As an injury-hit, below-par 2013 season drew to a close we speculated how Sir Bradley Wiggins might recapture his place in the hearts of the nation. Receiving his knighthood from the Queen as Britain’s first ever Tour de France winner and most decorated Olympian, it was a reminder of the man’s illustrious career to date. A Classic seemed a natural choice to recapture his mojo and though it was a surprise to some to see him target Paris-Roubaix, so it has proven.

Winners of both the Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix are few and far between, but Wiggins performed admirably – bridging to an elite leading group which also contained the likes of Peter Sagan, Fabian Cancellara, Tom Boonen and Zdenek Stybar. A more illustrious conglomerate it will be difficult to find. Victory, ultimately, proved to be beyond him and his track experience was not enough to beat out-and-out sprinters like John Degenkolb for the podium places. Nevertheless, ninth place equals Greg Lemond’s 1992 result – the last time a former Tour de France winner finished in the Roubaix top ten.

What he chooses to do next remains to be seen – he has denied he will ride the Giro d’Italia in Richie Porte’s absence, and insists that he will return to the track at the end of the season. But in terms of recapturing his mojo, the enigma that is Sir Bradley Wiggins has certainly gone a long way to doing so.