- By Gregor Brown
- Published 15 mins ago
LIÈGE, Belgium (VN) — Bradley Wiggins (Sky) is already in control of the Tour de France as it departs for its second day today. The Brit superstar gained time on all of his general classification rivals yesterday in the opening prologue, but doesn’t have the burden of the race leadership today as he finished just shy of the best time of Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) — perfect.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that,” Wiggins responded when asked if it was better not to take yellow jersey. “I did say to the team [Friday] night that there’s one man who can beat me, and that’s Fabian. He’s the king of those things and he’s proved once again he’s the best in the world.”
The Swiss time trialist won the world title four times and the Olympics time trial in 2008. He claimed the prologue with seven seconds to spare to Wiggins. However, Wiggins took important gains on his GC rivals. Defending Tour champion, Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) placed 10 seconds back and Giro champ Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) was 11 seconds slower.
Virtual GC
1. Bradley Wiggins, Sky in 7:20
2. Denis Menchov, Katusha at :06
3. Cadel Evans, BMC Racing at :10
4. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas-Cannondale at :11
5. Ryder Hesjedal, Garmin-Sharp at :11
6. Levi Leipheimer, Omega Pharma-Quick Step at :21
7. Chris Horner, RadioShack-Nissan at :27
8. Alejandro Valverde, Movistar at :28
9. Fränk Schleck, RadioShack-Nissan at :31
10. Samuel Sánchez, Euskaltel-Euskadi at :33
11. Juanjo Cobo, Movistar at :37
Wiggins controls the race’s overall classification, but relies on Cancellara’s RadioShack team to protect the race lead and set the pace. The situation couldn’t be anymore perfect for him as the race rolls into the second day.
Wiggins, an Olympic and world champion himself, on the track, won the Paris-Nice, Tour de Romandie and Critérium du Dauphiné stage races this year — a treble never before seen in cycling. Early into the Dauphiné, he took the race lead and regretted it.
“I rode safe at the front, but the downside is that I took the jersey, which I didn’t
To read the whole story, visit here: http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/07/news/wiggins-already-in-control-of-tour-de-france_226798
