Can Wiggins Achieve the Triple Crown?
Story posted July 2008
By Larry Hickmott
Bradley Wiggins in full flight, fighting to take a lap in the Madison at the World Track Championships this year.
At the World Track Championships in March, one of the most competitive Championships for many a year, one rider stood out when he won three Gold medals –28 year old Bradley Wiggins. It was no surprise that he won the Pursuit and Team Pursuit even if the competition he faced was even tougher than I and many others expected. The Madison win with Mark Cavendish was pure Gold and a race that was entertainment with a capital E.
No event on the track is harder and more punishing than the Madison where the best track cyclists in the World continue to batter each other for 50 kilometres and at the end of it all, Wiggins and Cavendish were the best and what a buzz that was to see live. But that is history now. The big one, the one the riders have trained hard for is in a months time and the Olympics will be a level up from the World Championships which is saying something after we what we saw in Manchester.
The Olympics too is the one event that drives Bradley Wiggins OBE.
Having grown up in Maida Vale, London, Track racing has been in Bradley’s blood since before he was born and after starting out at the famous Olympic track from 1948, Herne Hill, it is fitting this rider has made such a name for himself on the Velodromes of the world. From the age of 19, the Olympics have dominated his life and the next one in Beijing may well be one that will go down in the history books if he was to win three Gold medals.
Through out this year at the Manchester Velodrome, Bradley could be seen from time to time, getting reacquainted with the track where he has shown repeatedly for a decade that he is one of the Greats to come out of Britain, if not the greatest Track cyclist ever. That is a question others will have to vote on but his record of medals at World Championships and the Olympics says it all.
An Olympic Bronze in Sydney 2000, Gold, Silver and Bronze in Athens in 2004 and in Beijing, who knows but three Golds are possible. At World Track Championships, bearing in mind he took a gap year or two to concentrate on the road, Brad has also had great success culminating with three Gold at this years championships in Manchester, Two Gold in 2007 (Majorca) and another Gold in 2003 (Stuttgart). He’s also had a handful of other medals too but it is Gold he pursues with a passion.
Bradley (second from right) with the Record breaking Team Pursuit riders Paul Manning, Ed Clancy and Geraint Thomas. All of these riders plus Steven Burke have been selected for the Bejing Olympics.
Back on Track for Beijing
After the Athens Olympics, the former World Junior champion took a break from the track but when he returned, he showed in 2007 he had lost none of his speed and power on the boards and World titles followed.
Before Beijing though, Bradley knew he had a lot of hard work to do as he saw in Manchester 2008 (Track Worlds) up and coming riders looking to take his crown in the Pursuit and Team Pursuit. The Dutch and the Danes had sprung a surprise or two and it was a wake up call to everyone that no way were the British being given anything – they were going to have to work hard and that they did with a World Record coming in the Team Pursuit.
So, since the Manchester Track Worlds, Bradley has been working on raising his form to a new level so he’s in the best possible shape for the 2008 Olympics. Part of that preparation was competing in a Grand Tour on the road, the Tour of Italy where he worked on his endurance.
This three week race around Italy during May, one of the toughest events in the world through wind, rain and high mountain passes that only exist in Europe, was his idea of getting in a good base for the track work to follow.
Prior to the Tour of Italy (also called the Giro), the preparation for such a hard event was mixed. “I had some down time after the Track Worlds (start of April)” he told us in training at Manchester. “I was quite tired mentally as it was just such a big week and the week after was such an anticlimax”.
“I then got back into training that had no structure to it, just riding my bike which I found hard to do at first. Then we (Team High Road) were off to Romandy and the Tour of Italy and that took care of the racing and training I needed. I was starting to get some good form towards the end of the Giro after I went into the race under prepared for the road.”
“I was taking it day-by-day and working for Cav (Mark Cavendish) in the sprints which was good. It was kind of a low key race for me really, no pressure to do anything outside of working for Cav and at the end came through and was able to do something for myself in that last time trial which felt good.”
Having watched the sprint finishes on the TV, I asked Bradley how hard it was in a field of almost 200 riders, to haul himself to the front of the group with his teammates at 70k an hour. “Staying at the front was hard for the sprints in the beginning but it did get easier as the race went on because every team looked towards us as they realised we were the strongest team in the race and Cav was the fastest” explained.
“After a while, they stayed behind us and let us get on with it which made it easier. The first few sprints though were hectic and dangerous trying to move up.”
An example of how dangerous can be seen in the number of riders who crashed out of the race doing themselves a lot of damage in the process. Riders like Brad’s major rival on the track Bradley McGee and another Gold medallist from Athens, Stuart O’Grady.
“There was danger about us all the time. I was just so pleased to stay upright for three weeks” Brad says! “I saw McGee go down and smash himself up and in Sicily especially, once it rained, the roads turned to ice and were especially dangerous. I knew I needed the three weeks on the bike and didn’t want to be going home after a few days. That is the risk you take in bike racing and you try to forget about it but in a year as big as this, that can be difficult.”
It wasn’t just the slippery roads and argy bargy sprints that were hard for Brad and his fellow cyclists but the high mountain passes. This years race is well acknowledged by those who have ridden different editions to have been the hardest terrain wise. “I was exhausted after the mountains” Bradley told us.
“The Friday mountain stage was seven and a half hours for us in the back group and the next day, seven hours fourty and so we were really exhausted come the Sunday morning when the Time Trial was being held. But it was the last stage, so it was like what the heck and I rode a really even ride and finished fourth which was quite reassuring I could do that off the back of three weeks hard racing.”
