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| Bradley Wiggins crash undermines hope of late Tour de France selection | |
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| A crash, no matter how innocuous the circumstances, can change the course of a cyclist’s season, and Bradley Wiggins’s minor pile-up on the finishing circuit around the little town of Ossingen on Tuesday in the Tour of Switzerland could well be one of those. Wiggins had never looked entirely at his ease in the Swiss race, partly due to a chest infection – partly one suspects due to a lack of road form and focus – and his withdrawal on Wednesdaymorning most probably puts paid to any chance that remained that he might be selected for the Tour de France for Team Sky. | A crash, no matter how innocuous the circumstances, can change the course of a cyclist’s season, and Bradley Wiggins’s minor pile-up on the finishing circuit around the little town of Ossingen on Tuesday in the Tour of Switzerland could well be one of those. Wiggins had never looked entirely at his ease in the Swiss race, partly due to a chest infection – partly one suspects due to a lack of road form and focus – and his withdrawal on Wednesdaymorning most probably puts paid to any chance that remained that he might be selected for the Tour de France for Team Sky. |
| Wiggins’s retirement means he has only four racing days in his legs since 18 May when he completed a dominant win in the Tour of California, and the conventional wisdom would be that that is too few to prepare for the Tour de France. It is possible to start the Tour on zero race days and finish – as David Millar did in 2006 – and Wiggins did race to third in the Vuelta a España in 2011 having not competed in the previous few weeks due to a broken collarbone, but the circumstances are different. Millar was desperate to compete after his two-year doping ban, and the Wiggins of 2011 was desperate to prove himself in a Grand Tour. | Wiggins’s retirement means he has only four racing days in his legs since 18 May when he completed a dominant win in the Tour of California, and the conventional wisdom would be that that is too few to prepare for the Tour de France. It is possible to start the Tour on zero race days and finish – as David Millar did in 2006 – and Wiggins did race to third in the Vuelta a España in 2011 having not competed in the previous few weeks due to a broken collarbone, but the circumstances are different. Millar was desperate to compete after his two-year doping ban, and the Wiggins of 2011 was desperate to prove himself in a Grand Tour. |
| While the 2012 Tour de France winner had said on 6 June that, as he read it, he was not going to start the Tour, the door was not completely shut. No matter when Team Sky announce their squad for the Tour, that door remains open the teeniest smidgen until the morning of 5 July when the race starts in Leeds, simply because one has to recognise that there have been improbable scenarios in the past when riders have been forced out of the Tour at the very last moment and a replacement – any replacement – has been called upon. | While the 2012 Tour de France winner had said on 6 June that, as he read it, he was not going to start the Tour, the door was not completely shut. No matter when Team Sky announce their squad for the Tour, that door remains open the teeniest smidgen until the morning of 5 July when the race starts in Leeds, simply because one has to recognise that there have been improbable scenarios in the past when riders have been forced out of the Tour at the very last moment and a replacement – any replacement – has been called upon. |
| But had Wiggins turned up to the Tour of Switzerland in full health, ridden a good time trial on day one, remained in one piece until Friday’s time trial and perhaps won that, then a bit of momentum might have built for him to claim a place. The case for him had been strengthened by a largely sympathetic public and press reaction when he took the initiative on 6 June and said he was probably not in the team and it was further reinforced by Sky’s troubled finish to the Critérium du Dauphiné. | But had Wiggins turned up to the Tour of Switzerland in full health, ridden a good time trial on day one, remained in one piece until Friday’s time trial and perhaps won that, then a bit of momentum might have built for him to claim a place. The case for him had been strengthened by a largely sympathetic public and press reaction when he took the initiative on 6 June and said he was probably not in the team and it was further reinforced by Sky’s troubled finish to the Critérium du Dauphiné. |
| Over the weekend of 14-15 July the argument for having Wiggins as No2 on Sky’s Tour team behind Chris Froome became more acute, because a crash – more deleterious than Wiggins’s in Switzerland but in relatively routine circumstances nonetheless – caused Froome to be off his game on the key final mountain stage. Richie Porte, claimed by Froome to be his favoured back-up man, had not looked his usual searingly fast self all week, and with the 2013 Tour winner off colour, that was that. It is a scenario which could be repeated at any time in the Tour; if it is, and Sky have no Plan B, questions are bound to asked of Sir Dave Brailsford. | Over the weekend of 14-15 July the argument for having Wiggins as No2 on Sky’s Tour team behind Chris Froome became more acute, because a crash – more deleterious than Wiggins’s in Switzerland but in relatively routine circumstances nonetheless – caused Froome to be off his game on the key final mountain stage. Richie Porte, claimed by Froome to be his favoured back-up man, had not looked his usual searingly fast self all week, and with the 2013 Tour winner off colour, that was that. It is a scenario which could be repeated at any time in the Tour; if it is, and Sky have no Plan B, questions are bound to asked of Sir Dave Brailsford. |
| It is possible to envisage an alternative scenario in which Wiggins was spurred on from the Tour of California with the bait of a Tour start and the chance to show himself to his public on home soil, meaning that he might have hit Switzerland – or the Dauphiné– in better form. Instead, given the mood music at Sky, he had apparently already turned his attention to preparing for the track events at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, which could well have compromised his buildup to Switzerland. He will now try his hand at next Thursday’s British time trial championship – subject to his recovery from the minor knee injury caused by the Swiss crash – and few would bet on him having the morale to start the following Sunday’s road race championship. | It is possible to envisage an alternative scenario in which Wiggins was spurred on from the Tour of California with the bait of a Tour start and the chance to show himself to his public on home soil, meaning that he might have hit Switzerland – or the Dauphiné– in better form. Instead, given the mood music at Sky, he had apparently already turned his attention to preparing for the track events at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, which could well have compromised his buildup to Switzerland. He will now try his hand at next Thursday’s British time trial championship – subject to his recovery from the minor knee injury caused by the Swiss crash – and few would bet on him having the morale to start the following Sunday’s road race championship. |
| Ironically, on the day that Wiggins’s chances of starting the Tour de France seemed to be dashed, those of Alex Dowsett, another Briton with his eye on next week’s time-trial title, were raised when the Essex man was announced in the Movistar squad’s shortlist of 13. Dowsett won a time trial in last year’s Tour of Italy and is valued by Movistar because of his ability to work within a close-packed peloton, and a strong ride in Friday’s time trial in Switzerland would do his chances no harm at all. | Ironically, on the day that Wiggins’s chances of starting the Tour de France seemed to be dashed, those of Alex Dowsett, another Briton with his eye on next week’s time-trial title, were raised when the Essex man was announced in the Movistar squad’s shortlist of 13. Dowsett won a time trial in last year’s Tour of Italy and is valued by Movistar because of his ability to work within a close-packed peloton, and a strong ride in Friday’s time trial in Switzerland would do his chances no harm at all. |