Bradley Wiggins BRIC

[Edward4492]

Most of you know that Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France and was also an Olympic Gold Medalist on the track. I'm sure quite a few of you are also aware that he has gotten into erging and announced his intent to make the olympic team as a rower. His debut on the erg will be at BRIC and I for one will be watching with interest. A couple of things. If his time doesn't start with a "five" then it's not even up for discussion. He recently published a screen shot of one of his work outs: 60min @ 1:49. Pretty impressive ? Uh, no....not really. Kent Timm has a 60min piece ranked. He's 5th in the rankings. And he averaged 1:45. And why did I pick him out of the air......he's also 51. Hamish Bond and Eric Murray regularly do these at 1:40 or better.Paul Buchannon, who publishes his sessions on a regular basis posted today's work out. 60min @ 1:51......at 18r. Paul is in his forties.

And one last small detail. He needs to learn how to row.

But I am curious as to what he can pull at BRIC. Olympics?

[joe80]

I'll be at BRIC and will watch this debut with interest. Presumably Wiggins will row in the lightweight class. Anything better than 6:20 would make him very competitive.

Regards,
Joe

[Edward4492]

Not sure, but I thing Wiggo is going Open class.

[hjs]

Most of you know that Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France and was also an Olympic Gold Medalist on the track. I'm sure quite a few of you are also aware that he has gotten into erging and announced his intent to make the olympic team as a rower. His debut on the erg will be at BRIC and I for one will be watching with interest. A couple of things. If his time doesn't start with a "five" then it's not even up for discussion. He recently published a screen shot of one of his work outs: 60min @ 1:49. Pretty impressive ? Uh, no....not really. Kent Timm has a 60min piece ranked. He's 5th in the rankings. And he averaged 1:45. And why did I pick him out of the air......he's also 51.
?

That guy also ranked a 5 k in 2.30 is 58 and 74kg. So bull 100%

[Rod]

I'm sure quite a few of you are also aware that he has gotten into erging and announced his intent to make the olympic team as a rower.

No Ed, he has never said this with any seriousness (there does seem to be a joke being re-told and taken out of context) although there has certainly been lot of journalistic speculation and rumour! He has kept very quiet about his intentions but some that know him seem to be hinting that he’s only rowing for fun.

Presumably Wiggins will row in the lightweight class.

No Joe, he is most definitely now a Hwt, he used to diet down to his competitive cycling weight but now doesn’t have to do that so is enjoying life a little more.

I’m sure Wiggo will do well and it will be great to see him at the British champs but I doubt he’ll get under 6 minutes and he certainly won’t be competing in a boat at the Olympics!

[Gammmmo]

Agreed, Wiggins will be HWT with rowing. He did get down to ~70kg (even though he's well over 6 feet tall) for some of the cycling Grand Tours but that sports demands are different. I actually like Wiggins and his quirkiness and he was an awesome timetrialler, but he also likes a joke so not entirely sure how serious all this is. Make no mistake though 60mins@1:49 is nowhere near what he could do in theory. Hamish made the crossover into time trials and was very good, but still no Wiggins. Horses for course isn't it? I am a believer in that if one spends years and years doing a particular sport there are some irreversible adaptions that will detract from your ability in a different sport e.g. I believe that the choice I made in my 20s with doing cycling and a bit of weight training subsequently slightly hindered my running ability.

This for me would be another reason I'd like to go to BIRC but alas money is an issue for me these days...

[bisqeet]

i think the 1:49 was also taken out of context.
wasn't it reffering to an instagram for he took, of a 60minute session and the finishing strokes were an average of 1:49?

also the rowing for olympic gold in 2020 was a tweet from adam blythe and not from himself.

he does like rowing , has rowed both otw (one of his closestsf friends is on the gb team) and a lot on the erg
definetly not a lightweight - hes been putting on muscle for the training..

but i agree it will be very interesting and a plus for the sport..

imagine the people in his class thinking - i'm in the same race as sir brad... would sure motivate me to pull a pb - and if i beat him i would be laughing teacups...

[Edward4492]

Fun discussion, some of the rowing people have taken the olympic rowing discussion at face value and have spoken of the near impossibility of him crossing over. And Wiggins is kind of quirky to be sure, his presence at BRIC will be welcome. Adds something to the event. Everything I read tells me he is packing on muscle and his success in cycling at 70kg at the tour and 85kg on the track shows a high degree of adaptability. Of course then there's the "what if". What if he goes 5:50 at BRIC? It kind of opens the door just a crack. And "what if" he is able to translate that to the boat? Again......just for fun, bar room chatter, and another reason to watch BRIC. This year the only real rooting interest I had to watch BRIC was to see how far Rod can lower the bar under 7min, now I have another reason to watch!

On a side note this discussion is reminiscent of when Michael Jordan made a serious attempt at playing baseball. Never worked out, he never learned how to hit a fastball. He's also a pretty pedestrian golfer. Learning to row OTW is a similar type of skill, very difficult to master. I have no doubt that with time and practice Wiggo could pull some amazing erg times. He has a huge motor and there's zero doubt he's wired to tolerate the high levels of pain management necessary; erging is very similar to cycling TT's in that respect. And he was one of best.

[DSB]

Did 6:22. Finished 21st.

[hjs]

Did 6:22. Finished 21st.

Started aiming much faster, also had trouble at the start, (fake false), so certainly not a max result.

Anybody idea about his weight now?

[Pie Man]

I overheard that he had put 10kg on but no idea what from or if true...

[hjs]

I overheard that he had put 10kg on but no idea what from or if true...

From where? Starting weight I mean.

[DSB]

I think his weight is 93kg now, according to James Cracknell.

The whole thing seems a disappointment for me as I assumed he'd be a lightweight, where he would (on a fitness basis) have an outside chance of a lightweight start at International rowing. But as a heavyweight, even if he did 6:02, he's just not powerful/fit enough.

[hjs]

I think his weight is 93kg now, according to James Cracknell.

Thx, so really a real heavyweight. Thought he maybe was still only 80/85 orso

[DSB]

Did 6:22. Finished 21st.

Started aiming much faster, also had trouble at the start, (fake false), so certainly not a max result.

Anybody idea about his weight now?

Yeah the 1.31.5 first 500m killed his chances, as he must have done the 1st 500m in 1.28 with the racing start and and error he made.

Still I think 6:02-6:05 seems far fetched maybe 6:12-6:15 given the "fly n die" effort.