“It was a really tough event – the weather was quite difficult with a lot of rain falling on the race and the transfers were long too so it was relentless and you always seemed like you were doing something. There was very little down time in the whole race.”
Watching Brad race around the track in training at Manchester though, his face reflecting the pain he was inflicting on himself, and taking in the times being recorded on the watch, that three weeks of hard work was obviously time well spent and his form is coming along nicely after a break post Giro.
Bradley explained that since the Giro, there has been no racing to speak of although it must be remembered that his training on the track is faster than any of his rivals go in racing anyway. In other words, there is plenty of quality work being done on the track at Manchester to bring him to the peak he wants for the Beijing Olympics.
The reason he has stayed clear of racing since the Giro is he wants to stay in control of everything in the run up to the Olympics. The best way to do that is to be at Manchester training rather than be in a race where he is dictated to. “This is the perfect build-up” he explained.
Taking Brad back to 2004 (above) when he was the first athlete from any sport in 40 years to win three medals in the one Olympiad, I asked how the build ups for the two Olympiads have changed?
“This year is a lot different. When I look back, I’m in such a different position now both mentally and physically. The markers I am putting down are really exciting and although we’re still a few weeks out from Beijing, hopefully everything will remain and we’ll continue working on it.”
During the coming weeks after the Manchester training camp on the track, Bradley, like the rest of the team, will continue to work first on the road and then return to the track at Newport (Wales) for the icing on the cake.
“I think we’re better prepared for Beijing than we were for the Worlds at Manchester. Tens time better prepared so there is even more confidence. The support we have has grown over the years and you only have to look up in the stands and you see the analysts. We didn’t have any of that before Athens.”
“You see people in the track centre who you don’t even know but they are all there doing their job to help us go faster. I look back to my first Olympics eight years ago (Sydney) and there was literally five team pursuiters, Simon (coach) and Sandy (mechanic) and now its grown and we’re surrounded by all sorts of support staff who all have different jobs to do.”
Whilst Brad acknowledged the help he gets from coaches, managers and all the others who help him prepare for the big event, he knows that on the track, it is down to him to put in the hard work and to come up with the goods. To do that he’s happy being out of the spotlight at road events and instead, keeping a low profile in the Manchester Track centre.
“I like the low profile we keep on the track. People just assume you rock up to the Olympics fit but this work we do is a daily thing for us -- the double sessions. This is why its important for me to be in control as opposed to being at the Tour of Austria and risking crashes in sprints to get the work done I need.”
Being on the track and minimising the risk is important but so is enjoying the training and he admits they do like going fast. “It’s great to come off the Giro and see where we’re at because normally we are doing this type of training in January and February before the Track Worlds when you haven’t had the work we have had on the road. Some of the speeds we were going at the other day it was like, this is good!”
It all adds up to a relaxed and banter filled track centre where despite the pressures on their shoulders ahead of the biggest sporting event in the World, the riders are focused on the here and now and getting the work done whilst also enjoying it.
Bradley says the two week track camp prior to going to Majorca was an important one for them where they were able to work hard and experiment with new ideas with nothing like a World Championship to get nervous about. “This is like being let loose without any pressure to see what numbers we can hit”.
Even the pressure of Olympic selection hanging over all their heads was not affecting the banter in the track centre. “Considering two guys are going to miss out here, it is still incredibly relaxed and everyone is getting on with it” Bradley says. “There is a consensus in the team that it is for the team. There is no selfishness where people are trying to make others look bad. Everyone pushing for places is doing it in a nice way and there is no bitterness. Everyone is respectful of each other.”
Brad’s Team Pursuit and Madison partner in the last two Olympics has been Rob Hayles who was not selected for Beijing. Brad explained that Rob had come on in leaps and bounds since the beginning of the year and that it was quite exciting to see that. “There are so many riders who can now physically get up and do a similar job and there is so little between everyone now.”
Asked how difficult it was going to be to balance three events at the one Olympiad, Brad replied “Not too bad. The Madison I don’t even think about and it will be a case of getting up there on the day and seeing what happens where as the Individual Pursuit and Team Pursuit compliment each other in the training I do. It is hard mentally to take on three events but the opportunity to win three Golds is too good to pass up – it would be boring to do just one!
Going back to the Manchester World Track Championships and reliving the moments there, Brad says “The World Record was good in the Team Pursuit especially going in as under dogs having lost the qualifying (to Demark) but the Pursuit was just about getting the job done. The way we did the Madison was probably one of the best World Championship wins for me what with Cav not really knowing if he was going to ride the morning of the race and taking the lap the way we did on live television was amazing.”
Bradley also felt the Tour de France was the best place for his Madison partner, Mark Cavendish. “He got through the Giro and that was quite hard. Sure, he is young and doing two Tours in one year, he’ll either come out on his knees or come out flying and knowing Cav -- he’ll be flying. Shane (Sutton) is keeping a close eye on him and they’ll make a good call on him if they need to. Cav just needs to be on his bike and being at the Tour is probably the best place for him”
Finally, does he feel three Golds in Beijing are achievable based on the numbers he has seen in training? “We have a strong team for the Team Pursuit and so will be favourites and the same for the Individual Pursuit. The Madison though is a bit more of a lottery but being World Champions we are quite clearly the strongest team on the track and hopefully, if we have a bit of luck in picking the right moments and avoiding crashes, then the chances are we can win gold there too”.
Good luck to Bradley in Beijing and thanks to him for his time!
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