With just over a week to go until the elite world time trial championships, Bradley Wiggins has said that he considers he’s in perfect condition to push for a top result in his big end of season goal.
The Team Sky rider won yesterday’s time trial at the Tour of Britain, taking over the race lead, and sees the result as verification that he is on track.
"Everything I've done since June has been about preparing for an hour-long time trial. This was twenty odd minutes,” he said, responding to his latest win. “Everything's on track for the Worlds, barring any more crashes or any more severe weather like yesterday and getting sick, but as we get further south that's meant to get better.
“Physically I feel I'm ready to go. I always say these things, but I'm in better shape than I've ever been before, especially for the discipline.”
Wiggins’ success saw him beat his team-mate Ian Stannard by 36 seconds over the sixteen kilometre distance. He was 36 seconds ahead of the third-placed rider Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp), and one minute 51 seconds out of the previous leader Gerald Ciolek (MTN Qhubeka).
In terms of the overall standings, he is 37 seconds ahead of Stannard and a further ten up on Elmiger. With the specialist climbers further back, that gives him a decent cushion over them and puts him in a good place to push for the final overall victory.
“We're in a great position,” he said. “Yesterday I was quite worried about Gerald Ciolek, because if he takes time bonuses every day, Edvald Boasson Hagen won this race like that. He’s a good climber, and I thought it would be difficult, but I've taken a nice chunk of time out of him today. Hopefully that's enough."
Wiggins had a superb 2012, winning the Tour de France, the Olympic time trial and a number of other races. This season has been considerably quieter, but he has been working to end things on a high note. The Tour of Britain is one of his big targets, and the worlds time trial is the other.
Holding the gold jersey is his first priority. “It's always going to be difficult. I don't expect it to be easy,” he admitted. “There are time bonuses at the end of each day, but we've got a strong team. We took responsibility from the start, and we're here to win.”
Wiggins is a rider for whom motivation is crucial. When he’s on, he’s very much on. He’s got huge support on home soil, with large crowds looking for his autograph each day and willing him on during the stages.
That increases his desire to take the final gold jersey on Sunday. He’s clear about what it would mean to him.
“I've wanted to win this race for a few years, and having done the Tour and the Vuelta for the past few years, I've never had the opportunity to do it,” he said. “I was in no condition last year to ride the race after the Tour and Olympics.
“At this time of the year it's nice to be in great shape to compete well in this race. Every year this race gets more prestigious, gets more kudos."
“You only have to see the amount of interest in the race this year. Obviously Cav's here, and it's a fantastic race. On a personal level, coming back to the height of my physical condition one year on from the madness, it will go down as a great comeback…”