• London Olympics 2012

I can do 2012 double - Wiggins

ESPN staff
September 28, 2011
Bradley Wiggins © PA Photos
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Bradley Wiggins believes he can do the double next year and win both the Tour de France and Olympic gold.

Wiggins, who finished fourth in the 2009 Tour de France, was forced to retire with a broken collarbone during this year's Tour.

Wiggins, a six-time Olympic medallist, had previously suggested he would put the Tour before London 2012, but he now believes he is capable of winning both the yellow jersey and Olympic gold, promising that the best is yet to come.

"The Tour won't be there for me forever and the opportunity I have to win is so great that I can't afford to miss another year," he said. "I believe I can win the Tour and Olympic gold. I want it all next year.

"At this stage I seem to be getting better all the time and I'm not conscious of time running out. I want to keep progressing on the gains I've made. I'm very close at the moment and I'm coming into my prime as an athlete. In two years' time I might have had enough of it and walk away. If I win the Tour next year I certainly will not want to go back and win it again."

The Tour finishes on July 22, just five days before the opening ceremony in London. While many believe Wiggins will struggle to recover from the intensity of the Tour in time to be in best possible shape for London, the Brit insists the schedule works in his favour as he will not have to train for "two peaks".

"It's not that one takes more importance over the other. I want everything in my life and I wouldn't compromise one over the other by trying to do both."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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