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The real Bradley Wiggins Tour de France winner Bradley
The race should give a more
Wiggins leads Team Sky at the
accurate reading of where Wiggins’
mountainous Tour of Catalunya next
form is at, compared to Oman – where
week. The 32-year-old has kept himself
he was in between two tough blocks of
under the radar this year, devoting his
training. His season is following a very
time more to training than racing.
different path to last year, when by
At last month’s Tour of Oman – a
mid-March Wiggins had already
race won by Wiggins’ teammate Chris
embarked upon a winning run that
Froome – the Olympic gold medallist
started with victory at Paris-Nice
was never in contention after being
(a race Wiggins skipped this year).
held up by a crash on the first stage.
It ended with his sensational
Wiggins lost a minute and a half on
Champs-Elysées and London double,
that opening day and, from then on,
one of which certainly won’t happen
devoted his energy to helping Froome
again, while the other is unlikely.
win his first stage race. Accused of
The official line from Team Sky is that
‘hiding’ in Oman by Italian rider
Wiggins’ main target this year is to
Vincenzo Nibali (the third placed
become the first British winner of the
finisher at last year’s Tour de France
Giro d’Italia in May. The build up to that
behind Wiggins and Froome), the
begins next week in the Spanish
Team Sky man will find himself under
mountains, where the real Bradley
some scrutiny in Spain.
Wiggins will surely stand up.
Cav aims for fast finish
56 | March 15 2013 |
One of the highlights of Mark
moving from Columbia-High Road to
Cavendish’s career came at this
Team Sky last season – when he
prestigious one-day race in Italy,
failed to finish the race – and now at
when he won it in 2009. “When you
Omega Pharma-Quick Step, where
win sprints, you prove you’re a great
he has started the season well.
sprinter,” said Cavendish on winning
Cavendish has downplayed his
cycling’s longest one-day race (at
chances of winning the race for a
298 km). “When you win a great
second time, insisting he’s nothing
one-day race, you’ve proved you’re a
more than “an outsider”. But he will
great rider.” The Manxman has
want to at least cross the finish line
changed teams twice since then,
this time.
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Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images, Bryn Lennon/Getty Images
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