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Enlarge Photo Team Columbia rider Mark Cavendish of Britain after winning the final 21st stage of the... Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish can light up the Tour de France again this year as British cycling goes from strength to strength, says former Olympic champion Chris Boardman.Wiggins, who will ride for the newly-formed British team Sky this year, claimed fourth place overall on the Tour in 2009 while Cavendish won six stages to underline his reputation as one of the world's best sprinters.
"I think they will be strong. Bradley's really focused on the Tour de France... I know he's in good shape now," 41-year-old Boardman, a winner of three Tour de France stages, told Reuters at London's Canary Wharf where a new race series will begin later this month.
Wiggins and his Sky team mates will begin the Giro d'Italia this weekend but Boardman said the real focus will be on reaching Paris later this year with a chance of victory.
"It just depends how much he wants to give of himself in the Giro ahead of the Tour de France," Boardman said. "It's very difficult to do both absolutely flat out.
"It has been done in the past but I think he'll be using it more for preparation. They'll be looking for stage wins."
"It's possible that he could win it but it'll be tough this year," added Boardman, whose gold medal at the 1992 Olympics kick-started Britain's rise as a force in cycling which culminated in a huge medal haul at the Beijing Games.
"You've got somebody who was fourth last year. If you are top four Tour de France after three weeks, then you've got to be in the hunt. It's part of a journey. If anybody can do it, Bradley Wiggins is really close so it has to be him.
"He's got the team around him to support him. The whole team's been built for that this year, so we'll see what happens. Whatever happens it'll be good to watch."
Cavendish was in the news last week when his HTC-Columbia team withdrew him from the Tour de Romandie after he made a two-finger gesture when he crossed the line for his second stage victory of the season.
He later apologised for his actions, which he said had been aimed at those who had criticised him for a slow start to the season, but Boardman said it showed a passion for the sport.
"He's very passionate. Having a difficult start to the season will make him want to do it more and he's clearly shown he's coming into form," Boardman, who now designs bikes, said.
"What you saw last week was typical of Cav. What it demonstrates is it means that much to him."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ossian Shine.
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