Wiggo! Kelly! Jaja! Bob!
Bradley Wiggins wins the 2012 edition of Paris - Nice and the next thing you know, he’s on the short shortlist for the 2012 Tour de France. Maybe it’s the sight of him in an ASO organised race yellow jersey (it must be the same shade as the July yellow) that has provoked the excitement? But while we can enjoy the sight of a Brit on the top step of a stage race podium, we’ve been here before.
Robert Millar – still Britain’s best stage race rider – was capable of decent performances in the week long races, with a best Tour de France placing of fourth. And Chris Boardman also rode well in races of similar duration. But to extrapolate a win in Paris – Nice, the Dauphine Libere or Criterium International and project it onto the Tour de France is just cafe stop blather.
Christ, you can win Paris - Nice seven times on the bounce and you can throw in a Vuelta win too and still be nowhere near having the right make up for a Tour podium, far less a win. Ask Sean Kelly with a Tour GC best of fourth in 1985. Or maybe Laurent Jalabert. Three white jersey wins in Paris – Nice, one Vuelta a Espana and a career best Tour finish of...fourth.
This is not to be ‘down’ on Wiggins, this is merely an attempt to bring in a little perspective. Millar finished – yes, you’ve guessed - fourth overall in the 1984 Tour de France and the result went on to define his career. “When I finished fourth, people had me marked as a potential Tour winner – Peter Post at Panasonic Raleigh did – but the difference between finishing fourth at 10 minutes and winning is much bigger than it looks,” recalled Robert Millar later.
So, yes, let’s all enjoy the sight of Wiggins in yellow, but after the Paris – Nice celebrations fade, the fact is that he needs more pressure in the run up to the Tour de France like he needs a broken collarbone. In the end, the Tour de France is a race like no other and no number of wins in any other race are going to make much difference to anyone when July rolls around.
Pics by Getty (Wiggins) and Fred Mons (Millar)