Bradley Wiggins says "mindset of an elite athlete is so abnormal, and not a healthy one"

The winner of the 2012 Tour de France, Bradley Wiggins was asked about the current top riders within the peloton and how he would have performed against them.

“I can’t really associate the rider that I was and the person, and I look at it now and it feels worlds apart. I can’t imagine doing that again. I’m not in the mindset of saying ‘fuck it I’d do this and I’d attack them here and I’d attack them there’ because I’m just in awe of them and I’m so detached from that era that I can’t answer that question with any sincerity," Wiggins told Eurosport, where he will be part of the coverage of the Tour.

A decade ago he was the favourite to win the Tour de France and he sealed it with relative comfort and the 'Sky train' came along, but nowadays that is a strategy no longer in use in the peloton, with more aggressive racing and a more even level in terms of climbing quality in teams.

He continued “The mindset of an elite athlete is so abnormal, and not a healthy one, but it’s what makes the achievement so remarkable, and it’s what draws people to the sport. I’m so far removed from it now. I think the sad thing is that if I’d stayed in that mindset, I’d be in a very bad place now," the former World and Olympic time-trial champion said. It's a reason why many fail to maintain a high level in the sport, and why some abandon it early as was the case of UAE Team Emirates' Alexys Brunel.

"It’s why you achieve greatness, really. It’s at the expense of everything else. I can’t account for the person that I was then off the bike because it’s what made me good on the bike. That’s very difficult," he concluded.