Ben Wiggins (Hagens Berman Jayco) said he is in no rush to match his father Bradley’s achievements before starting his third Lloyds Tour of Britain earlier this week.
The 21-year-old represents the Great Britain Cycling Team across five stages and 879.6km, working for the squad’s sprinters and climbers rather than targeting the general classification. His main objective is to finish his final race before the World Championships in good condition.
Speaking to the Sportsbeat, Wiggins said comparisons with his father did not determine his expectations.
“I don’t really think about it to be honest,” he said. “I remember I was at the race a lot when he won it 13 years ago.”
Bradley Wiggins won the Tour of Britain in 2013, one year after becoming the first British winner of the Tour de France. Ben, then eight years old, is beginning his third appearance in the British stage race at a much earlier point in his career.
He hopes to win the race in future, although he does not consider 2026 the right time to pursue it.
“I’d love to try and win it one day myself and give it a go, but it’s maybe a bit early in my career to be looking at going for the overall win,” Wiggins said, speaking to Sportsbeat. “This week if I can try and get myself up there on a few stages and see where I end up, that would be nice.”
Sprint work and climbing support
Matt Bostock heads the Great Britain team, with Olympic medallist Ollie Wood, under-23 national road-race champion Elliot Rowe (Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development), Jacob Bush and William Smith also included.
Wiggins expects his primary work to come in the sprint approaches for Wood and Bostock. His ability on hillier terrain should also make him useful to Rowe and Smith when the race reaches its harder stages.
Wiggins arrives after winning the under-23 individual time trial at the British championships in Lampeter. His time of 29:02.12 made him the only rider to break 30 minutes and secured his first national road championship title after four previous runner-up finishes in junior and under-23 time trials.
Wiggins finished the opening stage in 14th place, 2:15 behind winner Lewis Askey (NSN Cycling Team). Great Britain teammate Rowe placed eighth, 19 seconds down, on the punchy Lincoln circuit.
“The biggest thing for me is that this is the last race prep for World Championships in a few weeks’ time,” Wiggins said, “so the main priority is coming out in good shape.”
Velora Cycling will be on the ground at the Tour of Britain this weekend to follow the action as the race reaches its finale.
