WIGGINS RISES ABOVE PRESSURE FOR INDIVIDUAL PURSUIT TITLE

San Luis Obispo, 26 March, 2008 - Briton Bradley Wiggins rose above the pressure to take the individual pursuit title at the World Championships in Manchester.

His past record of one Olympic and two World titles in the individual pursuit - including last year at Mallorca - combined with riding on home soil meant Wiggins was very much under the spotlight at Manchester on Wednesday night.

But the High Road professional had no problems with the pressure-cooker atmosphere. The 27-year-old deliberately held back in the qualifying leg to finish second to Jenning Huizenga of Holland - but then outgunned the Dutchman by nearly five seconds in the final. Russian Alexei Markov took bronze.

“I formed a schedule in my mind of what I would need to ride to beat him and stuck to it.” Wiggins said afterwards. “Keeping to that was enough for it all to work out.”

“This is one of my most satisfying world titles, winning here in Manchester. This velodrome always gets great crowds, whether it’s a World Championships or a World Cup or any other event, and it’s fantastic to win here in front of them.”

“In the qualifying rounds I eased back slightly so I wouldn’t go in too deep before the final. Sticking to a schedule that I knew would work out was the best strategy.”

“It’s a massive relief to have done this, and really satisfying too.”

“ But this is about three events [individual pursuit, team pursuit on Thursday and Madison on Saturday with Mark Cavendish] and we’re favourites in the team pursuit as well.”

“The good news is all the guys in the team pursuit are going really well. Thursday is going to be another exciting day.”

For more on Team High Road see www.highroadsports.com