Cycling news - Bradley Wiggins: This season is a write-off - coronavirus is bigger than cycling

ByEurosport

Updated 23/03/2020 at 14:41 GMT

Bradley Wiggins has shared his heartfelt views on the impact of the coronavirus on the current cycling season in the latest episode of his Eurosport podcast.

Bradley Wiggins at the 2019 Tour de France

Image credit: Getty Images

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 talked about the devastating impact the virus could have on the world of professional cycling - and in particular, effectively rendering this current season a 'write-off'.

The Giro d'Italia, scheduled to start in May, has been postponed and the spring calendar decimated by the spread of COVID-19, including all the Spring Classics.

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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.

"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.

I almost think this season is a write off, isn’t it, and it’s going to come down to next year really.

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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.

"I mean, imagine if one of your family members got it [coronavirus] or you had old relatives living with you.

"You just couldn’t take the risk [of training] could you, of going out and training and bringing something back to them?"