Racing

Sir Bradley Wiggins shapes up for Rio 2016 – by putting on 12kg

Wiggo shares weight gain results as he packs on the muscle in preparation for Olympic track return

Sir Bradley Wiggins’ has packed on the muscle as he continues his preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympics – gaining nearly 12kg in weight in the process.

Already one of Britain’s most-decorated Olympians, Wiggins is hoping to claim that title outright with an unprecedented eighth career medal when he heads to Brazil in the summer.

And part of his transformation back to the track from the road has seen his weight rocket in the last 18 months. While most cyclists strive to lose weight, Wiggins’ weight gain highlights the different physique required for the team pursuit, compared to the road.

2.1.2016 v’s 12.05.2014 at the 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

A photo posted by Sir Wiggo (@bradwiggins) on Jan 2, 2016 at 4:16am PST

Wiggins, 35, posted a photo to his Instagram page showing the scales after he won the 2014 Amgen Tour of California (his last GC win on the road) and at the start of 2016.

Having tipped the scales at 71.75kg back in May 2014, he now weighs 83.2kg and wrote on Instagram: “Seven months hard work in the gym with the help of a great team at British Cycling making gains for the Team Pursuit,” adding the hashtag #gainsburys.

It is essentially a reverse of what Wiggins did when opting to focus on the road, when he shed weight in order to make himself competitive in the mountains after winning Olympic track medals in 2000, 2004 and 2008.

His weight is now similar to the 82kg he weighed in Beijing on his last Olympic track appearance in 2008 – a figure which had dropped close to 10kg when he finished fourth at the 2009 Tour de France.

Sir Bradley Wiggins has piled on the muscle as he prepares for the 2016 Rio Olympics (pic: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

Wiggins’ return to the track has already proved successful, thanks to smashing the UCI Hour Record in June before powering the British team pursuit quartet to the European title.

The build-up to Rio 2016 continues in Hong Kong with the final round of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup on January 16 and 17, before London hosts the World Championships in February.