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Bradley Wiggins labelled the Volta ao Algarve ‘a brilliant week’ for Team Sky after his victory in the concluding time trial on Sunday.
Wiggins took the scalp of world time trial champion Tony Martin on the 25.8-kilometres course from Lagoa to Portimão to round off a sensational week for the team.
Richie Porte won the overall as well as stage three, Edvald Boasson Hagen netted the points jersey and a stage, while Wiggins himself bagged third on the GC in addition to his time trial success on what was his seasonal reappearance.
"We knew training this winter had gone really well but until you actually put it into practice in the first race of the season you are never quite sure where you are at. The goal was to try and get Richie as high up as possible in Portugal but we were just going from day to day with no big expectations really,” Wiggins said.
"It obviously went better than we'd all anticipated and it was great to start the season off that way; not only individually but as a team too - I think the way we rode together made us the dominant force.
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"We won three stages, Richie took the overall, Edvald claimed the white jersey and I was third on GC so it was a brilliant week for us all." Bradley Wiggins |
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"We won three stages, Richie took the overall, Edvald claimed the white jersey and I was third on GC so it was a brilliant week for us all."
Wiggins was also full of praise for Porte who underlined his talent by taking stage three in style on the summit finish at Malhão to set up his overall success.
"Everyone knew Richie was capable of that which made our jobs a bit easier in the sense that we just had to give 100% and he was going to finish it off," explained Wiggins. "It's nice when someone finishes it off at the top of the mountain like that after all the hard work through the day from the whole team."
While Wiggins was winning Sunday's time trial, the Great Britain team pursuit squad was taking silver in the Track World Cup event in London.
Wiggins was an integral part of the squad which claimed gold in Beijing four years ago with a world record time that still stands and he believes Sunday's result at the Olympic velodrome can help inspire the Team GB squad to a repeat of that success.
He said: "I haven't had chance to watch it yet but I heard the result and I think in some ways it's probably a blessing in disguise.
"Our boys will rise to that challenge and the fact they are not on top right now and have some work to do will probably give them that extra per cent push in training.
"We are probably always in a better position when we are underdogs and we've got something to chase - the Aussies have set the standard and the bar and it's for our boys now to go out and get it.
"The important one is in August; round one is lost but there are two rounds to go."
