Bradley Wiggins’ son Ben settles for silver in British U23 time trial: “I can’t be too disappointed”

Ben Wiggins secured second place in the U23 men’s time trial at the British National Championships on Thursday, continuing to demonstrate his strength in the discipline, something that clearly runs in the family. His father, Bradley Wiggins, famously won both the Tour de France and Olympic gold in 2012.

The victory went to Callum Thornley, who delivered a dominant ride to finish 22 seconds ahead of the competition. Wiggins, who is still just 20, had to settle for silver but has previously won gold on the track in the Madison in the World Junior Championships. Overall, this is a very positive result and sign for the future for the Wiggins family.

Following the race, Wiggins spoke to Domestique, saying, “I think it’s the third year in a row I’ve been second in the time trial at Nationals, but Callum is on another level at the minute, he’s just finished tenth on GC at the Baby Giro last week.”

Reflecting on his own performance, he added, “For myself, I’m pleased with the performance I did. The Giro finished on Sunday and it’s only Thursday now, so I’m pleased with how I’ve come out of that and to put in a really good performance today, I can’t be too disappointed.”

Wiggins also shared thoughts on his experience at the Baby Giro: “The Giro was really good. The parcours wasn’t particularly suited to riders of my type. I was in the breakaway on stage 4, but unfortunately I punctured out and it went on to win, so that was kind of a tough hole to pick myself up out of mid-race.”

Despite some setbacks this season, Wiggins remains optimistic: “It’s been a decent season, I’ve had some bad luck, but I’m in really good shape and it’s only a matter of time for me before I get that win or result that I’m looking for. I’m positive going forward.”

Looking ahead, Wiggins also hinted at his ambitions to step up and hopefully follow on from his Dad some more. “I think it’s easy to say that my level is there to move up and that’s definitely something I’m looking to do, but hopefully there’s going to be a mix with the WorldTour squad and Hagens.

“I still need to get that result on the road that is worthy of me signing with a WorldTour team, so I’m definitely looking for a mix, especially in the second half of the season, so we’ll see how it goes.”