Sir Bradley Wiggins plays down Tour of California time trial chances
By Matt Westby
Last Updated: 15/05/16 2:20pm
Sir Bradley Wiggins has played down his chances of winning the individual time trial at the Amgen Tour of California, which starts on Sunday night.
This year's 20.3km course in Folsom is an almost exact replica of the time trial Wiggins won on the way to claiming overall victory in the 2014 edition of the race.
However, the 36-year-old has since reverted to being a full-time track rider and last competed in a professional time trial on the road in April 2015.
Wiggins believes the weight he has had to gain for track racing will put him at a disadvantage against the likes of Vasil Kiryienka, Rohan Dennis and Taylor Phinney in Friday's stage six time trial.
The 2014 world time trial champion said: "I haven't done a time trial for 14 months. I just pulled the bike out of the garage to check what chainring is on it.
"We'll see. I don't know. Twelve kilos is a lot to be carrying around. It's like a carrying a small baby on your back."
Wiggins will lead his eponymous WIGGINS team at the Amgen Tour of California, which lasts for eight days and ends on Sunday, May 22.
Most of his team-mates are fellow Great Britain track riders and Wiggins insists they are racing merely to build up endurance ahead of the Olympic Games.
He added: "This is only my second road race of the year. I don't race on the road. I'm retired, but I get talked into doing a couple of races a year.
"We won't get in the way of these guys [race favourites such as Peter Sagan] - don't worry - except for 10km to go; we'll come up to get on the telly, be a bit disruptive and then get out of the way.
"It's nice to be back at the race more than anything. We'll roll the sleeves and shorts up, work on the tan and then go back to the UK."
