they didn’t have a sprinter, and the real commitment is obviously for the stage win.
“Rabobank was committed but they’d been on the front for 150K. We’d been on the front with Morris (Possoni) for 20K; he did his bit. I wasn’t expecting (climbers) Chris Froome or Dario (Cioni) to close down gaps or put Swifty in the right place. G (Geraint Thomas), who would normally do that job, was dropped with Michael Barry, so the only guy left was Brad.
“I’m disappointed in the situation (with Wiggins) but it’s nothing new, and without being too derogatory, it’s just frustrating basically. It’s not every day that an opportunity like that comes along. And except for Oscar Freire there was no other sprinter there.”
http://velonews.competitor.com/2011...our-de-romandie-pavel-brutt-keeps-lead_170413
raindog
er.....
Got to agree. Wiggins is treated like the star of the team but never wins anything, and sad to say, doesn't even seem to try. He's been a big disappointment so far this year.
Thanks for the Yates quotes, I hadn't seen that anywhere.
Flying_Monkey
Recyclist
Wiggins has been given an amazing opportunity in the last couple of years - he's basically had a team built around him, and he's not delivered. Looking at Sky - the same team with a serious GC contender = one of the top three or four squads around. The team with Wiggins as the GC contender = Top 10 squad (which is excactly where they are). I would be very surprised if Sky were not in the market for a new GC Leader this summer.
