Bradley Wiggins once again rewrote and wrote the history books by winning gold in the men’s 2012 Olympic ITT. Wiggins becomes the second Tour de France winner to have won gold in the ITT after Miguel Indurain in 1996. However it is the first time a rider has won both in the same season. In long ITT’s Wiggins has been unbeatable in 2012 and rainbow jersey at the Worlds may be the next goal for the British rider. Wiggins also became the most successful Olympic athlete from Great Britain in winning gold which was his 7th Olympic medal. Chris Hoy was knighted after his success in Beijing four years ago; will Wiggins be the next cyclist to be knighted?
Wiggins came into the gold medal race as the favourite following injuries to both Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara. Martin finished with a silver medal while the reigning gold medallist from Beijing was still feeling the effects of his crash on the road race and finished down in 7th. Rounding out the podium was the Sky rider Chris Froome who had also stood on the podium with Wiggins in Paris as the runner up in this year’s Tour de France. Froome was somewhat surprising third as Marco Pinotti and Taylor Phinney had both been focused on the ITT but could only make the top five.
Taylor Phinney finished both the road race and ITT in 4th place which is surely a great platform for the 22 year old to build upon. With Wiggins 32, Martin 27 and Cancellara 31, the American’s major rivals may not be present in Rio in four years time. The junior track world champion may just elevate himself to at least third by the time 2016 rolls around.
Of the challengers to Wiggins only Martin came within a minute. The 10th place getter Janez Brajkovic was over 3 minutes down on the British rider, a sign of Wiggins’s dominance in the discipline. Luis Leon Sanchez had finished third in the final time trial at the Tour this year but his race was plagued by mechanicals. Having snapped his chain come down the start ramp, Sanchez was immediately out of medal contention. As a result he cruised the course, finishing over 6 minutes down in 32nd place. Another pre face favourite was the French ITT champion Sylvain Chavanel but he also finished a fair way off the pace over 5 minutes down in 29th.
In 2012 Wiggins has been unstoppable. Since his season begun at the Volta ao Algarve, Wiggins hasn’t been able to stop winning. Here are his race results since the Algarve;
Feb: 3rd Overall Volta ao Algarve
1st Stage 5 ITT
March: 1st Overall Paris-Nice
1st Points classification
1st Stage 8 ITT
April: 1st Overall Tour de Romandie
1st Stage 1
1st Stage 5 ITT
June: 1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
1st Stage 4 ITT
July: 1st Overall Tour de France
Wiggins came into the gold medal race as the favourite following injuries to both Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara. Martin finished with a silver medal while the reigning gold medallist from Beijing was still feeling the effects of his crash on the road race and finished down in 7th. Rounding out the podium was the Sky rider Chris Froome who had also stood on the podium with Wiggins in Paris as the runner up in this year’s Tour de France. Froome was somewhat surprising third as Marco Pinotti and Taylor Phinney had both been focused on the ITT but could only make the top five.
Taylor Phinney finished both the road race and ITT in 4th place which is surely a great platform for the 22 year old to build upon. With Wiggins 32, Martin 27 and Cancellara 31, the American’s major rivals may not be present in Rio in four years time. The junior track world champion may just elevate himself to at least third by the time 2016 rolls around.
Of the challengers to Wiggins only Martin came within a minute. The 10th place getter Janez Brajkovic was over 3 minutes down on the British rider, a sign of Wiggins’s dominance in the discipline. Luis Leon Sanchez had finished third in the final time trial at the Tour this year but his race was plagued by mechanicals. Having snapped his chain come down the start ramp, Sanchez was immediately out of medal contention. As a result he cruised the course, finishing over 6 minutes down in 32nd place. Another pre face favourite was the French ITT champion Sylvain Chavanel but he also finished a fair way off the pace over 5 minutes down in 29th.
In 2012 Wiggins has been unstoppable. Since his season begun at the Volta ao Algarve, Wiggins hasn’t been able to stop winning. Here are his race results since the Algarve;
Feb: 3rd Overall Volta ao Algarve
1st Stage 5 ITT
March: 1st Overall Paris-Nice
1st Points classification
1st Stage 8 ITT
April: 1st Overall Tour de Romandie
1st Stage 1
1st Stage 5 ITT
June: 1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
1st Stage 4 ITT
July: 1st Overall Tour de France
1st Stage 9 ITT
1st Stage 19 ITT
1st Stage 19 ITT
August: 1st Olympic Individual Time Trial
With several races still in the season, Wiggins is yet to declare in which ones he will participate. He may just decide to bask in the glow of his amazing achievements in 2012. The traditional post Tour de France Criteriums haven’t received the fanfare of recent years with the Olympic games immediately after the Tour. With handsome pay checks given out for rider’s participation, Wiggins may just race a few in his maillot jaune and pick up some extra coin along the way. Chapeau Bradley Wiggins!
With several races still in the season, Wiggins is yet to declare in which ones he will participate. He may just decide to bask in the glow of his amazing achievements in 2012. The traditional post Tour de France Criteriums haven’t received the fanfare of recent years with the Olympic games immediately after the Tour. With handsome pay checks given out for rider’s participation, Wiggins may just race a few in his maillot jaune and pick up some extra coin along the way. Chapeau Bradley Wiggins!
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