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Bradley Wiggins at 2014 Tour of Britain (picture credit SweetSpot)Sir Bradley Wiggins beats Tony Martin to win World Championship Time Trial
Sir Bradley Wiggins has won the UCI World Championship Time Trial in Ponferrada , Spain, to add to the Olympic title he won in London two years ago. Once again, the man he beat into second place was Germany’s Tony Martin, today by the impressive margin of 26 seconds, with Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands third, a further quarter of a minute back.
It had been billed as a two-horse race, particularly in the absence of four-time champion Fabian Cancellara, and that’s how it turned out as only Martin and Wiggins occupied the fastest two spots in the list of split times throughout.
At the first, the German, seeking his fourth successive win, led by 4 seconds, but Wiggins had edged ahead at the second and by the third, with the tougher, hillier part of the 47.1km course still to come, he was 10 seconds ahead.
Wiggins is the only man to have won the Tour de France and to have been an Olympic and world champion on both the road and the track.
He becomes only the second British male winner of the rainbow jersey in the discipline after Chris Boardman won the first edition in 1994 – David Millar’s 2003 victory was taken away from him after he admitted to doping the following year.
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Sir Bradley Wiggins, new World Time Trial Champion
“I don't know what to say. I knew coming into it I had the legs and when I saw the course I realised that if I was ever going to beat Tony again it would be on a course like this.
"It's been an up-and-down year and I want to dedicate this to my family. My wife and children back home have always been there for me and had to put up with me. This was my last world time trial championships, so to finish it with a gold medal – I don't know what to say.
I've prepared for things like this so many times in the past and when I know the form and the condition is there, I'm quite relaxed. I know what I have to do once I get out on the bike, so it's just a case of waiting all day. The weather turned out good and I had a good team time trial on Sunday – knew I was strong there so... job done.
"I knew the difference would be made on that final loop. I paced it perfectly and I still had gas in the final. Even on that last descent, I heard I was 10 seconds up but I was pushing all the way and not taking any risks. It was superb.
"The hour record is my next big goal now, but to add the world title to the British title and the Olympic title means I've got the set, so it's very good, fantastic."
Runner-up, Tony Martin
"To be honest it's really hard to get beaten on a day like this," Martin said. "I was motivated, I had the goal to get the gold medal again today. Nothing else counted for me. Even the silver medal doesn't make it better for me to be honest, but I know it is still a good result.
"I'm really disappointed, but that's cycling, that's sport. I'm not a machine. I know that almost everyone expected me to win, but I always said a few riders, especially Bradley, always have a big chance. I already felt tired in the team time trial. For sure it wasn't best for the morale and preparation for today.
"I was a little tired also today and I think that was the biggest factor. I couldn't battle Bradley in the final of this race with my condition. Now I have to analyse and do better next year. Congratulations to Bradley as he is a great talent in this discipline and deserves to be world champion."
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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Wiggins is one of the all time greats. Anyone, and I mean anyone that has won the TDF is automatically an all time great.
Then add to that multiple olympic titles, the world TT champs, and all the other classic stage race victories he has amassed, the chap is clearly one of the very best cyclists of all time.
Just because he is British, just because his riding isn't as animated as others does not detract that he is one of the very best.
As for this years TDF... who knows. And I think thats the point many on here focus on... he didn't get a chance to prove his ability either way.
What you can say is that looking at his ability to target and deliver at key events, he would have been an interesting plan B. However, his prep was not ideal with his Tour de Suisse sickness, so I doubt he'd have won. Might have made the top 15 though!
Hopalongsteve: Focusing on the dark cloud behind the silver lining since 19..
I can’t believe this, but it’s a great achievement I think! I agree that we don’t have many multiple GT winners who have won all their Grand Tours all clean. It’s easy to become a critic, but difficult to prove things practically. Also, it’s barely of any use to compare professional bikers like this. I mean every player is different and so will be their calibers and achievements. So, rather than looking for the worst in people, I encourage you to look for what’s best within them. Great job sir Wiggins!
