Being much happier with his pre-Tour preparation this year than he was twelve months ago, Sky Procycling rider Bradley Wiggins will line out in tomorrow’s opening prologue of the Critérium du Dauphiné as one of the big favourites for the race against the clock. He showed strong form when he beat world champion Fabian Cancellara in the recent TT at Bayern Rundfahrt, and will be aiming to take a second win – or perhaps even a third – in the Dauphiné.
Wiggins has two chances for success; the prologue, which covers 5.4 kilometres in and around the stunning Alpine village of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, plus Wednesday’s Grenoble time trial over 42.5 kilometres.
He’ll likely test himself on one or two of the mountain stages, but won’t want to go too deep before the Tour. Last year he did too much, hampering his July form in the Giro. “I realised that I may have overcooked it and had five weeks to sort of turn it around and get it right for July,” he said. “This year, I have not taken part in the Giro and I have focused exclusively on the Tour de France, riding a lot of races in France.”
The Bayern Rundfahrt ride shows that things appear to be in a much better place than in 2010. “Beating Cancellara is a big satisfaction and it gives a lot of confidence,” he admitted.
He will be joined in Sky Procycling colours by Simon Gerrans, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Geraint Thomas, Rigoberto Uran, Christian Knees, Juan Antonio Flecha and Xabier Zandio.
The Briton finished fourth in the 2009 Tour de France and wants to once again challenge for a top five in the race. The Dauphiné will give him a further glimpse as to whether he is on track; if the race goes well, his motivation will be on a high heading to the Passage du Gois for the July 2nd start.