Champion Roche backs Wiggins fortour glory

FIVE DAYS of racing stand between Bradley Wiggins and Tour de France glory and Stephen Roche, the champion 25 years ago, finds it difficult to see beyond the Briton as winner of the yellow jersey in Paris on Sunday.

Wiggins was set to begin today’s 197-kilometre 16th stage from Pau to Bagneres-de-Luchon with an advantage of 2mins 5secs over Team Sky colleague Chris Froome, with the nearest hostile rival Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale), who sits 2mins 23secs adrift.

Two Pyrenees stages and Saturday’s 53.5km time-trial to Chartres will decide the Tour winner — and Wiggins is imperious against the clock.

Hotchillee ambassador and 1987 Tour champion Roche said: “Nibali has to gain at least four minutes now on Bradley to win the tour.

“He needs two minutes, at least, going into the time-trial.

“Without spoiling the suspense, the guys that are there I can’t see them putting Bradley in difficulty, unless he has a really, really bad day.”

Although only 3:19 adrift in fourth, defending champion Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) is out of contention, according to Roche.

Roche said: “I don't think he has the condition to put Bradley in difficulty.”

One potential stumbling block for Wiggins is the presence of Froome in the top two.

Wiggins bridged a gap to Nibali’s group on stage 11 to La Toussuire before Froome forged forward again, without the yellow jersey on his wheel.

The move created much debate, with many believing superior climber Froome should be Team Sky’s leader.

Roche, though, thinks Froome’s actions were out of enthusiasm, rather than an attack on Wiggins’s leadership.

Roche said: “It was an acceleration and a half-hearted attack. It wasn’t an attack on Wiggins. He accelerated quickly. I don't think he realisedWiggins wasn’t able to follow him. It wasn’t an attack on the jersey.”

The acceleration showed Wiggins’s vulnerability — he can ride at high tempo but can struggle with short, sharp accelerations.

Roche anticipates Team Sky will aim to keep the pace high, limiting the prospect of attacks, in the two Pyrenean mountain stages to come.

It is anticipated summit f inishes there and will be more challenging mountains in the 100th edition of Le Tour in 2013 and Froome has already stated his claim to be leader.

It would be unusual for a defending champion not to be tour leader but Roche believes Wiggins, if in that position, may be happy to defer to Froome.

“It’s a luxury having two leaders of this calibre in one team,” Roche said.

“They could play off each other very, very nicely. Bradley knows if a route is not good enough for him, he knows.

“This year he knew from the start this was the tour for him, with not as many mountain top finishes and 100km of time-trials.”

Froome could have greater leadership responsibility at a rival squad but has two years remaining on his Team Sky contract and Roche advises him not to move.

“It would be an error for Froome to leave Sky,” Roche added.

“He is maybe not mature or experienced enough to be a unique leader.”

1848: WG Grace was born. The cricket legend scored 54,896 runs, took 2,876 wickets and 871 catches in the first-class game. In 1876, he became the first man to score 300 runs in an innings and duly repeated the feat within a week. He also represented his country at bowls and founded the English Bowling Association in 1903. He retired from first-class cricket aged 60 in 1908 and died in 1915.

1951: “Jersey” Joe Walcott knocked out Ezzard Charles to become world heavyweight boxing champion at the age of 37 years and 168 days.

1992: Crystal Palace became the first foreign club to play in South Africa following the country’s readmittance to Fifa. Palace beat Kaizer Chiefs 3-2 in Johannesburg.

2004: Unheralded American Todd Hamilton beat Ernie Els in a play-off to win the Open championship at Royal Troon.

2008: Sprinter Dwain Chambers lost his bid to be allowed to compete at the Beijing Olympics after a High Court judge refused to grant an injunction to temporarily suspend a lifetime ban imposed by the British Olympic Association for using drugs.

2010: South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen won the Open Championship at St Andrews.

Bradley Wiggins (centre) rides with his teammates during a training run on the rest day in Pau.