Sir Bradley Wiggins is to attempt to win a first cycling time trial title at the Road World Championships today. Now 34, Wiggins came second in 2011 and 2013, beaten by the same German Tony Martin, who he beat to get Olympic gold in 2012.
Wiggins told BBC Sport that he’s in better physical shape than last year. “It’s quite mountainous and suits me more than Tony. Every year I think this might be the year but you never know. That’s why I like it.” Bradley Wiggins helped Team Sky take fourth in Sunday’s team time trial, despite team mates Salvatore Puccio and Geraint Thomas losing pace early in the race.
He also won the time trial at the Tour of Britain this month and his third national time trial in June. The run ended after three consecutive victories in June for Alex Dowsett, Britain’s other competitor in the 47.1km race in North Western Spain, Ponferrada. This year’s course is said to be a lot different from last years, with the previous one being long and flat. Wiggins has said this course requires a lot more thinking and there is no room for error.
Wiggins has also said he want to attempt an hour record next year. “I want to have a go at the one hour record next year after what Jens Voigt did last week. I was a bit surprised by Jen’s decision to do it but what he did was fantastic and fully deserved. I could just go and do it next week but, if I do it, ill only do it once.” Last week, Germany’s Jens Voigt beat previous mark set by Ondrej Sosenka the Czech in 2005 as the first rider to make an attempt under new guidelines and rules set by the International Cycling Union (UCI).