Tour de France: Bradley Wiggins turns attentions to Olympics
- Published
Bradley Wiggins will not celebrate his Tour de France win and instead turn his focus to the London Olympics.
The 32-year-old sealed Britain's first Tour victory on Sunday, finishing ahead of Sky team-mate Chris Froome.
Londoner Wiggins will now target 2012 glory in the men's road race and the individual time trial.
"Everything turns to the Olympics and I'll be out on the bike on Monday. I've got an Olympic time trial to try and win," he said.
"It's a little weird to leave Paris without a party because it would be nice to spend time with the team and really enjoy it."
Wiggins, whose main focus in the early part of his career was on the track, will compete in the Olympic road race on 28 July before taking part in the time trial on 1 August.
The three-time Olympic track champion became Britain's first winner of the Tour de France by finishing three minutes and 21 seconds ahead of compatriot Froome, with Italian Vincenzo Nibali third.
In the final stage, which finished in Paris on Sunday, Wiggins also helped set up Mark Cavendish's sprint victory in front of thousands of British fans on the Champs Elysees, who roared the 2012 winner home.
"It's hard to take it in as it happens," said Wiggins. "Every lap of the Champs-Elysees was goose-pimple stuff."
He said the turn near the Arc de Triomphe was "just a sea of Brits", adding that "the noise was incredible" and comparing the experience to winning track gold at the Athens Games in 2004.
"It was close to what it was like at the Olympics in Athens when I was coming into the home straight," he said. "It's that kind of feeling. It's phenomenal. You couldn't fail to hear it."
Cavendish's third stage win of the 2012 Tour moved him to 23 overall, one ahead of seven-time champion Lance Armstrong and Frenchman Andre Darrigade, but still 11 behind record-holding Belgian Eddy Merckx.
The 'Manx missile' believes his victory, his fourth succsesive triumph on the final stage of the race, was the perfect conclusion to a tremendous three weeks for a dominant Team Sky.
"It's incredible," he said. "For me, this race is everything. It's what my whole year's built towards every year. Maybe there would've been more opportunities for sprints, but we won six stages.
"Winning on the Champs-Elysees was a big red cherry on top of a beautifully made cake for three weeks and it was an honour to be part of it. I'll be back again to try to make it five next year."
Froome played a crucial role for Wiggins by sacrificing his own ambitions over the mountain stages. During stage 17, he helped team-mate Wiggins instead of chasing down Spanish leader and eventual stage winner Alejandro Valverde.
The 27-year-old Briton hopes his time to win a yellow jersey will come and hinted he will not have to leave Team Sky to achieve it.
"I might not need to change the team," he said. "I would love to win the Tour one day.
"I've learned so much this year being right at the front of the race but not having the pressure of being the leader. I'm going to take that experience away and hopefully learn for the future."
- Published23 July 2012
- Published22 July 2012
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- Published22 July 2012
- Attribution
- Published22 July 2012