Ukrainians, favourites for this event after their World Championship showings over recent seasons, took a whole two seconds out of the GB quartet,
who were still able to beat the British record in that same ride. Unbowed by losing to a better team, they went back out and beat the British record again in defeating France for the bronze.
Bradley Wiggins was an Olympic medallist.
Rob Hayles’s crash in the madison a few days later, to whom no blame could be attached after other riders ricocheted into him, robbed the pair of another medal. Brad hung in without his
partner for the final laps to ensure they got fourth, but it was a disappointment. Not one large enough to dampen the joy that bronze had brought, though. The Olympic medal Brad had dreamed of
since he was a boy was his and he could now turn professional and say goodbye to the track career that had served him so well.
Or would he? Sydney had left such an impression on Bradley Wiggins that the image of that Olympic flame remained burned on to his retinas. How could he turn his back on that? He realised that at
twenty years old, he could conceivably see competition at another three or even four Olympics if he was able to maintain or improve on the level he’d reached. He immediately began wondering
about the possibilities of Athens 2004 and whether he could combine those goals with a successful career on the roads of Europe.
There was an ideal step waiting for the returning Olympian. In tandem with Great Britain’s progress on the track, there was now a British professional team racing on the continent. The
1990s had been a dark time for British cycling. The demise of the last team to take on the Europeans at their own game, ANC-Halfords in 1987 in a scandalous mess, had hit the scene hard, and only
isolated rides by the likes of Sean Yates and Malcolm Elliott shone. Compared to the 1980s when Robert Millar had ridden to the King of the Mountains jersey and fourth place in the Tour de France,
the Kellogg’s Tour of Britain had attracted millions to the roadside and the Irish neighbours Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche were dominating world cycling, it was slim pickings.
But an unusual thing had happened. An ideas man from Kent by the name of Julian Clark had persuaded the McCartney family that a vegetarian British cycling team would be the ideal promotional
vehicle for Linda McCartney Foods, the vegetarian ready meals business run by the ex-Beatle’s charismatic wife. In their second year, 1999, Clark had managed to persuade British number one
Max Sciandri and Swiss legend Pascal Richard to front his burgeoning team. The pair had taken bronze and gold medals respectively in that first open Olympic road race in Atlanta. With the Olympic
Champion on board and a host of eager fresh faces, Linda McCartney even managed to get an invite to the 2000 Giro d’Italia. It got even better for the exciting popular newcomers when the
flinty Australian David McKenzie won the stage from Vasto to Teramo with a scarcely believable 164km lone break that had won the hearts of the Italian public. And it was all pulled off under the
tutelage of a man in his first year of cycling management. After landing something of a coup in persuading Sean Yates out of retirement to ride the 1998 Tour of Britain as a guest Linda McCartney
rider, Julian Clark had made the legendary Brit sporting director of the team.
Things could only get better for the Linda McCartney team. They brought in Jacob’s Creek and Jaguar as co-sponsors for 2001 and set upon an ambitious expansion plan, bringing in Spanish
hitters like Juan Carlos Domínguez and Íñigo Cuesta, and exciting young signings such as the former World Junior Road Champion, Mark Scanlon from Ireland. They also brought in
a co-director to accompany Yates in the form of Neil Stephens, the popular recently retired Australian.
There was one signing that made more headlines than any others, though. The new star of British cycling,
who were still able to beat the British record in that same ride. Unbowed by losing to a better team, they went back out and beat the British record again in defeating France for the bronze.
Bradley Wiggins was an Olympic medallist.
Rob Hayles’s crash in the madison a few days later, to whom no blame could be attached after other riders ricocheted into him, robbed the pair of another medal. Brad hung in without his
partner for the final laps to ensure they got fourth, but it was a disappointment. Not one large enough to dampen the joy that bronze had brought, though. The Olympic medal Brad had dreamed of
since he was a boy was his and he could now turn professional and say goodbye to the track career that had served him so well.
Or would he? Sydney had left such an impression on Bradley Wiggins that the image of that Olympic flame remained burned on to his retinas. How could he turn his back on that? He realised that at
twenty years old, he could conceivably see competition at another three or even four Olympics if he was able to maintain or improve on the level he’d reached. He immediately began wondering
about the possibilities of Athens 2004 and whether he could combine those goals with a successful career on the roads of Europe.
There was an ideal step waiting for the returning Olympian. In tandem with Great Britain’s progress on the track, there was now a British professional team racing on the continent. The
1990s had been a dark time for British cycling. The demise of the last team to take on the Europeans at their own game, ANC-Halfords in 1987 in a scandalous mess, had hit the scene hard, and only
isolated rides by the likes of Sean Yates and Malcolm Elliott shone. Compared to the 1980s when Robert Millar had ridden to the King of the Mountains jersey and fourth place in the Tour de France,
the Kellogg’s Tour of Britain had attracted millions to the roadside and the Irish neighbours Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche were dominating world cycling, it was slim pickings.
But an unusual thing had happened. An ideas man from Kent by the name of Julian Clark had persuaded the McCartney family that a vegetarian British cycling team would be the ideal promotional
vehicle for Linda McCartney Foods, the vegetarian ready meals business run by the ex-Beatle’s charismatic wife. In their second year, 1999, Clark had managed to persuade British number one
Max Sciandri and Swiss legend Pascal Richard to front his burgeoning team. The pair had taken bronze and gold medals respectively in that first open Olympic road race in Atlanta. With the Olympic
Champion on board and a host of eager fresh faces, Linda McCartney even managed to get an invite to the 2000 Giro d’Italia. It got even better for the exciting popular newcomers when the
flinty Australian David McKenzie won the stage from Vasto to Teramo with a scarcely believable 164km lone break that had won the hearts of the Italian public. And it was all pulled off under the
tutelage of a man in his first year of cycling management. After landing something of a coup in persuading Sean Yates out of retirement to ride the 1998 Tour of Britain as a guest Linda McCartney
rider, Julian Clark had made the legendary Brit sporting director of the team.
Things could only get better for the Linda McCartney team. They brought in Jacob’s Creek and Jaguar as co-sponsors for 2001 and set upon an ambitious expansion plan, bringing in Spanish
hitters like Juan Carlos Domínguez and Íñigo Cuesta, and exciting young signings such as the former World Junior Road Champion, Mark Scanlon from Ireland. They also brought in
a co-director to accompany Yates in the form of Neil Stephens, the popular recently retired Australian.
There was one signing that made more headlines than any others, though. The new star of British cycling,
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