Bradley Wiggins. A Tribute.

Cycling. Whether it’s a rain-soaked commute to work or the thousands spent on Boris bikes in a quest to make us more Dutch, cycling is often an important part of water cooler conversation these days. My last two Art Director colleagues both took a tumble on their way to work, prompting at least a week’s worth of ‘I’ll show you mine (bruises), if you show me yours’ type discussions.

But this is all set to change – and next time we’re embarrassing ourselves on two wheels, we can hold our heads up high whilst we’re doing it. The days of the Penny Farthing are more than over. Because we have the Wiggmeister. He is the original wheels of steel – and his team of course, Team Sky.

Just watch Brad pedal up a mountain and think about that slope that makes your eyes water on the way to work/home/weekend recreational fun and you can’t help but be impressed. Then think about doing it every day for 21 days. Incredibly, to coincide with a year of amazing sporting achievement across the board, this weekend could deliver Britain’s first ever Tour de France winner in its 109 year history. UN-BEL-IEVE-AB-LE.

And once he has finished eating all the baguettes he can handle, Bradley Wiggins, like Mark Cavendish, is coming to the Olympics. So all ye who have tickets to see this man, believe. You’re about to see one of our greatest ever athletes in action. Just don’t blink.

FACTS ABOUT BRAD

Bradley Wiggins says you have to ‘keep the chimp in the cage’, in reference to building mental strength and holding it all together while your body aches like it just rolled over a bunch of tacks in the road. Andy Murray, please note, it’s time to get with the chimp.

He's been quoted as saying, ‘You need to be a ruthless robot or you’ll choke’.

On tour, Bradley burns about 8,000 calories a day.

His dad was a successful Australian sportsman, six-day cyclist Gary Wiggins.

Brad is a Londoner. Boom!

The French have nicknamed him the ‘Golden Heron’ for his bird-like physique and yellow back.

Ones to watch at London 2012

Now I know what you’re thinking. Here’s a post about heptathlete Jessica Ennis, whose dominating image greets Heathrow’s arrivals before they’ve even left the sky. Or I could be about to launch into a spin about the incredible achievements of Mark Cavendish, as he takes on the double feat of the Tour de France and the Men’s Road Race at London 2012.

In fact, there are dozens of deserving athletes from Team GB heading to this year’s games; I bet the panel choosing the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award are going to be in a right pickle come December. It’s a great feeling as the first Olympics etched in my mind were Seoul and Barcelona where Team GB picked up five gold medals respectively. This dropped to just one at Atlanta in 1996. It’s probably fair to say that for many years Sally Gunnell and Linford Christie were the only athletes most of us could name.

So here’s the first part of my list of 'lesser-known' GB champions* with grand designs on the medal podium this summer (i.e. they aren’t in every single advert on telly).

Sarah Stevenson – Taekwondo
Sarah, the current taekwondo world champion, won bronze in Beijing and has been to every Olympics since Sydney 2000 where she was just 17 years old. Incredibly, she lost both of her parents to illness just last year but she still managed to be crowned world champion in spite of everything. Unfortunately, Sarah is recovering from a cruciate injury but with her recent selection for Team GB, we still expect great things from this remarkable lady.

The Brownlee Brothers – Triathlon
If you haven’t seen the Proctor & Gamble advertising campaign featuring mothers of Olympians, then it’s well worth a nosey. It puts you in the shoes of an athlete’s mum. So just imagine how Mrs Brownlee, mum of Alaistair and Jonathan (Team GB triathletes) will be feeling this summer. They’re expected to pick up gold and silver respectively, in spite of Alastair’s achille’s injury earlier this year. Needless to say, it would be more than a major achievement if they do the double, so keep your eyes peeled as they dive into Hyde Park’s Serpentine this summer.



[*I mean no disrespect by using the term 'lesser-known' and hope this is not a patronising term to those following their progress. It's just that many people may not be as familiar with their achievements compared with the likes of Jess Ennis and Sir Christopher Hoy.]