Attention puzzles Briton Wiggins

Pundits and fans have been gathering around Bradley Wiggins after the Paris-Nice stages to watch him warm down but the Briton finds their curiosity as puzzling as the apparent obsession about the length of his hair. Wiggins, who retained the eight-day race\'s overall lead after Wednesday\'s fourth stage was won by Belgian Gianni Meersman, rides a stationary home trainer for some ten minutes, a habit he has developed to avoid being stiff the following morning. Asked about it in a post-stage news conference, the Team Sky rider said: \"Really, it\'s just a warm-down. There are two things in cycling which cause so much commotion: it\'s the length of my hair and the fact that I warm down. Article continues below \"Surely there\'s other things to talk about... it\'s crazy. But people love it so we\'ll do more warm-down, that\'s for sure.\" Wiggins was then quizzed about his Paul Weller-style hair, which has grown slightly longer in recent weeks. \"Hair grows, it\'s a natural thing in life,\" he said. Wiggins\'s lead was under threat in yesterday\'s fifth stage from Onet-le-Chateau to the Col de Mende, a brutal three-kilometre ascent at an average gradient of 10.1 per cent. Spain\'s Alejandro Valverde, who is sixth overall 20 seconds off the pace, would have been the biggest threat. \"If I get to the Col d\'Eze [last stage, an uphill time trial] with a ten-second advantage it\'s going to be good,\" Wiggins said. \"The most important thing is to have the yellow jersey on Sunday. From gulfnews