Cycling: Wiggins Aims for Victory

Bradley Wiggins faces a key test tomorrow when he attempts to win the prologue time-trial in the Paris-Nice "Race to the Sun". Britain's Olympic gold medallist, who won the individual pursuit title at the last Games, sees the three-mile opening time-trial in the suburb of Issy-les- Moulineaux as a key test as he builds up to the prologue of the Tour de France in Strasbourg on July 1.

"I'm in bloody good shape to do my best ride," he said. "I'm fitter than I've ever been for a prologue. I think I'm in the ball park to win it."

A poor performance would make him wonder about his future as a prologue specialist, he said. "I've prepared for this since October and if I'm 20th I will question if I can ever win a prologue."

In Sydney, meanwhile, Wiggins' team- mates in the British track squad were preparing for the Commonwealth Games in a World Cup meeting. On the opening morning Rob Hayles caught the Russian Alexander Khatuntsev in the individual pursuit to take his first solo gold in a World Cup, and Nikki Harris, 19, took bronze in the women's points race.