'I still need that result on the road' – Ben Wiggins eyes move to WorldTour in 2026

A tough course around the hills of Aberaeron on Thursday saw Callum Thornley emerge victorious in the U23 men’s time trial at the British National Championships on Thursday, winning by a margin of 22 seconds to secure the red, white and blue bands. 

Ben Wiggins finished runner-up behind Thornley, fairing well on a course that was far from suited to him, but still left feeling slightly disappointed after coming so close to a maiden victory for this season.

Speaking to Domestique after the time trial, Wiggins said “I think it’s the third year in a row I’ve been second in the time trial at Nationals, but Callum is on another level at the minute, he’s just finished tenth on GC at the Baby Giro last week.”

Taking after his father, Bradley, Wiggins is already a proven time trialist at this level and has the ability to look at his own effort in isolation. "For myself, I’m pleased with the performance I did," he said. "The Giro finished on Sunday and it’s only Thursday now, so I’m pleased with how I’ve come out of that and to put in a really good performance today, I can’t be too disappointed.”

Wiggins has come into the championships off the back of a tough block of racing at the Giro NextGen, in what was undoubtedly a learning experience for the young British rider, as he finished 13th in the opening time trial and looked to be on for another solid result later in the race before misfortune struck.

“The Giro was really good. The parcours wasn’t particularly suited to riders of my type. I was in the breakaway on stage 4, but unfortunately I punctured out and it went on to win, so that was kind of a tough hole to pick myself up out of mid-race.”

Reflecting on his season so far, the British rider said: “It’s been a decent season, I’ve had some bad luck, but I’m in really good shape and it’s only a matter of time for me before I get that win or result that I’m looking for. I’m positive going forward.”

It has certainly been a season of steady progression so far in 2025, as the 20-year-old has been gradually making forward steps in his development with Hagens Berman Jayco and has already earned opportunities at the professional level with Jayco AlUla.

When asked if he is expecting any more opportunities to race with the WorldTour outfit later in the season, he replied: “I think so. I think it’s easy to say that my level is there to move up and that’s definitely something I’m looking to do, but hopefully there’s going to be a mix with the WorldTour squad and Hagens.

“I still need to get that result on the road that is worthy of me signing with a WorldTour team, so I’m definitely looking for a mix, especially in the second half of the season, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Run by Axel Merckx, Hagens Berman Jayco have been the gold standard of development teams for some time now and have seen talents such as João Almeida, Jasper Philipsen and Tao Geoghegan Hart come through their ranks over the years. 

“It’s been really good," Wiggins said. "The team last week, we were really good at the Giro. Adam Rafferty won a stage and that was really nice to be a part of. It’s good to be a part of a really motivated team, we all commit to the same goal, so it’s going well. I’m happy there.”