Bradley Wiggins has announced that he will not ride the 2013 Tour de France. He had been scheduled to assist Christopher Froome in his tilt for the maillot jaune, while still aiming for a podium, but now that will not be the case.
He has been ruled out by a knee injury, that according to David Brailsford, the director of Team Sky, was picked up in the Giro d’Italia, and it has since inflamed.
Wiggins is quoted as saying “It is a huge disappointment not to make the Tour. I desperately wanted to be there, for the team and for all the fans along the way, but it’s not going to happen.”
This does give David Brailsford and Team Sky an easier strategy going into the Tour however, as Chris Froome can now claim undisputed leadership.
The Kenyan-born British rider had been involved in a media-fulled dispute with Wiggins over who would lead the team, with Froome claiming full support, while Wiggins said it would be decided after the first week.
As for what’s next for Wiggins, the Brit hasn’t said, a tilt at the Vuelta and the World Championship Time Trial looks likely. However, until he announces his schedule, it is all speculation.
It is probable that Sky did not want to put Wiggins through what he went through at the Giro d’Italia.
If he was not at peak fitness, he could have had to withdraw, which at the Tour would have drawn much more media speculation, especially in reference to Wiggins’ relationship with Chris Froome.
It is clear all has not been well between the pair this season, and Brailsford will surely be glad that he will not have a LeMond-Hinault situation at the top of a mountain.
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