Yates would not have won Vuelta with Sky - Wiggins

Sir Bradley Wiggins has claimed Simon Yates would have not have achieved his historic La Vuelta success had he chosen to pursue his career with Team Sky.

Former Team Sky stalwart Wiggins believes Yates’ decision to steer clear of one of the sport’s most preeminent teams enabled him to storm to victory in Madrid on Sunday.

Yates had been widely expected to join Team Sky in the wake of his points race triumph at the World Track Championships in Belarus in 2013, but the move was never sealed over confusion relating to the role of his twin brother, Adam.

On Eurosport’s The Bradley Wiggins Show, the host said: “If he’d gone to Sky, I don’t think he’d have won the Vuelta. It was a sliding doors moment.

“By nature of the fact that Sky wouldn’t take Adam as well in one package, he’s ended up finding a great team and won a grand tour at 26.”

It is not the first time Wiggins has spoken out against his former employers.

Last February, asked to give advice to Tom Piddock, whom he had signed to his own under-23 team, Wiggins replied: “Don’t go to Sky… because they will ruin you.”

Wiggins’opinionsappear to stem from Team Sky’s habit of signing up young rising stars to act as socalled “super-domestiques” to their grand tour contenders, in recent years mostly Chris Froome.

Wiggins said Yates deserved extra praise for fighting back from his disappointment in the Giro d’italia four months ago, when a nightmare stage 19 took him out of contention.

Having worn the race leader’s maglia rosa for the best part of a fortnight, the Lancastrian lost more than 38 seconds on the Colle de Finestre, which paved the way for Froome’s eventual success.

Wiggins said: “We asked whether (the Giro) could have been the best thing that ever happened to him and I think it probably was because he’s learned from it and now he’s won the Vuelta.”