• Tour of Britain, Stage Three

Wiggins leads Tour of Britain after time trial

September 17, 2013

Sir Bradley Wiggins will wear the leader's golden jersey on day four of the Tour of Britain after a peerless display in the rain-soaked time trial.

The Olympic time trial champion bounced back from a crash during stage two to blitz the 16km course in 19 minutes 54 seconds, 32secs clear of Team Sky team-mate Ian Stannard in second, with Garmin's Jack Bauer 42secs behind Wiggins in third.

Wiggins now leads the Tour by 33secs from Stannard, snatching the gold jersey from MTN-Qhubeka's Gerald Ciolek, who finished almost two minutes back despite a 30-second lead over Wiggins at the start of the stage.

"It was obvious through my commitment, even in the rain, how much I wanted this," said Wiggins.

"It's not been a great season for me but the minute I knew I was riding this race, I've been training locally and I can't tell you how many times I've been around this course because I only live about 20 minutes away.

"It's nice to put in a performance like that in front of your friends and family. I'm not a great climber so I needed as much out of that time trial as possible and to get every second I could if I think of winning races like that."

UnitedHealthcare rider Philip Deignan, who is set to join Team Sky next season, reportedly broke his collarbone in a crash as wet conditions hampered Britain's biggest race for the third consecutive day.

Wiggins admitted racing against stronger climbers forced him to push the boundaries on the flat Knowsley course, risking his run by cutting the slick road markings in the wet.

"I went through the roundabouts a couple of times," Wiggins added. "I got off the first time and pushed the bike against the floor to see how slippery it was. The next time I went through at 40km/h, then 50, then I took it at 55. The last time I came off from behind the car at 60km/h. I just wanted to be 100 per cent sure that I could do that in the race."

Wednesday's fourth stage takes the Tour into Wales, moving from Stoke-on-Trent to Llanberis.

Stage Three result

1 Bradley Wiggins (GB) Sky Procycling 19:54
2 Ian Stannard (GB) Sky Procycling +32 secs
3 Jack Bauer (NZ) Garmin-Sharp +42 secs
4 Martin Elmiger (Ger) IAM Cycling +54 secs
5 Alex Dowsett (GB) Movistar +56 secs

General Classification after Stage Three

1. Sir Bradley Wiggins (GB) Sky Procycling 11:25:54
2. Ian Stannard (GB) Sky Procycling +37sec
3. Martin Elmiger (Sui) IAM Cycling +47sec
4. Jack Bauer (NZ) Garmin Sharp +55sec
5. Alex Dowsett (GB) Movistar +57sec
6. David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Sky Procycling +1:17
7. Michal Golas (Pol) Omega Pharma Quick-Step +1:18
8. Sergio Pardilla (Spa) MTN Qhubeka +1:18
9. Gerald Ciolek (Ger) MTN Qhubeka +1' 21
10. Alex Wetterhall (Swe) Team NetApp Endura +1:21

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