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.
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
If there were a chance to out on a casually deliberate ride with a pro cyclist, then I would prefer Brad. A mod with almost Sid Vicious tendencies.
Thanks... now I can't get the image of the Spider and Wiggo having some kind of weak-wristed slap fight in the back of a bus out of my head.
Love 'im or hate 'im, Wiggo is one of us.
Not a fan of the sock length but love his style and attitude on and off the bike. He is not a conventional sportsman or athlete and so stands out from the crowd. His strength, power, determination and palmares make him one of the cycling greats of this era.
in Britain we have a (somewhat bullshit) end-of-year awards show called "Sports Personality of the Year". Far too often this has been won by utter charm-vacuums such as David Beckham,Damon Hill etc.
Wiggins managed to win in 2012*, a year Britain was hardly short of sporting success. He turned up as drunk as you'd expect him, and wound up playing guitar with Paul Weller on stage at the after party. Because whilst he's a bit of an arse often, he is at least an interesting arse.
Who's now riding for a team that's named after him, and is basically the current GB Men's team pursuit squad for the track. Though he's not raced for them much yet- hopes that he'd spend late May racing town centre crits were dashed, though he did play at bashing up and down dual carriageways doing club TTs in the rainbow stripes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbP-kvNwYsc
yes, that's a 70mph open road.
Target is said to be the Team Pursuit in Rio, and then supposedly he's done. Though what "done" means fuck knows. For all his flaws he's certainly enriched the sport.
*in 2011, with little other sporting success and a concerted effort from cycling fans, Cavendish won
@Frank “he dropped Bont for Giro”
No wonder, since Bont isn’t offering a Mobility Polo as well. This website model even emulates Brad -- look at those giant hands.
Oh, checking the SPOTY winners list for other cyclists- I knew about Hoy in 2008. I didn't know about 1965- when Simpson won.
Even if I did believe he was the only clean rider at Festina, he is still an arrogant cock.
And he only won 2012 because Froome was called back to rescue him. High on my list of time travel requests is to take the batteries out of Brailsfords' radio that day and see what happens to the remaining two weeks.
@Kevin Morice
Brad might say the same about yourself.
@Kevin Morice
I think your premise is flawed because Twiggo was clearly the stronger in the ITT, but nevertheless the notion of you (a) have a "Time Travel Request" list and (b) using it to take the batteries out of a race radio is absolutely classic. Well done, lad.
Bradley is a bit of an enigma tis true. He was fed up with the throne thing at the 2012 games and then they dragged it out again for the hour. He's not an arrogant cock, he's a very shy but utterly warm hearted gent who loves his friends and family and could rip the legs off of just about any rider you would care to mention. Till you as good as he is keep your opinions to yourself.