With his 2012 season debut growing closer and the biggest goals and challenges of his career coming in the months ahead, British rider Bradley Wiggins has said that he is capable of taking the sport’s biggest prize.
“It takes a lot to win the Tour de France. I certainly think I'm physically capable now – more than ever,” he said in a long interview with the Guardian today. “I proved that last year. But it's as much about the process that goes into it in the eight months before the Tour as much as me saying: 'Yeah I can win it.' It's a way of life. A complete mentality and you need to buy into it a long way out. I've done that.
“It's just belief really. I believe in myself and the people around me. I just have to keep putting the work in, and I'll get the rewards. I just don't know what those rewards are yet.”
Wiggins finished a surprise fourth in the 2009 edition of the race, going from a rider who had never contended in a Grand Tour to someone who finished just 37 seconds off the podium. The race didn’t go well for him in 2010 but last season he bounced back and showed he was in the required shape when he won the Criterium du Dauphiné.
He went to the Tour de France confident that he could do well, but crashed on stage seven and broke his collarbone. Initially very disappointed, he worked hard on his recovery and went on to lead the Vuelta a España plus finish third overall in Madrid.
“It was such a massive step forward for me, and Team Sky,” he said, looking back, “but I've not dwelled on it as much as other past successes. It's just been a case of: 'Right, let's move on to the next challenge.'”
However while he hasn’t fixated on that podium finish, that result plus his victory in the Dauphiné have given him increased confidence and focus. “Last year proved that I've become much more of a complete rider,” he explained. “I'm not just a time triallist any more. I've become more of a climber now – who still keeps that time trial as strong as ever.
“It gives me such self-belief. I feel a different athlete. I feel a different person in a lot of ways. I feel much more professional and dedicated to my trade than I used to be. I appreciate this ability I've got – and don't take it for granted any more. That fits every aspect of my life now.”
Wiggins will have twin goals for 2012, namely the Tour de France and also the Olympic time trial. He finished second to Tony Martin in the world time trial championships last autumn and while he acknowledges the German is ‘the best by a long way right now,’ he’s determined to try to close the gap over the next few months.
Wiggins recognises that Martin won’t have to go as deep as he will in the Tour de France. The Omega Pharma Quick Step rider doesn’t have Tour GC aspirations at this point of his career, and will instead target the time trials in the race and help others such as Levi Leipheimer if required.
That should mean he is fresher than Wiggins, but the Briton hopes to be in the form of his life for the Tour and to be able to hold that until the London games.
“That's the challenge – for me to do both,” he said. “So to actually beat Tony in London and win the time trial would be huge, especially after the Tour.”