Bradley Wiggins signs off on top-level time trial career with a win

Sir Bradley Wiggins says he’s glad to have signed off his time trial career on the road with a win in the rainbow jersey of world champion, rather than carrying on like a “punch drunk” boxer.

He was speaking yesterday after winning the concluding time trial stage at the Three Days of De Panne, a result that elevated him to third position overall in the race, which was won by Katusha’s in-form Alexander Kristoff.

Wiggins has a little more than a week left of his Team Sky career before he joins his own team to begin the build up to what he hopes will be a winning return to the track in the team pursuit at the Rio Olympics.

His final race for Team Sky will be Paris-Roubaix a week on Sunday, and Wiggins revealed that his preparations for what is his last big goal with the WorldTour outfit have been disrupted by illness.

“I was a bit sick at the start of last week, I thought I had shingles,” he explained. “So I didn’t start E3 [won by his team mate, Geraint Thomas] and I was coming off antibiotics.

“I didn’t feel great on Sunday [at Gent-Wevelgem], but I feel like I’ve ridden into it in the last few days. After today, certainly, I’m back on track now.”

After Kristoff had notched up his third win in three days in the first part of yesterday’s double header stage, Wiggins proved stronger than the opposition in the 14.2km time trial, only his second in the rainbow bands since his World Championship win last September.

“To be honest, it’s nice to go out like this with this jersey on, winning a race and I’d hate to get lost in the next couple of years, punch drunk like some old boxer who can’t leave it alone. I had my time,” he reflected.

“We were talking about it, and I said to the guys, ‘What were you doing 14 years ago this week?’ A lot of them couldn’t remember. I said, ‘I can f*cking remember, I was in De Panne doing this sh*thole of a race.’

“14 years is a long time to be riding around de Panne getting your head kicked in,” he said.

Wiggins’ previous time trial win at the race came 2009, when he was riding for Garmin-Slipstream.

“This is probably my last one on this level,” he added. “It’s been on my mind today and all week, I really wanted to win this one."