I was out for a ride recently with my friend Bernard. The conversation turned to Sir Bradley Wiggins, a rider whom Bernard has always admired, all the way back to his junior pursuit world title in 1998. Sadly, he’s a bit less of a fan these days. “He says he hates cycling now,” said Bernard grumpily. “Can you imagine, hating cycling? You look at him riding a bike, the grace, the power. How could he hate that? He says he hated winning the Tour de France.”
My first thought was that Wiggins has had quite a lot to go through and process in recent years and I’d be first in line to let him do that. I think there’s a lot of pressure on pro riders that it’s easy to overlook in a raging jealousy that they’re getting paid a fortune to ride their bikes, have fun, and live in Girona.
