With Bradley Wiggins on the point of ending his racing with Team Sky, his former sports director and Paris-Roubaix contender Sean Yates has paid tribute to the Briton he helped guide to a breakthrough victory for his country’s cycling back in 2012 at the Tour de France.
For Yates, too, Paris-Roubaix has always been a very special race, so seeing Wiggins end his Sky career in the Queen of the Classics is a gesture he appreciates. As a pro, Paris-Roubaix was the one event of the year where Yates went from his usual role of super-domestique to team leader, finishing a career-best of fifth in one of the hardest ever editions, in 1994.
“As Bradley says, we all know he’s well into his cycling history and the big heros of yester-year like Eddy [Merckx] and [four times Paris-Roubaix winner] [Roger] De Vlaeminck,” Yates, now directing at Tinkoff-Saxo, told Cyclingnews.
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“So given how passionate Bradley is about that and Monuments, Roubaix is pretty much the biggest and the most spectacular. [Finishing his career there] is a dream scenario. The ultimate dream for Wiggins would be to win, but whatever happens, he’s doing this [retirement] on his own terms, he’s gifted enough to be able to do that and I wish him all the best.”
Yates feels that Wiggins will definitely be in contention on Sunday because “he’s perfectly built for that. Ultimately [in Paris-Roubaix] you need power and he’s clearly got that, he’s won so many different kinds of races.” Yates would even go so far as to argue that “in the modern era, he’s pretty much up there with the best there’s ever been. He’s got that versatility as a rider, and it’s not over yet. He could well go to Rio and get another medal there.
“Also important is how far he can get when he focusses on something. We all know how far he put himself out of his comfort zone to get to the Tour in great shape in 2012, for example. Physically he’s up there with the best.”
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