Friday's Tour of California stage 6 time trial in Folsom, the town Johnny Cash made famous with the song "Folsom Prison Blues," will offer a rematch of sorts for the riders who made the podium when the event held its race against the clock there two years ago.
Bradley Wiggins, riding for Team Sky in 2014, won the stage that day by 44 seconds over then-Garmin rider Rohan Dennis and 52 seconds over Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing). All three riders are back this year, with Dennis and Phinney both now on BMC and Wiggins riding for his Continental development team that carries his name.
Although in most situations Wiggins would be considered the favourite, Wiggins downplayed his chances to repeat the win there during the pre-race press conference last week, saying he hadn't ridden his time trial bike in 14 months. But it's difficult to count out the 2012 Olympic time trial champion and Tour de France winner in any race against the clock.
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Wiggins has all-but retired from road racing, choosing to focus his Team WIGGINS efforts toward the track and another gold medal at the Rio Olympics in August. So far he hasn't cracked the top 100 on any of the stages, and he's currently 131st overall, more than an hour behind Alaphilippe.
Following the stage 5 finish at Lake Tahoe, a group of reporters hoping to ask Wiggins about Friday' stage waited for him to cross the line in the gruppetto, but Wiggins sailed by without slowing as he rode toward the team hotel.
Given Wiggins' focus away from the road, Dennis is going in as the favourite to win the race. So far he's been riding well and is currently seventh overall, just over a minute behind race leader Julian Alaphilippe. Dennis, who won the opening time trial at the Tour de France last year and led the race for a day, has several motivations to do well on Friday including taking his team's first stage win of the race, bolstering his overall chances and making an impression on Australia's Olympics selection committee.
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