Bradley Wiggins claimed the silver medal in today's 46.4-kilometer long time trial at the World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. He did so without a radio, rare in the technological world of cycling. Wiggins started conservatively, then pulled out all stops to find his way onto the podium.
His expectations weren't very high when he left the start ramp. "I didn't really expect anything to be honest, I just went out and did my ride." There has been a lot of discussion about race radios this season, which were banned for certain races. Most riders prefer to use it, so the measure Wiggins took was unusual. "I did not even have my radio on, but I knew that I was doing a good ride."
Wiggins wanted to rely on his sensations on the bike. "I chose to ride without a radio, as I find it distracting and irrelevant for a one-hour ride. We had a plan to chose a particular power for the first lap and then to see if we could raise that in the second half."
The plan worked very well. Wiggins was fifth at time checks one and two, then steadily crept up the ladder. He was third at the halfway-point, passing Jack Bobridge. He then traded places with Bert Grabsch, jumping into a bronze spot at check four (km 34). Wiggins stayed in third by check five (km 39.4), then used an almost crash by Fabian Cancellara to beat the Swiss rider by five seconds."
But Wiggins never had all that information on the road. "It went perfect and I think that I got the best out of the hour. To know whether you then are up or down on the other riders should not make any difference on how you can respond, really." There was also some bad experience in the past that helped him make a decision against the radio. "You have to have a lot of confidence in the person giving you the information - I have experienced a couple of time this year to have someone lying to me from the car to make me feel better."
Once he realized he was on a roll, he would have loved to take the top spot. "You always hope that on a good day you can get a medal or even win the race, but it needed something special to beat Tony today." Wiggins was forced out of the Tour de France due to injury sustained on the road. His recovery has been going well. "I have been feeling better and better after my crash in July, and I am in great shape after the Vuelta."
How relaxed was he at the start? "I actually only found out after changing in the bus about my starting position." He didn't let it on that it was the World Championships, although he felt it more today than he had all week. "Today the course was fantastic, it was a great ride. It was hard to see that on the course when I tried riding it the other day, but today it really looked and felt like a World Championship or like a city prologue."