Bradley Wiggins can win another Tour ‘if he gives it everything’, says performance coach

 
Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain and SKY Procycling punches the air with delight as he celebrates winning the stage and securing the yellow jersey of the general classification during stage nineteen of the 2012 Tour de France, a 53.5km time trial from Bonneval to Chartres on July 21, 2012 in Chartres, France.
Bryn Lennon/Getty Images
18 October 2013

Sir Bradley Wiggins has been tipped to win another Tour de France by one of the masterminds of Britain’s recent road cycling success.

The 2012 Tour winner earlier this year cast doubt on his chances of victory at another Tour in part because of Team Sky team-mate Chris Froome’s success in the race this year but also because of the commitment involved.

But Rod Ellingworth, performance manager at Team Sky and the mastermind of Team GB’s 2011 World Championship win, said: “He’s won it once so could win it again if he wanted to. You never know with Brad but it’s about getting people in the right frame of mind.

“I don’t know, but his goal is at least to make the Tour team next year.”

Wiggins had previously cast doubt over his own ability to win cycling’s most prestigious race for a second time. He said: “I think if I wanted to I could make the sacrifices but, to be honest, I don’t know if I have it in me to do that. There are other things within cycling that I want to do.”

As things stand, Wiggins looks likely to play the role of lieutenant to his successor as Tour champion, Froome, next year, a race in which the Kenyan-born rider will once again be among the favourites.

But Ellingworth warned that a hat-trick of British successes faces competition from Italian rider Vincenzo Nibali, who missed the Tour this year, instead focusing on the Giro d’Italia and the Tour of Spain, and Nairo Quintana, who finished runner-up to Froome in Spain.

“I think next year’s Tour will be very interesting,” said Ellingworth. “Nibali beat Chris in a straight fight at Tirreno-Adriatico, and he’s clearly a super exciting rider. In addition, I think Quintana can get more out of himself.”

Froome’s superb 2013 season ended on a downer when he retired from his final race at the World Championships as Britain bid to add to the world title won by Mark Cavendish in 2011.

It did not happen and Ellingworth said: “We’ve not got it right just yet, have we? There’s a long way to go. But we’ll keep working towards it. I think we underperformed and, by that, I mean me as well. We didn’t have the right mindset and I made mistakes.”

Had the British team got it right, Ellingworth believes a top-10 finish was the best that Froome, as team leader, could have hoped for. But Ellingworth’s sights are set on what are expected to be hilly courses at the next two World Championships, in a similar mould to the anticipated Olympic road race in Rio de Janeiro in three years time, a long-term project for him.

He revealed he had received a possible Rio route this week but has paid little attention to it, although he believes Froome and another of his less-heralded Team Sky team-mates have the best chance of possible Olympic glory. “It’s difficult to say now as it could be a 2km hill or an 8km hill on the course, which can have a massive difference,” he said. “But I’d say it’s a good one for anyone finishing that year’s Tour in form, you’d say someone like Chris or else Pete Kennaugh. It’ll be exciting to see how Pete develops — he can clearly climb plus he has the right attitude.”

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