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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And for those kurious why all the Fall love,
https://youtu.be/GuKXYeRCUzI
@ped
Not curious.
I love Wiggo. No apologies. For those of you who think his Mod looks are an affectation, I guess you'd be right except *most subcultures* are a bit of playing dress-up (punks, skins, goths, rockabillies, you name it). Not gonna lie, part of this is that I was a scooterist like John Irvine and have been there, done that. It's not inauthentic to dress fancy or 'weird' if it's pretty much one of your main interests, and even the original Mods dressed up on purpose to rile people.
I also loved how he seemed to be relishing being skipped for the Tour and was just like 'posting cool bikes on Twitter nbd' when slighted in favor of Froome.
The pic of him giving his kid his first track bike for Christmas, also on Twitter (stalker? who me?) is 100 percent perfect. Dude's a cyclist, who cares about his beard length or the tightness of his suits?
Wiggo is most certainly a Velominatus, and of a quite high order. That's good enough for me. @ped beat me to the Normandie sprint. That was pure panache. Doesn't seem like his head has ever been anyplace near his ass. I really started liking him when he started eating up the stones. Cycling would get back to it's former glory if more riders, like Sir Wiggo, would work on being complete riders. I'd go as far as to say that he's one of my most favorite riders and personalities to watch in the peloton in recent times.
YEEEAH
Can someone explain the sock height hate?
He's long and lean - of course he's going to wear long sock height...anything less will make him look longer.
Material is another matter: some of those Sky socks on Paris Roubaix looked like stockings.
@Spider
There's a right and a wrong way to do everything, including choosing sock length. Plus long socks make you look more like that COTHO, which is never a good thing.
Not a Wiggins fan, mainly because everyone else and the media is, but that's just me. On a side note, the title picture, is he trying to look like Dali or is that just coincidence ?
I love him.
I think he's just an ordinary bloke with immense talent and application, he's achieved a lot, got famous, and is a bit uncomfortable with it all.
That interview at the '12 TdF was pure gold, the stuff of legend. A heartfelt message delivered with passion and a few proper expletives. The perfect antidote to all the vacuous, media-trained platitudes we hear all the time.
He is an deffinitly an enigmatic fellow, also one hell of a bike rider, as you said. He has been one the riders I've wanted to succeed over the last 5-6 years( i kinda have a crush on him). Bradley is a bad ass, might be a bit of Jack-ass too but at least he is a funny one, and one the great one