The final time trial of the Three Days of De Panne had the feel of a valedictory win for Bradley Wiggins, though the Briton will of course hope to add Paris-Roubaix to his palmarès before he departs Team Sky in 10 days’ time for his new, eponymous Continental outfit.
Wiggins first participated in De Panne in 2002, as a neo-professional with La Française des Jeux, and finished the concluding time trial in 12th place – incidentally, one spot behind another Sky man very much in the news in recent weeks, current directeur sportif Servais Knaven.
Victory on that same windswept course in 2009 was an early flourish in the season that proved to be the turning point of Wiggins’ entire career, and there was a sense of closing the circle when he claimed his first win in the rainbow jersey of world time trial champion on Thursday afternoon.
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“It was one of my first time trials as a professional back in 2002 and it’s my last one on this level, so it’s nice to win. It was certainly on my mind all week and especially today, I really wanted to win this one,” Wiggins said afterwards. “I always like this time trial especially when the weather picks up.”
Wiggins showed no lingering effects of Thursday’s morning leg, quickly finding his rhythm on rolling down the start ramp, and it was immediately apparent that he would not be denied, even with 25 riders still to follow him. By close of business, only Stefan Küng (BMC) came within 10 seconds of Wiggins’ time on the 14.2km course, and the Briton had hauled himself up to third place overall, 42 seconds down on Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), for good measure.
“It felt horrible out there but I think it was the same for everyone,” Wiggins said. “When you race this morning really early it never feels like it’s flowing and fresh and everyone is trying really hard. But I knew there was an opportunity to jump onto the podium.”
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