Much was written about the demise of this Englishman in 2013, the very same man who swept all before him (except perhaps, contentiously, his own teammate Christopher Froome) in 2012.
That year he won a slew of races, including Paris-Nice, the Criterium du Dauphine, the Olympic Time Trial and, most mammoth of all, the mighty Tour de France.
In becoming the first Briton to win the hallowed Maillot Jaune, Wiggins not only ignited the imagination of a nation that had largely been lukewarm to the sport of cycling, he also became the focal point for the extraordinary successes of British cycling in the past few years, a dominance begun on the track and masterfully overseen by David Brailsford.
Wiggins, it seemed, could do no wrong.
Yet very soon, as the 2013 season unfolded and the wheels almost literally came off the Englishman’s schedule, it seemed he could do no right.
The press, it has to be said, as well as some cycling fans took a quiet delight in seeing the mighty humbled.
Much was made of Wiggins’ announcement he would not be back to defend his Tour title.
Lance Armstrong at the time commented negatively on that decision at the time, to which Wiggo pithily replied something to the effect he had no reason to listen to Lance, who’d won zero Tours de France, while Wiggo himself had at least won one.
No, Wiggins had made his mind up – it was the Giro d’Italia for him. And, after that stellar 2012, who had any reason to believe he wouldn’t go on and add pink to yellow?
Ever conscious of cycling history and no less tradition, the Briton wanted to become the first rider to emulate Marco Pantani by holding both the Tour and Giro titles at the same time.
As it turned out though, the 2013 Italian tour was to be nothing short of a disaster for Wiggins. In fact, the whole year started less than auspiciously, when Wiggins lost time in the Tour of Oman and then rode to the assistance of Chris Froome, who won the race.
‘Hmmm’, some uttered, with a scratch of the chin, for it was interesting to see the tables turned.
Little did we know it would be a pattern that would be repeated all year: Wiggo at the bottom of the heap, Froome at the very pinnacle.
On the wet roads that plagued the early part of the Giro, Wiggins resembled more a deer on ice than a rider at his peak.
He looked, and sounded, miserable, finally admitting to a chest infection before stage 12 when he withdrew.
Was he playing dead? Faking it? He seemed for all the world to not only have lost his form but also his mojo.
Later in the year, Wiggins went on not only to admit Froome is “a better Grand Tour rider than me”, but also that at the Giro he was not in the right frame of mind due to friction between his side and Froome’s close supporters, after Wiggins had given a bullish press conference earlier in which he suggested he would ride the 2013 Tour and would ride to win.
“I remember at the start of the Giro there was a lot of s**t and, to be honest, it affected me,” he admitted.
He duly trained for the Tour, ostensibly to help Froome to the win, but many were expecting fireworks between the pair. The explosions however failed to materialise, as Wiggins pulled out due to a knee injury.
That must truly have been the lowest point for the prickly Englishman. From the highest heights to the lowest low in the space of 11 short months. His mind seemed shot.
Yet there are signs of a comeback, or perhaps more fittingly, a fightback, the start of which was the win in the individual time trial at the recent Tour of Britain, which he went on to win.
OK, this isn’t the Tour or even the Vuelta, but it does resemble a return to something like his old form.
His second place to Tony Martin (who was blistering), ahead of Fabian Cancellara at the individual time trial at the worlds this week also suggests his head is coming back round too.
He’s spoken of a return to the track later for the next Olympics, but I’d like to see him go for the Classics next year.
I agree with him he will probably never win another Tour de France or, for that matter, another Grand Tour.
His light was akin to a blaze of glory – one fierce, all encompassing flash and then gone. Maybe that sounds harsh, but it is what it is.
He did, however, shine for all the world to see last year, and quite brilliantly.
Some question the methods of Team Sky and the remarkable dominance of the team from 2012 on, but that’s for an other article.
Personally, I hope Wiggins stays on the road and refocuses his attentions, as he did in the last two weeks.
The peloton needs this straight talker with the wry eye for irony. He’s one of the few interesting guys in the pack.
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