I hope you all had a good Xmas; Viktor didn’t – but that shouldn’t surprise us. It’s not going to help here, us talking about Brad Wiggins and Dave Millar.
He did make a good point though – namely that Sky are well behind with their training camps; all of the big squadra have had one, if not two camps already.
From a fitness and bonding point of view the digital vision guys are behind the eight ball already; it’ll be interesting to see if that makes a difference come flag dropping time.
It’s easy to ‘have a go’ at what folks write and I know I’m guilty of it, but sometimes I read things that jar so much that I can’t let them go without comment.
Cycling Weekly described Brad’s rise to the ‘top’ as ‘meteoric.’
There are two points to address here; he’s been a pro for eight full seasons and he’s not at the top.
Knocking on the door, yes; but with no major wins on the road. Let’s save the hyperbole until he’s actually on the Tour podium – or even wins a stage.
Cast your mind back to the heady days of ’84; the Tour seemed Robert Millar’s for the taking – but it was never to be.
Talking of le Tour, we decided to consult an expert on Bradley’s chances for 2010 – did we talk to Barry Hoban? Scott Sunderland? Jimmy Rutherford? – nah!
Big Pete, the bookie from Leslie.
Alberto Contador is at 6 to 4 ‘on’ – if you’re not a betting person, that means if you place a £60 bet on Alberto Contador, you’ll get £100 back if he wins; your £60 stake plus £40.
But put your £60 on Brad and, if the big man wins, they’ll slide £1,260 across the counter, that’s your £60 stake plus 20 times that; Brad is at 20 to 1.
For us, it’s just ‘bragging rights’ (as Pez would say) about getting the results correct; “well, I did say that, back in December!” But for Pete, it’s his living, if the bookies actually thought Brad could win, he wouldn’t be at 20/1.
And whilst I’m on the subject of turf accountants, my Norrie Drummond calendar arrived, this week.
Picturesque views of Scotland? Scantily clad ladies? Chucklesome cartoons?
None of the above; simply a list of every horse race meeting in the UK for 2010, a calendar for the pros, the hard core – respect, Norrie, and thanks.
I see “The Hall of Fame” is upon us; there’s always going to be controversial choices. It’s hard to condemn riders who were ‘kitting’ in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s – if you didn’t, then you didn’t win.
And we’ve all got a bit of the monkey in us when it comes to wheeling and dealing; but there’s at least one man on that list who could flit through the tree tops with the best of them – no names, no pack drill! But why isn’t Arthur Daley nominated?
Dave Millar: And there’s ‘just one more t’ing, sir!’
David Millar; a different man could have blagged his way out of the EPO wrap; “I’ve never seen that vial before in my life, some idiot must have planted it there!”
But no, he ‘fessed up’ and has accepted responsibility for his actions.
He’s candid about what he did, he’s paid the price, and on his day he rides with a panache that makes you feel proud of our sport – I’ll be rooting for you at Delhi, boy!