Sir Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky)
Sir Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky)
Sir Bradley Wiggins calls time on one of the most famous chapters in British cycle sport history in April, when he will leave Team Sky to join the new Team Wiggins.
And the Tour of Qatar is the first step in what many hope will be a triumphant swansong in Roubaix.
Wiggins announced himself as a contender for Paris-Roubaix after finishing ninth in 2014 and, while the race is some way off, the Tour of Qatar marks the start of the road to Roubaix and Wiggins will be keen to score an early moral victory over the men likely to be his chief rivals on the pavé.
With the 10.9km time trial set to play a vital role in determining the overall winner of the race, Wiggins – in his rainbow skinsuit – will be hoping to put time into his chief rivals on the short circuit.
Wiggins won in London, at the Tour of Britain, by eight seconds on an even shorter 8.8km lap, so if he can hit the ground running this year a similar result is a distinct possibility.
How he copes in the crosswinds, however, will be equally as important and new team-mate Andy Fenn is likely to play an important role in that after helping Omega Pharma-QuickStep dominate last year.
Fenn was ninth last year, while Bernie Eisel and Luke Rowe, who are also in Sky’s line-up, earned top ten spots in 2013.
In a race where individual teams can dominate the overall proceedings with clever tactics, those three will hold the key to any success Wiggins hopes to achieve.