I just have to comment on the amazing performance by one of my heroes yesterday.....Bradley Wiggins destroyed the field in the second of three time-trials at the Tour de France taking almost 2 minutes out of Cadel Evans, the man currently in second position overall (behind Wiggo) and last years winner. The only man capable, it seemed, of staying with Wiggo was his room-mate and colleague Chris Froome who moved up from his overnight position of sixth to all the way to third.
Figure 1. Young Brad in yellow!
But for me, it wasn't just the scale of the victory, it was the manner in which he did it. The holder of the maillot jeune always sets off last in the time-trials. This does of course this have its' advantages - you know exactly what you have to do in order to maintain or even strengthen your position - but, on the flip side the wait must be almost unbearable. Especially for a man tipped to not only win the stage, but win the Tour overall. Wiggo, ever the professional, kept his cool and set off at a blistering pace and by the first time-check at around 15km he was a staggering 20 seconds up on Froome, who was in turn another 20 seconds or so up on Mr Time-Trial himself, Fabian Cancellara.
Anyone who knows cycling cannot help but to have been impressed by Wiggo's performance and (without trying to jinx him in any way) provided he recovers from the Tour well enough, it was a performance that marks him out as the man to beat in the time-trial come at the London Olympics next month.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. To win the Tour is enough right now for any man to deal with. The Olympics, at which Wiggo is currently the 4000m Individual Pursuit Champion, will be here soon enough, and no doubt, I shall be on the case when it does!
Back at the Tour Froome's performance was similarly outstanding and has put the management of Team Sky in a very interesting position - a unique position in my short-lived experience of the Tour - in that one team now has two men who each are capable of winning the Tour. Froome's job of course, is to protect and 'lead' Wiggo to overall victory, to shepherd him up the final part of the climbs once his other team-mates - such as the unquenchable Edvald van Boassen-Hagan, the immense Michael Rogers, and the pocket-rocket, Wiggo's 'shadow', the irrepressible Richie Porte - have done their work in the early part of the climbs and to take over as the last man shepherding Wiggo to overall victory. The problem arises, interestingly, if Froome out-climbs Wiggo and starts to close in on him as a challenger for yellow. Will he, should he, still work for Wiggo or should he be given free rein to ride his own race and go for yellow himself?
In interviews Froome comes across a very decent fellow and a thoroughly nice bloke, one who would, no doubt, do exactly what is expected and no more, if that was what was required of him, and not say a harsh or negative word about it afterwards. But is that right or fair?
Well, I think that is fair. And right. That is, after all, what he is paid to do. It's his job. Having said that though, I don't think the management of Team Sky will impose too much stricture on Froome and his incredible climbing abilities. I think we shall see him shepherding Wiggo as always and if, when they get to the finishes, he has anything left in his legs I believe they will free him to go for whatever he can get. Don't forget last year Froome out-paced Wiggo in the mountains of Spain in the Vuelta de Espana on more than one occasion, although in Wiggo's defence (is defending him what I'm doing?) I don't believe he was at his peak after his horrible crash in the prologue (the first stage) of last years Tour. That said, this year and so far in the Tour, Wiggo's climbing has been first class and he has never looked like being dropped or even in trouble on any of the mountain stages, whether it has been Froome, Evans or anyone else who has been beating the path. The big tests are, though, still to come. The Pyrenees and the Alps have yet to be tackled and the answer to these and many more questions will have been answered by the time the riders get to the final time-trial and penultimate stage of the tour in just under two weeks time.
As you probably know an Englishman has never won the Tour and the pressure now on Wiggo's shoulders must be immense, but if there were anyone's shoulders on which I would dare to heap such pressure, it would be those slender deltoids and trapezoids of Wiggins. He now has what is surely a winning margin and I, for one, will be watching each of the next stages in to Paris with much more than baited breath. This could be history in the making and I won't be missing a second of it.
C'MON WIGGO!! YES YOU CAN!
Back soon....
P XX
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