Former Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins says he is looking forward to tackling the Tour of California which starts tomorrow, claiming it is an opportunity to fly the Sky Procycling flag stateside.
“It’s an important event for the team, and we want to put in a good performance in front of the American fans and our co-owners, 21st Century Fox,” said the Briton, who was among the field of 128 cyclists announced for the eight-day, 1,144 km race that starts tomorrow in the California capital of Sacramento and concludes a week later in Thousand Oaks, west of Los Angeles.
Other elite riders in the field include Omega Pharma-Quick Step’s Mark Cavendish of Britain and Cannondale Procycling’s Peter Sagan, the Slovakian who holds the record for the most California stage victories at 10.
Photo: EPA
Wiggins’ star has dimmed somewhat since his outstanding year in 2012, when he became the first Briton to win the Tour de France and followed it up with a time-trial gold at his home Olympics in London.
He suffered a disastrous season last year when he pulled out of the Giro d’Italia due to illness and then missed defending his Tour title with an injury.
He also had to watch as Chris Froome succeeded him as Tour champion and firmly established himself as the Sky Procycling team leader.
After finishing ninth at Paris-Roubaix last month, Wiggins vowed to earn his place on the Sky Procycling team to support reigning champion Froome in the Tour de France in July.
However, first comes California.
“Riding in California is definitely something different and a nice alternative to the traditional racing program in Europe,” Wiggins said in comments posted on the Sky Web site. “There are a lot of passionate cycling fans in the States and this is one of the only chances we get to ride in front of them. We’re all looking forward to it.”
BMC Racing’s Tejay van Garderen won last year’s Tour of California, but the American will not be back to defend his title. After retiring from the Tour de Romandie, where he had crashed hard in the prologue, he said he would take a break, hoping to return to racing at the Criterium du Dauphine.
Peter Stetina, who lives in Santa Rosa, California, will lead BMC, returning to the race for the first time since 2010.
“I have never actually been in a protected role like this, so it will be a new opportunity that I have been chomping at the bit for and one that I am excited for,” Stetina said.
This year’s ninth edition of the Tour of California features a 20.1km time trial in Folsom as Monday’s stage two and a pair of mountain-top finishes at Mount Diablo State Park in stage three and at Mountain High in stage six.
It concludes with a circuit race in Thousand Oaks, in rolling country west of Los Angeles.
Stetina predicted the time trial would be crucial.
“Mount Diablo is not very steep until the very final, so I think there are going to be bigger time gaps for the time trial than on Diablo, and then Mountain High is a hard climb. You definitely have to have a good time trial to contend for the overall,” he said.
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