Tag: Bradley Wiggins

Categories
News

Tour de Yorkshire Begins

Tour de Yorkshire

Tour de YorkshireThe Tour de Yorkshire gets underway today with the 174km leg from Bridlington to Scarborough. The event, staged largely due to the success of last year’s Tour de France Grand Depart, sees 18 teams of eight riders slug it out, but despite the presence of the likes of Team Sky and JLT Condor it’s Bradley Wiggin’s self-styled Team Wiggins that’s likely to be the biggest draw.

 

The team, which made their race debut at the Tour de Normandie in March, looks strong with Wiggins at the forefront although the former TdF winner is typically self-effacing commenting: ‘I’m perhaps not the Bradley Wiggins of 2012. I’m 10 kilos heavier with a doppy beard…’

 

Today’s opener is followed on Saturday and Sunday with Stage two – Selby to York, 174km and Stage three – Wakefield to Leeds, 167km.

 

Full details of the Tour de Yorkshire at letour.fr

Categories
News

Wiggins Wins at Worlds

Wiggins

WigginsBradley Wiggins has won his first road world title at the World Championships in Ponferrada, beating three-time champion Tony Martin by just 26.23 seconds across the hilly 47.1k Spanish course. Wiggins finished second to Martin in 2011 and 2013 and commented afterwards, ‘Once I saw the course I realised if I was ever going to beat Tony again it was on a course like this.’

 

Overturning a deficit of four seconds at the opening intermediate split, a controlled ride saw Team Sky’s Wiggins gradually put time into his competition, extending his margin over a gruelling final climb to finish as a resounding winner. Holland’s Tom Dumoulin placed third.

 

In addition to his six world titles on the track, four Olympic golds, and a Tour de France victory, Wiggins is also a three-time national champion against the clock, as well as the national road race champion in 2011.
Commenting on a year that hasn’t always gone exactly to plan for him, Wiggins added: ‘It’s been an up-and-down year and I want to dedicate this to my family. My wife and children back home have always been there for me and had to put up with me. This was my last world time trial championships, so to finish it with a gold medal – I don’t know what to say.’

Categories
News

Wiggins to Lead Sky at Tour of Britain

Sky Tour of BritainTeam Sky have announced that Sir Bradley Wiggins will lead Team Sky’s squad at the 2014 Tour of Britain, which begins in Liverpool on Sunday September 7. Wiggins returns to the Tour of Britain after winning the race in 2013 and this year he will line up alongside fellow British riders Ian Stannard and Ben Swift as part of a six-man squad. The full Team Sky squad for the 2014 Tour of Britain will be: Bradley Wiggins, Ian Stannard, Ben Swift, Bernhard Eisel, Sebastian Henaoa and David Lopez.

 

Wiggins comments on the event: ‘The Tour of Britain is a special race for me so to be returning as defending champion is a real honour. It’s always been a tough race but the support we receive from the fans is incredible, and it’s our home tour so I’ve always enjoyed racing it…. From the start of the year it’s always been a goal of mine to race to the Tour of Britain. The race is growing in stature year on year and it’s our chance to go there with a strong team and race in front of home fans to thank them for their support over the season.’

 

The 2014 Tour of Britain starts in Liverpool and finishes in London on Sunday September 14, taking in eight stages along the way. September 7 also sees Sky hosting the first ever Sky Ride Liverpool event, where cyclists of all ages and abilities are able to enjoy a fun day of cycling through a traffic-free route in the city centre, which is free for all to enter.

 

Further details on the Tour of Britain at tourofbritain.co.uk and on Sky Ride Liverpool at goskyride.com

 

Further information on Wiggins and Team Sky at teamsky.com

Categories
News

Team Sky Split Wiggins and Froome

CrieriumduDauphinegeneric45_3152209Could Dave Brailsford be trying to keep the squabbling kids apart for as long as possible? Team Sky have announced that Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome will be taking different paths ahead of this year’s Tour de France with Wiggins riding in the Tour of Switzerland (June 14-22) and Froome set for the Criterium du Dauphine (June 8-15).

 

Froome will be defending his title at the Dauphine (an event Wiggins won in both 2011 and 2012) after a block of training at altitude in Tenerife. Given the increased difficulty of this year’s mountainous route he will be joined by a climbing-focused line-up: Richie Porte, runner-up last year, returns alongside Vasil Kiryienka, David Lopez, Mikel Nieve, Danny Pate, Bayern Rundfahrt winner Geraint Thomas and Xabier Zandio.

 

Wiggins rides the Tour de Suisse off the back of his impressive win at the Tour of California, which was a key target for his season. Supporting him will be three team-mates from his recent success: Joe Dombrowski, Christian Knees and Luke Rowe, three of the Sky Giro d’Italia team – Dario Cataldo, Philip Deignan and Ben Swift – and Pete Kennaugh, part of last year’s Tour-winning team.

 

Team Sky Team Principal Dave Brailsford said: ‘Both the Criterium du Dauphine and Tour de Suisse are WorldTour events and we are looking to perform in both races… Both of these races will form part of our selection for the Tour. We have to name 13 riders in a long list during June and we’ll do that from across the squad, including riders at the Route du Sud, not only those in the Dauphine and Tour de Suisse groups.’

 

Categories
News

Wiggins in for Stannard at Flanders

Tour of Flanders

Tour of FlandersTeam Sky’s Bradley Wiggins will take part in the Tour of Flanders this Sunday, April 6, as a replacement for Ian Stannard who broke a vertebra after touching wheels and crashing into a ditch at last weekend’s Gent-Wevelgem. Wiggins’ inclusion at Flanders – one of the traditional early season one-day ‘Monument Races’ – marks his first appearance at the event since 2005. The 259.8km Tour of Flanders (or ‘ De Ronde’ as it is colloquially known) is the 98th edition of the race and this year features 17 short climbs and 17 sections of the infamous cobbles.

