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Bradley Wiggins: I hated being the winner of the Tour de France Bradley Wiggins: I hated being the winner of the Tour de France
(about 7 hours later)
Bradley Wiggins has admitted to mixed feelings about his success, claiming that media scrutiny following his 2012 Tour de France win left him hating cycling, and that losing his title was “a monkey off my back”.Bradley Wiggins has admitted to mixed feelings about his success, claiming that media scrutiny following his 2012 Tour de France win left him hating cycling, and that losing his title was “a monkey off my back”.
“I still look back and think ‘how did I win the Tour, going day to day under that pressure?’” Wiggins said in an interview with cyclingtips.com. “I still look back and think: ‘How did I win the Tour, going day to day under that pressure?’” Wiggins said in an interview with cyclingtips.com.
“That period after [winning the Tour], just hating being the winner of the Tour de France, hating cycling, hating the media for asking me questions about Lance Armstrong. Hating Lance Armstrong for giving Oprah that interview. And being the current winner of the Tour in that period, having to answer all the questions.”“That period after [winning the Tour], just hating being the winner of the Tour de France, hating cycling, hating the media for asking me questions about Lance Armstrong. Hating Lance Armstrong for giving Oprah that interview. And being the current winner of the Tour in that period, having to answer all the questions.”
Wiggins added that his “miserable” 2013 Giro d’Italia, a Grand Tour he had set out to win but had to withdraw from due to illness and injury, and his subsequent absence from the Tour de France, had left him “just being so unhappy with it all”. Wiggins added that his “miserable” 2013 Giro d’Italia, a Grand Tour he had set out to win but then had to withdraw from because of illness and injury, and his subsequent absence from the Tour de France, had left him “just being so unhappy with it all”.
Wiggins missed out on the opportunity to defend his title due to the injuries which derailed his 2013 Giro d’Italia bid, but team-mate Chris Froome had been widely expected to be named as Team Sky’s leader for the Tour even if Wiggins had taken part. Froome went on to win the 2013 Tour, but Wiggins now sees this series of events as a blessing in disguise.Wiggins missed out on the opportunity to defend his title due to the injuries which derailed his 2013 Giro d’Italia bid, but team-mate Chris Froome had been widely expected to be named as Team Sky’s leader for the Tour even if Wiggins had taken part. Froome went on to win the 2013 Tour, but Wiggins now sees this series of events as a blessing in disguise.
“Once that mantle had gone, that monkey off my back and someone else took it on, then it was quite nice,” Wiggins said. “Once that mantle had gone, that monkey [was] off my back and someone else took it on, then it was quite nice,” Wiggins said.
Wiggins was speaking ahead of Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, which will be followed next Sunday by the infamous Paris-Roubaix race. The British cyclist, who has won seven Olympic cycling medals, added that stepping away from the spotlight, taking part in one-day classics and winning the Tour of California has helped him to rediscover his love for the sport. Wiggins added that stepping away from the spotlight, taking part in one-day Classics and winning the Tour of California has helped him to rediscover his love for the sport. He will stand down from his Team Sky role after Paris-Roubaix, moving across to his own eponymous team, before starting preparations for the 2016 Olympics. Wiggins suggested that winning the one-day race would mean more to him than his Tour de France victory.
Wiggins will stand down from his Team Sky role after Paris-Roubaix, moving across to his own eponymous team, before starting preparations for the 2016 Olympics. Wiggins suggested that winning the one-day race would mean more to him than his Tour de France victory.
“It would be probably be more enjoyable, because it is one day, it is over in six hours. I don’t recall ever being at a Roubaix where there is a big doping story and it has overshadowed the race slightly. It tends to be about the racing.”“It would be probably be more enjoyable, because it is one day, it is over in six hours. I don’t recall ever being at a Roubaix where there is a big doping story and it has overshadowed the race slightly. It tends to be about the racing.”
Wiggins was in action in the Tour of Flanders on Sunday where he was one of a number of riders to hit the deck during the race when he crashed in the middle of the peloton while trying to negotiate a tight left-hand turn.
Although he needed a spare bike, Wiggins was able to continue but other riders suffered worse with the New Zealander Jesse Sergent – who was part of a seven-man breakaway group – suffering what was feared to be a fractured collarbone after being hit by a neutral service car as it tried to overtake him.
Incredibly, there was another incident involving a support car later on which saw Sébastien Chavanel also knocked off his bike and out of the race. The Frenchman was hit by his team car after it had been rear-ended by another vehicle.
The race was won by Norway’s Alexander Kristoff, who saw off the Dutchman Niki Terpstra in a two-man sprint following the Etixx-Quick Step rider’s attack 25km from the finish of the 264.2km slog from Bruges.
Wiggins’s Sky team-mate Geraint Thomas, who was among the race favourites, was unable to follow the decisive move and ended up in 14th place. The Belgian Greg van Avermaet of BMC took third place ahead of Tinkoff-Saxo’s Slovakian rider Peter Sagan.