Bring out all the Wiggo bashing *****. Yep, he's only won 1 world road title, 5 world track titles, a host of olympic medals, the tour de france (only once I heard you cry, well its more than you and most professional riders) and a host of other wins. A big ***** you to all you negative *****. Sick of hearing it. No he's not the greatest cycling talent in the world if you want to measure purely on grand tour success but he still won it even if his back stabbing african teammate tried otherwise (and then whinged about their relationship afterwards).
i can't even begin to comprehend how much training and sacrifice it takes to be this good, ignore the money, its bloody hard, I couldn't even be arsed to ride into work today because I had an ickle sniffle.
Come on, bring it on
http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140907073929/thefutureofeuropes/ima...
No need to be abusive to people on here, you are entitled to your opinion and others to theirs, if we all agreed on everything then the world would be a boring place. Wiggo has done great to convert to a road rider and gain success but some were calling him an all time great hence my response that only multiple tour wins or multiple classics and stage wins over many years and not only one make a rider an all time great.
Hope your cold is better soon!
If you know my history of commenting on Sky related stories, you'll see my comments were made with tongue stuck firmly in cheek! Re-read, and you might see that I was actually highlighting how ridiculous it is in the first place that Brad is a Tour de France champion (a clean one at that!).
It was on the BBC
Also, watching Tony's body language on the podium.. he seemed genuinely annoyed to have been beaten. To me, it looked like the body language of someone who felt in good form, and expected to win.
For all his heroics earlier in the year, this was Tony's big goal for the year.
Was this shown on TV anywhere?
Some stripes, red white and blue, rainbow and a gold edge, that is some collar but I reckon Brad could pull it off. We will have to see just what strip he chooses to wear for the hour record.
To the nay-sayers, Wiggo has a very particular talent (like Liam Neeson) and has adapted himself and his talent to be able to win as many and as varied a range of events as possible at the top level. That makes him unique and therefore great. It was his tour winning abilities that helped him win on the climb today. I hope he takes the hour record and another Olympic gold. Epic.
Would he be allowed to wear any rainbow stripes for that? His British championship and current world championship are all on the road, his previous world championships were for track, but for individual and team pursuit, does he have to keep those stripes solely for when he is competing in those events on the track? I wouldn't put it past the UCI to turn around and state that he isn't a current or former world champion of the Hour Record.
Mind you, surely a sponsor could cover the fine if he chooses to go balls out and wear the all the stripes regardless of what the UCI says.
I thought the stripes could only be worn for the event in which they were won, so I think, for example (I haven't bothered to go and find pictures to check) the year Cav was World Road Race champion, when competing in time trial stages he would have worn the standard team-issue skin suit. Similarly the time trial world champ would only wear their stripes when competing in a time-trial and would wear standard kit the rest of the time. I think the same goes for the stripes on the collar or cuffs - they're only for the event in which they were won. Given that there isn't a world championship one hour event, I guess no-one wears rainbow stripes for that, and he'll probably be in Sky kit, or something special made for the occasion.
Just be pleased he won! Christ on a bike, (as they say), is there no end to the whiny twattishness of some people? Of course he wouldn't have won if someone else had been stronger / less tired / better prepared / tugged along by angels / lucky with the weather / etc etc on the day. Thats the way these things work! You cant deny that only a very very strong, well prepared, motivated rider will ever win the World TT championship. No-one ever, ever, EVER, gets that by luck.
Well Done Wiggo!!!
I wonder if Froome has called Sir Brad to congratulate him?
Well done Mr Wiggins, track, grand tour, Olympic, worlds.....unique in the modern era and I don't underestimate at all the additional challenges of switching from classic to tour to track to road to world beating TT.
Fair play to Wiggo. That's quite an achievement.
It seems strange that Cancellara didn't ride, but some think he's in with a shout on the road race.
Sky's season might have been a lot more miserable without his successes this year.
Give it up FFS!
Nothing but bloody whinging. And that's ignoring BW. Playschool starts tomorrow morning. Wait til then
Awesome work, Sir Wiggins!
Also, everyone always says 'first Brit to win the tour' like it's something... There was a first Spaniard to win, first German, first Australian... It's no more of an acheivement than that yet we seem to dress it up as one.
