[roadie92]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-to-miss-eneco-tour?cid=OTC-RSS&attr=news_headlines

So...Wiggins has already announced he will not ride in the World Championships in Australia or the Commonwealth Games in India. And he has pulled out of the Eneco Tour. So...Whats next for Wiggins? Is his racing season over?

 

[Keski]

fade into obscurity and invest well.....

 

[Alaska Mike]

Nahhh, he just got a reality check this Tour. He's still an enormously talented cyclist that needs to start racing a full season and see where he lands, instead of focusing purely on what arguably is the pinnacle of the racing calendar. Start notching a few wins or podiums in major stage races, enter some classics, get some race miles under his wheels...

Sky has a talent, and they need to develop that talent, not burn it up trying to win a grand tour at the first whiff of success.

 

[atpjunkie]

Wiggins

is/was already the best (or one of the best) track racers in the world
why give up what you KNOW you excel in for something you MIght????

 

[Ventruck]

Ride better, basically.

How I see it is the above-mentioned "reality check" as Mike said. Wiggins has a clearer level of where he's at, and what he's got to do to improve upon that.

 

[den bakker]

is/was already the best (or one of the best) track racers in the world
why give up what you KNOW you excel in for something you MIght????

because he'd like to be able to eat eventually?
same reason rasmussen is swapping over.

 

[Jokull]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-to-miss-eneco-tour?cid=OTC-RSS&attr=news_headlines

So...Wiggins has already announced he will not ride in the World Championships in Australia or the Commonwealth Games in India. And he has pulled out of the Eneco Tour. So...Whats next for Wiggins? Is his racing season over?

Tour of Britain. It says so in the article you linked to. And apprently "family reasons" was a bereavement (http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...lls-out-of-eneco-tour-for-family-reasons.html), so its a bit harsh to pull him up about not riding the ENECO Tour. The cycling weekly link says he's also riding the British time trial championships.

There are plenty of reasons to discuss whether Wiggins should ever put all his focus on the Tour (I think no, he should just ride a full season and pick up wins wherever he can), but giving him a hard time about not riding the ENECO Tour seems a bit much...

 

[nicensleazy]

A long hard look at himself!

 

[brblue]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-to-miss-eneco-tour?cid=OTC-RSS&attr=news_headlines

So...Wiggins has already announced he will not ride in the World Championships in Australia or the Commonwealth Games in India. And he has pulled out of the Eneco Tour. So...Whats next for Wiggins? Is his racing season over?

It's funny - after wikipedia-ing his best results, it seems to me he has good/outstanding results on the road every other year. This would mean that 2011 will be another breakthrough for him ?
That said, place 20ish in some mountain stages in 2009 giro were appreciated as good results, and in that direction, I think this years' tour was also a good tour for him.

Of course expectations were great regarding improving his 4'th in last year's tour.. in regard of that, 2010 tdf wasn't that brilliant for him..
Well - hope to see him climbing good next year too

 

[Coolhand]

In a GT with a decent TTT and ITTs he can do well. It may make sense to diversify his risks and target a few shorter tours are well.

 

[atpjunkie]

track racers

because he'd like to be able to eat eventually?
same reason rasmussen is swapping over.

eat far better than TdF GCHonches

keep winning worlds / olympics on the drome and focus on shorter tours w/ longer TTs

 

[den bakker]

eat far better than TdF GCHonches

keep winning worlds / olympics on the drome and focus on shorter tours w/ longer TTs

Actually, I was referring to the amount of money you'll get on the road versus track.

 

[Sherpa23]

because he'd like to be able to eat eventually?
same reason rasmussen is swapping over.

Well hold on a second. Both Alex and Michael are already making good money with track (not saying that if you win P-R you don't get even better money) but based on a brief conversation we had about it, I don't think that money is why he's switching over. First, the Olympic track format has changed a lot so now Alex is reduced to omnium and TP (which he won at worlds in '09) but Michael would want to do omnium as well. Anyways, it makes any future in track a little confusing. However, one of the things is that he can be a great classics rider and that's enticing. Michael finished the Giro this year on his first try. The two of them can concentrate on road for a bit and come back to track later. If you have the speed and the skills, it's easy to get back after a base-building stint on the road.

 

[den bakker]

Well hold on a second. Both Alex and Michael are already making good money with track (not saying that if you win P-R you don't get even better money) but based on a brief conversation we had about it, I don't think that money is why he's switching over. First, the Olympic track format has changed a lot so now Alex is reduced to omnium and TP (which he won at worlds in '09) but Michael would want to do omnium as well. Anyways, it makes any future in track a little confusing. However, one of the things is that he can be a great classics rider and that's enticing. Michael finished the Giro this year on his first try. The two of them can concentrate on road for a bit and come back to track later. If you have the speed and the skills, it's easy to get back after a base-building stint on the road.

until Alex can get his @ss over something bigger than a speed bump there's a very limited number of classics he is a factor in.

 

[Sherpa23]

until Alex can get his @ss over something bigger than a speed bump there's a very limited number of classics he is a factor in.

All you have to win is one.

I've never done a road race with him but in the races we've done together, I am always surprised by his ability to be good in several different ways. He is a really strong rider. He strikes me as someone who can do it and I wouldn't be surprised if he has several top 10's next year in the classics. Maybe even better.

Anyways, the point is: from where I'm standing, I don't think that more money is his motivation for the change.

 

[albert owen]

2012 Olympics. If he doen't think he can win Gold, he'll retire and devote 100% of his time to being a Paul Weller clone.
He hasn't got the b**s to be a successful Road Racer.

 

[agm2]

I think he needs to find his niche. I don't think he'll be a serious contender for another tour. I think the starts aligned right for him last year and he capitalized on it. I think he can be a good road racer, but I think maybe not focusing entirely on one race, and instead trying to figure out which races suit him best.

 

[I'm not that guy]

He's ready for the talk show circuit on the BBC. Let's see him as a "star in a reasonably priced car" on Top Gear.

 

[Sherpa23]

He's ready for the talk show circuit on the BBC. Let's see him as a "star in a reasonably priced car" on Top Gear.

He's not even going to beat Geri Haliwell's time.

 

[Coolhand]

He's not even going to beat Geri Haliwell's time.

Ouch.