What Is Bradley Wiggins Competing In At The Rio 2016 Olympics?

Share

Road Cycling

What Is Bradley Wiggins Competing In At The Rio 2016 Olympics?

What will Wiggins win next?

Bradley Wiggins – if you don’t know that name you’ve been living under a rock, deep in a cave on some planet where wheels don’t exist. Bradley Wiggins – or Sir Bradley Wiggins as he is now – is probably Britain’s most famous cyclist and one of its most decorated Olympians. He’s won no fewer than seven medals across both Olympic track cycling and Olympic road cycling events during his illustrious career. Add to this his Tour De France win in 2012 and it’s clear to see that ‘Wiggo’, as he’s known, is a force to be reckoned with.

Photo: Wikipedia.org – Petit Brun

But while Bradley Wiggins could have feasibly chosen to compete in a variety of roles for Team GB, at Rio 2016 the British cycling champ is returning to his roots.

Wiggo in Rio: Bradley Wiggins Comes Back To The Track for the Olympics

Photo: Wikipedia.org – Andrew Last

Bradley Wiggins’ first made his mark on the international cycling scene in a big way with wins in track events at the UCI world championships and Commonwealth Games. His first ever Olympic medal was earned on the track in the Sydney 2000 Games where he took Bronze for team pursuit and four years later Sir Brad scored an Olympic hat-trick at Athens 2004 in track events.

Rio 2016 | What Will Mark Cavendish Be Competing In at the Olympic Games?

It was only after this dominant performance that Wiggins went on to stamp his name across international road cycling with time trial wins in the UCI World Championships, victory in the Tour de France and his most recent Olympic Gold in the time trial at London 2012.

Yet as he reaches the later stages of his international cycling career, the 36-year-old is coming back to the track for Rio 2016. In fact, he’s chosen to compete in the discipline that started his Olympic journey, earning himself a place on Britain’s team pursuit squad.

Wiggo in Rio: Is Bradley Wiggins Past His Best?

Photo: Flickr.com

Having spent 18 years at the top of his game Bradley Wiggins is widely expected to be step down from international cycling after the Rio 2016 Olympics. Born in 1980, Wiggo is fairly mature for a top flight international cyclist.

In fact he’s been cycling so long that he now finds himself competing against the sons of former rivals like Corentin Ermenault, whose father Philippe Ermenault he raced against in team pursuit in the Sydney 2000 Olympics. It’s a mark of the British cyclist’s quality that he can still compete against athletes over a decade younger and make the grade in the highly competitive GB Olympic Squad.

Of course, with that long career comes years of experience, which will surely stand Wiggins in good stead when it comes to games. And there’s no doubt about his form in the velodrome – coming into these games he’s won the madison event at the World Championships. In 2015 his team took gold in team pursuit at the European track championships, and he famously set the hour world record – for the longest distance ridden in one hour – one of the most prestigious prizes in cycling.

Wiggo in Rio: What’s Bradley Wiggins’ Secret?

Photo: Wikipedia.org – Peter Trimming

Bradley Wiggins’ success is due in no small part to his incredibly committed work ethic. The beginning of this year saw the culmination of seven months solid gym training pay off for Wiggo as he managed to pile on an extra 12kg of muscle in preparation for Rio 2016’s team pursuit.

That same level of dedication apparently saw Sir Brad riding for seven to eight hours a day in the run up to London 2012. You can be sure that with the chance of a gold medal send off this summer Wiggo will be going all out with his training once again.

Wiggo in Rio: What Are Bradley Wiggins’ Chances Of Winning A Medal At Rio 2016?

Photo: Wikipedia.org – Josh Hallett

As part of Britain’s team pursuit squad, Wiggins’ chances of a medal don’t rest solely on his shoulders. Team GB’s selectors this year have put together a solid squad which combines experienced team pursuit riders such as Ed Clancy and Mark Cavendish with up-and-coming talent like Owain Doul and team pursuit specialist Steven Burke. On top of this, the British team’s recently unveiled Cervelo T5GB ‘superbike’ might just give them the edge they’re looking for at this year’s games.

It’s a big sign of confidence that Wiggins is currently enjoying 5/6 odds on bringing home the gold in the men’s team pursuit at Rio 2016. In fact the bookies give him a better chance of winning a top flight Olympic medal than carrying the flag at the opening ceremony, and he’s odds on favourite for that honour too!

While Rio 2016 may see Sir Bradley Wiggins finally stepping down from international competition he shows little sign of slowing down. The British champ’s insane work ethic and experience have already made him a cycling legend that would compliment any Olympic squad. Backed up by a strong, balanced team for Rio and the latest bike tech available, Wiggo has a great chance of earning the sort of send off he deserves. Fingers crossed the team do it!

Photo: Wikipedia.org – Nicola

You May Also Like

Sailing in the Olympics: Who Is Representing Team GB At Rio 2016 & Who to Watch Out For

Skateboarding In the Olympics | Not Jumping Through Hoops

Topics:

anticipation article Olympics 2016
Newsletter Terms & Conditions

Please enter your email so we can keep you updated with news, features and the latest offers. If you are not interested you can unsubscribe at any time. We will never sell your data and you'll only get messages from us and our partners whose products and services we think you'll enjoy.

Read our full Privacy Policy as well as Terms & Conditions.

production