CYCLING
Top British cyclist Bradley Wiggins slams marginal gains as ‘a load of trash’
Wiggins prefers fundamentals to ‘fad’ formulas: ‘Go ride your bike, put the work in and you’re either good or you’re not good’
London — Bradley Wiggins has labelled the marginal gains philosophy said to underpin much of British Cycling’s recent success as "a load of rubbish". In comments reported by the Daily Telegraph on Monday, Wiggins was equally dismissive of the "chimp paradox" theory for dealing with pressure, promoted by sports psychologist Steve Peters, and said former British track teammate and fellow Olympic gold medallist Victoria Pendleton was a "bit of a milkshake". Britain was seen to gain an advantage over its rivals thanks to research carried out under what became known as the "Secret Squirrel Club" headed by former Olympic champion Chris Boardman, which looked for legal improvements in bike design and rider equipment. It all became known as part of the search for "marginal gains", but Wiggins, in what the Telegraph said were remarks made at a corporate event in London, was unimpressed. "A lot of people made a lot of money out of it and David Brailsford used it constantly as his calling card...
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