Cycling news - Bradley Wiggins: Chris Froome has mentality to thrive in this unprecedented period

Speaking with presenter Graham Willgoss and guest Adam Blythe in the latest edition of The Bradley Wiggins Show, available now on all major podcast platforms, the legendary British cyclist reflected on how tough the current situation is with the Giro d'Italia, scheduled to start in May, having been postponed and the spring calendar decimated by the spread of COVID-19.

Wiggins said he did not know how he would have handled the crisis as a professional rider but shared his views on the current situation and what it must be like for the helpless peloton.

Despite how challenging the current conditions are for cyclists and their training routines, Wiggins believes his former team-mate actually has the right mentality to cope.

"This is bigger than cycling now. It’s a matter of life and death and I think it’s as stark as that, isn’t it," Wiggins said on the podcast.

"I think you’d have to take precautions. Obviously the teams will be in communication with the riders at every point, but it’s unprecedented.

"I don’t know how you’d handle it [as a rider]. I mean, it’s alright doing 300km on a turbo trainer, but you can’t do that every week for four or five months, can you.

Cyclists are facing total uncertainty and, in many cases, a situation where they simply cannot train, which Wiggins had real sympathy for.

"What would you be training for? If you’ve got a broken collarbone or whatever you can at least see an end in sight, but with this are they training for the World Championships at the end of the season at this stage?" he said on the podcast.

"You just have to make it up as you go along, week by week, especially if you’re at home with your wife and kids and things like that. Some things take over, and I think life takes over.

"Some riders needs that racing to get back in to it after long lay-offs, like Tom Dumoulin, he will be chewing at the bit to get into racing at some point.

"For me, I’d always look at the bigger picture, things like that are easier to do when you have got a return date set."