Wiggins: It’s a case of one day at a time
BRITAIN’S Bradley Wiggins insists he is not yet contemplating victory in the Tour de France despite edging a day closer to an historical triumph.
The Team Sky rider retains both the yellow jersey and a two minute, five second lead over second-placed team-mate Chris Froome after Europcar’s Thomas Voeckler won the Tour’s sixteenth stage in five hours, 35 minutes and two seconds. Though successful in fending off the threat of Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali on the final climb of the Col de Peyresourde in the Pyrenees, Wiggins if focused only upon the challenges posed by today’s stage.
“I don’t think everyone else has let us go,” said Wiggins. “[There] is another day, and another challenge, and then everyone’s thoughts will turn to the time trial – which is as significant as a mountains stage in itself.
“We’ll get [Thursday] out of the way first before we can even begin to think about Paris. The process starts again with recovery, massage, rehydrating, and then warming down to ensure we’re good to go again.”
Froome has been instrumental in both helping Wiggins’s pursuit of success and nullifying Nibali’s ambitions and yesterday admitted his pleasure at the outcome of the stage. “I don’t think [Nibali] was really going anywhere,” he said.“We were very comfortable there. That’s exactly the result we wanted.”