1 Jul 2012

Will Wiggins forego Olympic gold for Le Tour?

British cyclist Bradley Wiggins is favourite to win this year’s Tour de France – but will his exertions undermine his chances of securing gold at the Olympic Games in London?

The first stage of the world’s most famous cycling race, the Tour de France, took place today in Belgium.

Almost 200 riders set off from the city of Liege on a 200km circular stage.

For the first time a Briton – Bradley Wiggins – is favourite to win. But could giving his all in Le Tour affect his chances at the Olympics?

After coming a respectable second in yesterday’s time trial, Bradley Wiggins was in no hurry to exert himself too much as the first stage of the Tour De France got underway.

The triple Olympics gold medallist stayed within the protection of the pack for most of the race.

Last week the Londoner made his final preparations for the tour in the mountains of Majorca.

His training regime has seen him adapt his body for the feat of endurance that is the Tour – but possibly at the expense of winning the shorter, more intense events at London 2012.

After almost 200km, a gruelling climb to the finish reminded the riders why this is one of the toughest sporting events in the world. In the end Slovak Peter Sagan won his first victory, with Wiggins crossing line further back amongst the main pack.

But in a race that’s all about cumulative times, he remains in second place overall behind Fabian Cancellera. And with another 3,299km ahead of them, there is plenty of time for that to change.