Commonwealth Games: Sir Bradley Wiggins focused on team pursuit in Glasgow
Last Updated: 22/07/14 2:58pm
Sir Bradley Wiggins may have decided to race only one of a possible four events in Glasgow but he insists the Commonwealth Games - and riding for Team England - is a big deal.
Wiggins has ascended to the A-list of sporting superstars since he last graced the Commonwealths in 2002, picking up four Olympic gold medals and winning the 2012 Tour de France.
But the controversial decision by Team Sky to stand him down from this year's Tour, combined with a desire to return to the track at the Rio 2016 Olympics, means Wiggins has been fully focused on the velodrome in recent months.
He had initially been mulling over a combined programme of track and road, with the team pursuit, individual pursuit, time-trial and road race all options for him.
The plan was to come in and do pretty much most of the events, (but) with hindsight, I thought just focus on the Olympic event rather than try to be too greedy.
Sir Bradley Wiggins
But he will only contest the team pursuit in Glasgow, in a bid to prevent spreading himself too thinly.
Focusing
"The plan was to come in and do pretty much most of the events, (but) with hindsight, I thought just focus on the Olympic event rather than try to be too greedy," he said.
"The initial thing, having been away (from the track) for so long, was whether I could still do it straight away. The initial signs were really good and since then I've just been focusing on the team pursuit. I dropped everything else.
"All the training's been geared up to the team pursuit and trying to break back into that. It's the only Olympic event really that's available to me now, because the individual pursuit has gone.
"I thought I'd put all my eggs into the one I'm going to try and do for the next two years."
Wiggins explained he had never seriously entertained the idea of combining track and road events having thrown himself firmly into training alongside the National Cycling Centre in Manchester.
"The training for the last four to five weeks has been so concentrated on the track and I don't think I could have done much on the roads," he said.
"It's one of those ones. It's one or the other, don't underestimate the event and try to do everything or be greedy and thinking you could win everything."
Distraction
Wiggins may have been denied a place in the Tour but he has not shunned the event, instead tuning in at home as a fan.
Rather than envying his Team Sky team-mates, he has watched the Tour take place in some miserable weather, which contributed to the withdrawal of both defending champion Chris Froome and Alberto Contador.
"It was a perfect distraction really and I've ended up watching the Tour for watching the Tour, really," he said.
"I've watched it like everyone else to see that battle in the mountains and we got denied that because Contador and Chris crashed out.
"My son watches it and I end up watching it with him because he loves Peter Sagan and (Mark Cavendish) and so I kind of ended up watching it as a fan, really."
