Wiggins endured a gruelling and fruitless ride on Saturday in support of Mark Cavendish in the road race. Beforehand there had been speculation that Wiggins, with one eye on the time-trial, might play a limited role as did one of his main rivals, Tony Martin, from Germany, who withdrew with 75km remaining. But in the event he rode flat out until 5km from the end when it became obvious that GB were not going to claw back any more time on the winning break.