Dudelsack 

Just wondering. I can't picture either Wiggans or Froome serving as each others domestique.

simongrant

froome will get injured like wiggins did, another superman from nowhere will emerge as portes wingman, quite a 'program' Dr brailsford got going there

gpsblake

Do Wiggins and Bradley both have contracts with Sky that run through next year's TDF?

simongrant

froomes got another year, not sure about wiggins but i cant see him being at sky much longer

dpeters11

Wiggins has a contract through 2014. Froome is finalizing a contract through 2016 for Team Sky.

Athens80

The contracts for Sergio Henao and Rigoberto Urán apparently end this year and OPQS has been linked to both names.

Giacomo 1 

I think you have to put Porte into the equation to. He's got everything it takes to be a Tour winner.

How long can Sky hold him back?

RJM

I say Porte and Froome remain a team and Froome wins the tour again next year.

gpsblake

That's going to cost Team Sky a ton of money to keep Froome and Wiggins, and keeping Porte will even cost them a boatload more money.

Laggard

Do you read the crap you write before posting it? TDF is over. Now kindly go away.

JoeMan

They could divide up the grand tours between them next year.

aecky01

Wiggins said he doesn't ever want to put in the time to win the TDF again. He can challenge the Giro or Vuelta, and Froome focuses on the TDF. Richie Porte will probably get the shaft next season and not be a team leader. One thing to keep in mind last year Froome finished second and could have easily won. Porte buried himself a couple of times to help Froome, but he also had a couple of really bad days and lost big time. He'll need to be more consistant to usurp Froome as the GC man for Sky.

Also Sky has tons of money in their bank account, like the Yankee's their concern needs to be keeping everyone happy not their balance sheet.

Keith99

Good chance they will do that.

Team Sky seems to honor promises which means riders are will be willing to accept that next year will be their year. I expect Porte to be team leader on one of the Grand Tours next year. If not he may look elsewhere when his contract is over.

Depending on the course and rider performance they may try for 2 spots on the podium in future Tours. Heck that may have been the intent this year, they are just smart enough to not make any such plans public.

simongrant

i cant actually read so that would be no.......sorry to disappoint you oh master one (bell end)

Caretaker

Quintana is a free agent in August and there'll be lots of teams interested. BMC? They could go with Evans for the Giro and Quintana for the Tour in '14.

kenji666

Wiggins goes on Oprah and admits to doping. He rats out Froome and Porte, and Quintana is declared the winner of this year's tour.

Rich Gibson 

I think the trainer is named Dr. Frankenstein.

Porte was interviewed after the last stage yesterday and asked that specific question by Schlanger. He rolled his eyes and voiced a strong NO! I don't recall what else he said but as I recall it appeared he didn't want the hassles that involves.

amit_shah25 

I like this ending ;-)

Caretaker

The big question mark is what will happen with Wiggins.

Froome was interviewed after Sunday's final stage and he was asked about his relationship with W and in particular about his 'attack' last year. He said he didn't see it as an attack but that W saw it as such. There seems to have been some online friction between Froome's fiancé and Mrs W also, over whose OH was going to lead Sky in the Tour this year. Wives/OH's getting involved in disputes is nothing new, it happened with Roche-Kelly when the Tour started in Ireland in '98 (as stated in Roche's book).

The best solution seems to be W moving to some other team but I wouldn't rule out W deciding to retire from road racing.

Don't know how many here have seen 'A year in yellow' the inhouse documentary about W's bid to win the Tour in 2012 but I found it very interesting regarding the private side of Bradley. He obviously has difficulty dealing with fame and all it entails and this comes across as arrogance.


Whatever the future holds for BW I wish him well.

contango 

I wonder whether Wiggo will return as second-in-command to Froome (Froome is younger and appears stronger overall), move to another team or retire from the Tour. I hope he doesn't retire from road racing completely, that would seem excessive. It might be interesting to see Froome/Porte at Sky and Wiggo/Quintana at another team with either or both teams switching when the time is right. I suspect Quintana would need to improve his time trialling before he was a truly serious GC contender but he's only 23 so it's not like he hasn't got lots of time ahead of him.

Don Palmer

Two is compant, three is a crowd. Wiggo is gone. Its Froome and Porte. Maybe Sky should give Porte a shot, but likely not. Wiggins will have another crack at the Giro no matter who he rides for.

chasm54

Wiggo is back in full training. It's being reported that he put in a 30-hour week last week. He's riding the Tour of Poland starting this weekend and will race the Tour of Britain - he'd probably like to win that one - before the World Championship TT which is now his main target for the year. Rumours of his imminent demise may be misplaced.

i can't see him leaving Sky. He's on massive money that other teams would be unlikely to match, especially when he is probably approaching the end of his career. And he's worked with the BC coaching team - especially Shane Sutton - since he was a kid, he feels at home in that environment. Brailsford has already started talking about both Wiggo and Froome riding next year's tour, and says he doesn't waste a nanosecond worrying about whether they like one another or not. In fact he says that no successful team he's had has been a harmonious environment, they are "gritty" environments full of strivers who push themselves and each other. The only harmony he is interested in is harmonised goals for the team.

So what happens next year really depends on the strategy they decide to adopt with their stage racers. If they want to make the biggest possible splash at the Tour - bear in mind it starts in Britain next year - and give themselves the absolute best shot at winning it, they may well go with Froome, Wiggins, Porte and a strong supporting cast. If they want to try to pick up more than one GT, they may spread them out a bit more. Personally I'm rather more interested in whether they learn from this year's disaster in the spring Classics. They have figured out how to control a stage race when you have the strongest guys on your team. They seem absolutely clueless in the more fluid and oppotunistic environment of a one-day race. And it isn't as if they don't have suitable riders. Boasson-Hagen, Thomas, Flecha when he was there, they all look tailor-made for the Classics but their showing so far has been lamentable.

contango 

That's good to know, it would be a shame to see him go.

Hard to see him leaving Sky of his own accord based on the money they're paying him. But it may be that Sky will figure that with Froome and Porte they don't need another GC guy. A bit of competition between Wiggo and Froome could be a good thing but if it ends up with them refusing to support each other then either or both of them has to go. If that situation were to happen I could see Wiggo being pushed out before Froome.

sci_femme

I can see the goal of taking team podium, provided egos are kept in check and respective missuses/SOs maintaining radio silence for the duration of the Tour.