 

Tour de France winner and multiple Olympian Wiggins – who is also expected to race in Stannard’s place at Paris-Roubaix (April 13) – joins GB’s Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe in the eight-man squad.

 

Full details of the Tour of Flanders at rondevanvlaanderen.be

 

Categories
Featured Features

Art of the Tour of Britain

Greig Leach Tour of Britain

During both the Tour de France and USA Pro Challenge, which ran this year between August 19 and 25, Cyclo brought you the unique take on events by artist Greig Leach, a one-time amateur club bike racer, participating in the DC and Richmond, Virginia areas of the US. We’re delighted to welcome Greig back with his work from this year’s Tour of Britain. Enjoy…

 

Stage 1 – ‘Punching the Air’ – A wet start to the Tour, but it was a rider from the sunny climes of Italy, Elia Viviani, that took the opening sprint in the cold.

Tour of Britain Stage 1

 

Stage 2 – ‘I Know They’re Back There’ – Dan Martin and Nairo Quintana along with another Moviestar team mate, jumped away from the rest of the peloton on the final categorized climb of the day in hopes of repeating their exploits of the Tour de France.

Tour of Britain Stage 2

 

 

Stage 3 – ‘Making the Catch’ – The Individual Time Trial: Bradley Wiggins took the opportunity to reclaim the glory and form of 2012 along with the stage and ultimately the Yellow Jersey of race leader of the Tour of Britain.

Tour of Britain Stage 3

 

Stage 4 – ‘One at Home’ – Cav taking his first stage of the Tour wearing the British National Championship jersey.

Tour of Britain Stage 4

 

Stage 5 – ‘Swinging Off’ – Jacob Rathe, has just swung off putting, Angel Madrazo on the front as they fly past the council flats of Caerphilly and the final climb of the day.

Tour of Britain Stage 5

 

Stage 6 – ‘Leaving Them All Behind’ – Climbers as Dan Martin and Nairo Quintana ran out of gas when Team Sky sent Lopez after stage glory; but it was the local boy, Simon Yates that had the legs to go the distance on stage 6 in the county of Devon.

Tour of Britain Stage 6

 

Stage 7 – ‘Cav Takes His Second’ – The title says it all as Cavendish take his second win of the Tour of Britain…

Tour of Britain Stage 7

 

Stage 8 – ‘Showing the Jersey’ – Wiggins came into the Tour of Britain with the intention of winning the race and preparing himself for the World Championships. With all of the hometown fans lining the course he made sure to get out in front of the peloton and let everyone see the IG Golden Jersey of race leader

Tour of Britain Stage 8

 

To learn more about the work of Greig Leach and for details of his substantial output from this year’s races see greigleach.com and also theartofcycling.blogspot.com – he is sponsored by Richeson Art, and for an overview of all the work we have featured on Cyclo (including this year’s Tour de France and USA Pro Challenge) click here.

 

Categories
News

Wiggins Wins the Tour of Britain

Wiggins Wins the Tour of Britain

Wiggins Wins the Tour of BritainIn an otherwise disappointing year, which saw his withdrawal from the Giro d’Italia through illness and a no-show at the Tour de France (illness and injury), Bradley Wiggins has secured a decisive win at the Tour of Britain. Wiggins started the final stage – the 10-lap 88km course in London – with a 26second advantage and sealed the overall victory, despite Mark Cavendish taking his third stage win of the Tour, in a total time of 29h 45’22”.  Martin Elmiger took the second GC place and Simon Yates the third.

 

Post-race Wiggins admitted, ‘…at the moment it’s just relief that the job’s done. From the minute you’ve won the time trial you believe you can win the GC, but it’s not over until you’ve crossed that line. (The lead) was only 26 seconds, so if you crash before 3km to go, and all those other little things to think about. It was a pretty hectic finish as everyone wants to win the last stage.’

 

Commenting on Team Sky’s success Sports Director Servais Knaven added, ‘It’s been a really good race once again and I’ve had a great team to work with here. Everybody was motivated and we were able to control the race almost from beginning to end. The riders have executed our plans to perfection and they deserve a lot of praise… As for Bradley, it’s great to see him riding at his very best again and he’ll head into the World Championships now raring to take on the likes of Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara,’

 

Wiggins will be in action at the World Time Trial Championships on Wednesday, September 24.

 

Categories
News

Wiggins Leads Tour of Britain

Wiggins Leads Tour of Britain

Wiggins Leads Tour of BritainOlympic champion and 2012 Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins now leads the Tour of Britain after a dominating performance and solid win at the Stage Three Individual Time Trial. Wiggins conquered the 16km course around Knowsley Safari Park, Merseyside in 19’54”, 36seconds up on second-placed teammate Ian Stannard, with Garmin-Sharp’s Jack Bauer taking the third podium spot on +42’.

 

A clearly delighted Wiggins, whose 2013 season has rather lacked shine, said of his win under poor weather conditions: ‘I had to win today, whatever. The conditions weren’t ideal for me. I didn’t flinch on the roundabouts in the wet, but I thought I’d rather end up in hospital today than be beaten… When I was out of the Tour (de France) and training in June and July, I was here. This was my motivation, these were the things that kept me going: the world championships, the Tour of Britain and winning this time trial on home soil. I put pressure on myself, my own expectation. I wanted to win. That leads to pressure, but then I thrive off that, especially in this discipline.’

 

Wiggins now leads the GC in the Tour of Britain on an overall time of 11hr 25’54”, 37seconds up on Stannard. Omega Pharma-Quick Step’s Mark Cavendish currently sits in 25th place on +1’57”.

 

Further details on the Tour of Britain at tourofbritain.co.uk