Interview – Bradley Wiggins Last Hurrah

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On a ride showing no fear of crashing, Sir Bradley Wiggins showed he really is on another level in the Time Trial in his last British Championship

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Interview – Bradley Wiggins Last Hurrah

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On a ride showing no fear of crashing, Sir Bradley Wiggins showed he really is on another level in the Time Trial in his last British Championship. Watching him come past a few times made me wish I could have just sat behind him for a lap and watch the master at work. That wasn’t an option as there were photos to take but the former Tour de France winner took the course apart and his rivals with it.

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Speaking afterwards, Sir Bradley Wiggins said: “This is probably my last British time trial championship so to win it and perhaps never come back again is a nice way to end it and add it to the Olympic title and try and win the worlds at the end of the year.”

Asked whether he had no fear of crashing out on the wet roads, he replied “Probably. I said to my wife Cath earlier I wonder where the nearest hospital is. I thought it was Newport and she said it would be a university hospital so that would be a good start for them!”

“It was one of them today, full commitment off the ramp and into that first corner (hairpin right hander) that kind of set the tone for the rest of the ride.”

While fans mixed it with the press out back of the podium, them trying to get selfies with the British hero or pictures on their phones, and the press the much valued interview with a real cycling star, Wiggins was asked if felt he had a point to prove.

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Bradley replied “Any time trial you go into as an Olympic Champion, especially a British Championship, you want to win and with the field today, I think this is probably the best championship they have ever had in terms of the riders who rode.”

“The standard of the event too, full closed roads, is quite rare and never happened before and this team have done an incredible job. They have set the standard now for British Championships in the future.”

Brad admitted when asked about the Welsh riders in the racing, that ‘G’ (Geraint Thomas) was the rider he feared most on the day. “With the form he is in going into the Tour de France, I didn’t take anything for granted today at all. G has been knocking on the door for years and never probably fulfilled his potential because he is always working for other people but I think it’s only a matter of time before he really breaks through.”

Brad then confirmed he won’t be riding the road race. “I’ve been back Team Pursuit training now for three weeks and back again doing that on Monday morning so the road race never really fitted into that schedule”.

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No Tour for Brad

On not being selected for the Tour de France and wearing the jersey in the race, Brad was quite nonchalant about it, at least with the press, saying “It is what is. The team they are sending is an incredible team to defend the title and a defending champion who still has to be the favourite to win it.”

“It has the likes of Geraint who could win on Sunday, and take the British road title into the Tour so the team that is going, you couldn’t fault it really. With my crash in Switzerland, I am probably lacking preparation and it came down that there are probably eight better guys who could go in front of me.”

“So I was just focusing on today and will be proud to wear this jersey.”

Perhaps there are eight riders better equipped but Wiggins showed on a very tough course, that he is better with such a big winning margin. And with his prowess on the cobbles, his non-selection (no matter what the squabbles there may be between him and Froome) is bewildering.

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When some one put it to him that he’s been strong all year and does that make non-selection for the Tour all the more difficult, he replied “yes and no. I’d like to have been there but at the same time the squad is so strong now and I think it came down to a cut off point and I hadn’t had the preparation with having gone back on the track really. So it is disappointing on a personal level, but a team point of view they put probably put out the strongest squad as it stands today.”

“As it looked like I wasn’t going to make the Tour team, I sat down with Dave and his performance team and they suggested in terms of ticking boxes for two years time in Rio, it will be an opportunity to have a go and although it’s only the Commonwealth Games, it’s still the bulk of the team bar G and Pete”.

Asked would have preferred to have gone to altitude training at that point (post Tour of California), the new British TT Champion replied “as I said to you (the journalist asking the question), at Paris-Roubaix, I kind of knew it was on the cards so I had always planned mentally for that eventuality so in an ideal world, I would have done, but it was always looking like I wasn’t going to ride the Tour.”

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Going back to his roots, Wiggins 11 years ago now at Stuttgart and his first Senior World Title which came in the Pursuit.

Talking of what his plans will be then, Brad explained “The Tour of Spain will probably be the next time I get to wear this jersey so I am looking forward to that. I’m back on the track Monday morning doing the Team Pursuit because I’ll be doing the Commonwealth Games before that.”

And that was that. Brad continued speaking but Alex Dowsett was close by and he was the next one I spoke to. That interview soon on VeloUK.

RELATED: Report & results from British TT Championships

 

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