Bradley Wiggins has had a poor year and most recently a troubled, and short, Giro. Now he has pulled out of the defence of his Tour de France title, citing a knee injury.
The defending Tour de France champion, Bradley Wiggins has pulled out of this year’s race which begins in a little over one month.
He has said while the illness that forced him out of the Giro d’Italia had cleared, a lingering knee injury meant he has been unable to train properly and has run out of time to be ready for the Tour.
The news will be a massive disappointed for cycling fans curious to see if Wiggins could bounce back in time for the Tour. His battle for supremacy in Team Sky with team mate Chris Froome also promised to bring an added dimension to the race in its centenary year.
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The team said in a statement this afternoon that since abandoning the Giro – where he finished second on the long TT but was very poor on the climbs – he had returned home to England for “treatment, rest, and further assessment of his knee”.
However, his inability to train since he left the race in Italy on May 18th now meant he did not have the condition to ride the Criterium du Dauphine – which he won last year – or the Tour de Suisse. This in turn meant he could not ride the Tour and instead he needed rest for his knee injury
Team principal Dave Brailsford confirmed today: “With illness, injury and treatment Brad has gone past the point where he can be ready for the Tour. It’s a big loss but, given these circumstances, we won’t consider him for selection.”
“He hasn’t been able to train hard since the Giro and now he needs further rest. Whilst we all know these things happen in sport, it doesn’t take away from the fact that this is a huge disappointment for everyone in the team – and above all for Brad."
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”It’s incredibly sad to have the reigning champion at Team Sky but not lining up at the Tour. But he’s a champion, a formidable athlete and will come back winning as he has before”
Wiggins described his forced withdrawal as “a huge disappointment”.
“I desperately wanted be there, for the team and for all the fans along the way - but it’s not going to happen. I can’t train the way I need to train and I’m not going to be ready. Once you accept that, it’s almost a relief not having to worry about the injury and the race against time.
“I’ve been through this before, when I broke my collarbone, so I know how it works. I’ll get this sorted, set new goals for this season and focus on those.”
“This team has so many riders in great shape, ready for selection and we set incredible standards for performance which shouldn’t be compromised. We need to have the best chance to win.”
Team doctor, Richard Freeman said: ““The chest infection that caused his withdrawal from the Giro has responded to treatment and rest. It has completely cleared up.”
“However, further medical investigations on the knee injury that we were managing at the Giro showed the condition was more significant than we thought.”
“It has needed intensive treatment and, whilst it will be fully resolved, Bradley now needs to rest completely for five days before a gradual, return to full training over a period of two to three weeks.”
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