Wiggins rules!

It’s easy to make grandiose statements to when you are about to start a project, just to make everybody in the team feel good. When Dave Brailsford in 2009 said that his fledgling but well moneyed team, SKY, was going to win the Tour de France in five years, I thought it was one of those statements.

When SKY joined the peloton in 2010, they were viewed as an arrogant bunch. They gave the impression that since they had more than enough money, they could buy the best riders and win the biggest races. That year, they fall flat on their collective faces!

With lessons learned in 2010, they were hopeful for a better 2011. But their hope, Bradley Wiggins, crashed and broke his collarbone. They recovered later that year and when 2012 came, they finally found their groove, the yellow groove.

How will I rate Wiggins win among the rest? While there’s no denying that he won the 2012 Tour fair and square, some things have to be taken into consideration. One, there was no Alberto Contador. Second, an out of form Cadel Evans and generally a weak opposition and third, an exceptionally strong team that was 99% behind him (give the 1% to Chris Froome).

In other words, I would put Wiggin’s win with the performances of Floyd Landis and Carlos Sastre. When Landis won in 2006, Jan Ullrich wasn’t around. When Sastre won, Contador’s team ASTANA, wasn’t invited.

Explaining why his win was a “boring” one, he said told that it was “a product of its times” and insinuated that in a dope free Tour, “epic 220km breakaways”, like what Richard Virenque, a confessed doper and a perennial Tour contender, did, “is not realistic anymore”.

If Wiggins is suggesting that someone who goes on a 200km breakaway is doping, then he is wrong. If this is the way that future Tours will be won, then say goodbye to the Tour de France. The fans don’t care about how good your team is. It’s the human drama laid out in the steep roads of the Alps and the Pyrenees that make the race. That’s why a lot of fans were egging Froome to attack his boss since it would make for exciting racing.That’s why Virenque and Marco Pantani, despite of their doping records, are still enjoying god-like status from the tifosis, because both went for broke.

While I am against doping, I am for the proper medical preparation and supervision of athletes. I don’t know how its going to be done but if the WADA can be hawkish in the anti-doping fight, they I’m very sure they can also do the same in medical supervision.

Cyclist, especially, don’t live normal lives. Because they are constantly pushing their bodies to physiological limits, the status of their immune system is delicate, and one small mistake can lead to dip in performance.And that’s where these anti-doping agencies should come in and take control.But even then, no matter how the authorities try, the Tour will never be clean. There will always be robber or two who will try even with sophisticated bank alarm systems.

Wiggins has won his first Tour but as they say, it’s the second win, the validation that is difficult to do. Cadel Evans has learned his lesson harshly. Lets hope Wiggins will not have the same problems. — THE FREEMAN