Wiggins nears target weight for Rio Olympics

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Bradley Wiggins is well on his way to reaching his target weight for the team pursuit at Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro later this year. In contrast to his time as a general classification contender, Wiggins is working on bulking up for the track and has put on almost 12 kilograms since his last stage race victory, which came at the 2014 Tour of California.

Wiggins said in December that he was looking to add some 16 kilograms compared to his weight when he won the 2012 Tour de France. With the festive period on hand for a little assistance, Wiggins has been piling on the pounds in recent months.

On Sunday, Wiggins posted news of his progress, using his weight during his 2014 Tour of California win as a benchmark. At California, Wiggins weighed in at 71.75kg, which is already several kilograms heavier than he was in 2012. Almost 18 months later, the multiple Olympic champion now comes in at some 83.2kg, around the same weight as he was in 2008 during the Beijing Olympic Games.

Wiggins posted a split photo of the two weights on his Instagram page along with the caption, “2.1.2016 v's 12.05.2014 at my last G.C win at the Amgen Tour of California. 7months hard work in the gym with the help of a great team at British Cycling making gains for the Team Pursuit #Rio #gainsburys”