Did anyone just see Bradley Wiggins toss his rear wheel into the grass? How much do you think that wheel costs? Am I way too concerned about keeping my stuff in good shape, are the wheels more durable than they look or is Wiggins just tired and frustrated?
I don’t think this is any sort of spoiler, unless your a huge fan of mechanical rear wheel changes and you’ve been waiting for hours on end waiting for the perfect swap.
Adam
That would have made a much better souvenir for a spectator than a feed bag or water bottle. I wonder why he’s pissed.
Richard
I was thinking the same thing when he tossed it. Sort of a flashback to Normann tossing his Kuota into the lava field with respect to being an athlete that actually has to pay for the gear vs. one that is given the gear.
I was impressed by how quickly the wheel got swapped out though 
The mechanic probably went to get the wheel afterwards. I remember at Worlds in 2001 when I was so happy when Erik Dekker tossed me his helmet. That happiness didn’t last long…
On another note, did anyone read the Cyclingnews feed where one of riders (Leif Hoste?) was adjusting his bars on the fly? He had out his 4mm allen wrench and is adjusting the thing while riding in the peleton! Must be nuts or one hell of a bike handler…
I watched it on Vs. this morning. They only showed him tightening the screws, which I don’t think is all that difficult to do one-handed on the fly.
I’m fairly certain it was a Fulcrum Racing Speed Carbon wheel…wheelset retails for around $2900. Please throw me a wheel Bradley!
Perhaps his handlebar had been slipping and he wanted to tighten it, I can see that. But if he actually loosened them and was adjusting the tilt, as the cyclingnews coverage implied, then that’s pretty dodgey (as Paul would say). With regard to bike/wheel tossing. Riis’s bike toss in the 1997 Tour as he was losing to Ullrich was the best toss I can remember. In any event, I set the DVR to record for 30 extra minutes and I’m STILL gonna miss the finish! I’ll have to tolerate Trout-douche again, dammit.
If you watch the hard road, you can see jamie palineti fixing his handelbars on the fly during the uspro championships in pjiladelphia, I forget what year, it was when fred rodriquez won. Man, sometimes seeing stuff like that really makes me wish I was still a roadie.