“You have to keep fighting right until the end and that’s what we’ll aim to do. There’s a long way to go”
Team Sky Principal Dave Brailsford has made clear that he doesn’t expect any lasting issues to arise from Bradley Wiggins’ crash on today’s seventh stage of the Giro d’Italia, and adds that he considers it possible that he can recover from the time lost.
Wiggins was distanced by other GC contenders such as Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and defending champion Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin Sharp) on the punchy climbs towards the end of today’s rain-washed stage to Pescara, but any thoughts of getting back on before the finish were dashed when he hit the deck on a slippery right hand downhill bend.
Wiggins remounted but appeared either hurt or demoralised afterwards, losing more time.
“Bradley’s fine. There’s no physical injury,” Brailsford said after the stage, playing down the effects of the spill. “Ultimately when you have difficult conditions like these and hard racing this type of thing can happen. It’s the Giro.”
Wiggins has a crucial time trial tomorrow and would normally have been expected to put time into his rivals and open up a buffer that would serve him in the mountain stages. Instead, he’s trying to get back on track after dropping to 23rd overall.
He’s likely to be demoralised this evening, but Brailsford reminds that the race is over three weeks, and that many things can happen. “You can have good days and bad days and you have to wait until the end to tot them all up and see where you are,” he said.
“It’s a setback, but Brad’s still very much in the hunt. We’ve now got to take each day as it comes, focus on fully recovering tonight and hitting the time trial hard tomorrow. We’ll see where we are tomorrow night and take stock of the situation then.”
What’s clear is that he expects the team to come out fighting, and to keep that mentality all the way until the end.
“You’ve got to take setbacks on the chin and you have to show character. That’s what it’s all about,” he said. “You have to keep fighting right until the end and that’s what we’ll aim to do. There’s a long way to go.”
Wiggins is one minute 32 seconds behind the new race leader Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Movistar). He is one minute 27 adrift of Nibali, who moved to second overall today despite two crashes.