Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

The Guardian - UK

Sport

William Fotheringham

Bradley Wiggins to use Paris-Nice as route to victory in Paris-Roubaix

With only five weeks of Sir Bradley Wiggins’s career at Team Sky to run, there is a degree of poignancy about the return of the knight of the realm to the “race to the sun” this weekend. Three years ago, this event marked the turning point when it became clear to most of cycling’s followers that, given a fair wind, the Sky leader would have a decent chance of becoming Britain’s first Tour de France winner four months down the line. This week, it could well be his last stage race for Sky, barring any late changes to his programme.

The moment in Paris-Nice 2012 when the new Wiggins took the stage was not in the final time trial to the Col d’Éze, where he might have been expected to win, but on the second stage, a flat leg into Orléans, where he made it into the elite lead group in a strong crosswind and took the trouble to sprint for a two-second time bonus. This was a man with his mind clearly set on overall victory from the off and it was an approach that would pay off in spades that season, with further stage race wins in the Tour of Romandie and the Dauphiné Libéré before the Tour.

Wiggins rode strongly in last weekend’s Het Nieuwsblad one-day Classic in support of his victorious team-mate Ian Stannard, but it is unclear whether he will tilt for the overall title this week. “He’s won it before and he’s ready for it,” Sky’s head, Dave Brailsford, said, although Wiggins’s team-mate Geraint Thomas said he felt that the 2012 winner might be a little too bulky for the hillier stages and that he would probably view it as a week’s solid preparation for his final goal for Sky, the Paris-Roubaix Classic.

Wiggins’s ride in Het Nieuwsblad indicates that he is on course for that. “There’s no reason why he can’t go out with a win,” Brailsford said this past week. “He’s prepared well, he’s focused well and when he does that, he’s terrific with preparation. He needs a big stage to perform and Paris-Roubaix is certainly that. Bradley has been an iconic figure for us in Team Sky and for British cycling. Paris-Roubaix will be his last race for Sky – a big one-day Classic and he’s ready for that too. It’ll be sad to see him go, that’s for sure.”

Thomas, for one, believes that his fellow Olympic gold medallist – the pair were team-mates in the pursuit in Beijing before joining up at Sky – has the ability to win Roubaix. “I’m sure he will be there or thereabouts. I haven’t seen him since December but from what I’ve heard he’s as keen and focused as he always is when he’s targeting a certain event or discipline,” he says. “I’m sure he’s in great shape physically and has been putting in the work, and come Roubaix he will be looking for his chance. I wouldn’t put it past him to be good enough physically to win, but a lot can go wrong as well as go right in that race.”

Traditionally, Paris-Nice marked the juncture in the cycling season when the Tour de France contenders emerged from hibernation, but Chris Froome and Alberto Contador have already been knocking spots off each other at the Spanish opener, the Ruta del Sol, and, together with Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana, they have opted for Tirreno-Adriatico, the Italian competitor to Paris-Nice.

That leaves openings for their understudies and while the Tour runner-up, Jean-Christophe Péraud, has hinted that his form may not be as advanced as it needs to be, he was keen to pinpoint Wiggins’s team-mate Richie Porte as the favourite and Sky as the team to watch. Thomas showed well en route to Nice last year and should also be in the mix, while since last year’s successful Tour de France for the home riders there is a new buzz around up-and-coming stars such as Romain Bardet and Warren Barguil.

Another to watch is the young Briton Simon Yates, a surprise starter in last year’s Tour, where he rode promisingly. Still only 21, he has been named as leader by the Australian team Orica-GreenEdge, who say they will do their utmost to get him to Thursday’s key mountain top finish in the best possible shape.