The French, Spaniards, Australians etc can speak and celebrate for themselves. We British are proud to have had Bradley Wiggins win the tour as the 'first Brit to win the tour'.
You're obviously Scottish, voted Yes and lost.
Awesome. I was hoping to avoid seeing the result so I could watch as-real highlights, but I must admit smiling when I accidentally glanced the outcome on my phone.
Chapeau
That's the way to answer the critics!
Chapeau Wiggo!
I'll throw in a real negative.
That's another British champs jersey back I the wardrobe as he will wear the worlds when the time arises.
Really we should have the nationals after the worlds and the world champ should be banned.
Just because he won a 50km TT does not mean he would have done anything over more than 3000km at TDF, get real. As for being an ''all time great'', i think that is a little of an overstatement...ok all time great track rider or all time great British rider but that's it so far with only one Grand Tour win.
Cancellara had won countless TT's at every World level over many years and to be counted as a great you need to do this consistently and you need multiple Grand Tour wins, not one where the course was designed for you and your team paced you the whole way through it...you may as well say Team Sky won the TDF and if they had not shackled him then Froome would have won it anyway. All for supporting the British riders and well done Wiggo but not lets get carried away now.
Fair play to Wiggo, he did well to win his TDF but the only person he had to beat that year was his own team mate who was not allowed to race him and hardly set the world alight when winning unlike the likes of Nibali and Contador who entertain whilst winning their titles by positive, attacking riding, often going solo for the win in the mountains where real Grand Tour riders win their spurs!
only one Grand Tour win?! How many pro riders ever win a Grand Tour? How many have ever won one clean? I challenge you to name one multiple GT winner who you can confidently claim they won them all clean!
Utter bollocks again! First Brit to win the TDF and some people still find the negatives! Don't really care how he won the toughest road race on the planet but just that he won, so there!
Not all i said about Wiggo was negative, you chose to focus on that part only. I was simply responding to those getting carried away with comments saying he would have won TDF and that he is an all time great road rider based on one Grand Tour win. No doubting he is a class rider who has done well to adapt from the track but that hardly qualifies him as an all time great, only an all time great British rider as is already the case with the likes of Cav.
But most was. Not sure that anyone was saying he WOULD have won the TDF this year, but wouldn't he have been a great plan B?
You really seem to consider that his 2012 TDF win was easy and that Froome could have beaten him at will. My recollection is that Froome could have dropped him on one mountain stage, but that Wiggo took over a minute out of Froome in each ITT; that's a lot of time to recoup.
You also state that he only had to beat Froome, which totally ignores the fact that this year's TDF champion Nibali was there and did his utmost to win the thing.
And he had his whole team riding for him; well, what a f##cking surprise!
And the course was made for him; I don't understand that comment. Historically, a rider like Wiggo would have had about 150km of ITT to look forward to in a TDF (I remember Roche's 1987 TDF win included one ITT of almost 90k). I think that changed with Indurain and 2012's route wasn't exactly flat and bristling with ITT's.
Credit where credit's due, I think.
Some good points but i think we all can agree that Nibali was a different rider back then for whatever reason that may be. Not saying that Froome could have won at will but i do think if allowed to race he would have put more time into Wiggo in the mountains than Wiggo into him on the TT's but we will never know as Froome was not permitted to race at any stage and the one time he went he was ordered back...who knows how much harder he could have gone but you are quite right, the winner in the history books was Wiggins and thats what counts.
As for the course being made for him, that's not really my words but those of the ''experts'' that were in the cycling press at the time implying that a TDF with a long TT was ideal for him. My comment about whole team riding for him was maybe not phrased well, so apologies, it should have been that he needed the whole team riding for him unlike some other competitors who take the race by the horns and go out on the attack. Hopefully, he comes back to Grand Tours soon and does well and if he does then i will happily eat my words but i cannot see it happening unfortunately.
I am no cycling historian and don't claim to be but Indurain having won 5 TDF can certainly claim to be an all time great road rider i think but maybe i place to much emphasis on Grand Tours?
Don't think Cancellara has won the tdf yet unlike wiggins !!
Well done Brad one of the cycling greats
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