Sir Bradley Wiggins has
hinted he may never ride the Tour de France again as he appeared to cede Team
Sky's leadership battle to Chris Froome.
Wiggins will not defend
his Tour title this summer after a suffering a knee injury in the wake of the
chest infection which ended his Giro d'Italia hopes.
That has cleared the
road for Froome, 28, to go into this year's Tour as Team Sky's unquestioned
leader and the clear favorite to win the race, while the 33-year-old Wiggins
turns his attentions elsewhere.
Hint- Sir Bradley
Wiggins suggests he may never race in the Tour de France again after winning
the event in 2012
'For me it was always
about winning the Tour,' Wiggins told the Guardian.
'I've done that. If I'm
honest I don't think I'm prepared to make those sacrifices again that I made
last year, with my family and so on. I've achieved what I've achieved. I'm
incredibly happy with that.
'If I do anything else
after this it will be stuff I want to do, stuff that I'm willing to train hard
and sacrifice for really. For me it was always about winning the Tour, that was
a huge thing for me, a huge journey; I've been doing that four years.
'I don't know if I'd
want to go through all that again to be honest. I've always had other goals and
there are other things I'd like to try and do.'
Wiggins prioritised the
Giro d'Italia this year but a chest infection put paid to his hopes in an event
hampered by bad weather. His comments today also cast doubt on whether he would
attempt that event again, or cycling's other Grand Tour, the Vuelta a Espana.
First for everything:
Wiggins was the first Briton to ever win the Tour de France
On Thursday, Rob Hayles
- who won Olympic silver with Wiggins at the Athens Olympics - said he believed
Wiggins should focus on the Classics in the future, with events such as the
Paris-Roubaix among his original ambitions as a young cyclist.
Froome has declared that
he hopes to dominate not only this year's Tour but the event for years to come,
and Wiggins backed his younger team-mate to do that, effectively stepping aside
in the process.
'Chris has really
stepped up, he's delivered now and he looks like he's really going to be there
for a few years to win a few Tours maybe,' he said.
'There has been a
natural selection this year through Chris' performances and my performances
that he warrants being the team leader; and if he wins the Tour, that continues
through to next year.
Born winner: Wiggins
captured hearts with his scintillating performances last summer
'I can live with that. I
didn't go to the altitude camp before the Giro because I wanted to be with my
family; the kids are getting older and I like watching [my son] Ben play rugby
and other things.'
Wiggins is now expected
to make his return to competition in the Tour of Poland in late July with
events including September's Tour of Britain also on the horizon.
'That's a race I've
always wanted to do well in," he said of the British event.
'It's getting bigger
every year and in terms of profile in this country it's a nice thing to do well
in.'
He will also aim to take
part in the world championships at the end of the season.
'The Worlds was always a
focus and if anything this gives me a better opportunity to focus on it,"
he said.
'Doing the Giro and the
Tour it was always a matter of how much would be left because there is an
eight-week period from the end of the Tour to the World's which is a long time.
This has given me time to stop after the Giro and I've got a nice chunk of time
to get ready for the Worlds.'
No comments:
Post a Comment