Filed under: Other Sports
Bradley Wiggins warmed up for the Tour de France in emphatic fashion, his victory in the British Road Race Championships in Northumberland illustrating the fact that the Olympic champion is in the form of his life.Twelve months ago, Wiggins, the team leader on the newly-formed and heavily-funded Team Sky, underperformed at the Tour de France, finishing outside the top 20 in a race in which he had finished fourth a year earlier and for which he had been mentioned as a potential winner.
The failure was a turning point for Wiggins, 31, who made some fundamental changes in his approach to his job and has showed spectacular form so far in 2011, becoming the third British rider ever to win the Dauphine Libere, a prestigious Tour de France warm-up event, earlier this month.
Now, there appears the very real possibility of Wiggins accomplishing something no other countryman has done before, and securing a top three finish in the Tour, which starts in western France on Saturday.
"Last year was a massive wake-up call, it was a huge disappointment, a huge public humiliation," said Wiggins. "I got a severe rollocking from our management. I was so far away from the role I was supposed to be performing as team leader, it was unbelievable
"I decided from that point on I couldn't carry on like that. I wasn't enjoying it and I had to make amends. Now, it's a complete contrast to a year ago when I was trying to convince the world everything was alright when I knew it probably wasn't going to happen.
"Now, the results speak for themselves, the season speaks for itself, I'm in a great position, really. I'm in twice the position I was in, even two years ago, when secretly I thought I could go top 20. I feel fantastic."
Wiggins took the criticism from Team Sky management to heart and took up an offer from experienced Australian Shane Sutton to act as his personal coach. But it has also taken a shift in mental approach from the Londoner to make the improvements that were necessary.
"I shied away from a lot of the role of being a leader which added to the stress last year," added Wiggins. "Simple things like dealing with the media, things I did within the team that didn't reflect on me being a leader, all go towards how you're perceived by your team mates.
"I have a tendency to withdraw in myself which didn't matter when I was an individual on the track. When I did that as leader of this team, I didn't appreciate the knock-on effect on everyone around me."
Wiggins' new-found confidence - and that of his team mates - will have been boosted further by the manner of his victory in the British Championships on Sunday, an event in which team tactics supposedly do not apply but one which, inevitably, saw Team Sky dominate.
Sky had six riders go clear in a 12-man break in the 122-mile race before Wiggins, defending champion Geraint Thomas and Peter Kennaugh made a decisive burst that took them clear of the field and left them to fight out the win.
Wiggins eventually won comfortably, by 35 seconds, from Thomas and Kennaugh with Ian Stannard making sure Sky filled the top four as he brought home the chasers.
"Everyone wants to win this race. It means everything to me," said Wiggins, who is also reigning national time trial champ. "I wear that time trial jersey with absolute pride and now to go into the Tour and battle through in the British champion's jersey - it's going to be fantastic."
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