James Lawton: If Bradley Wiggins lost his nerve at the Giro d’Italia you couldn’t blame him

The chest infection which has prematurely ended Sir Bradley Wiggins’ failing assault on the Giro d’Italia will no doubt put on hold worrying speculation that he has, for the moment at least, lost his nerve on those spine-chilling mountain descents.

For anyone who has been around at that moment when the racers, having slogged to the peak, go whirling and whooping and whistling their way downwards, it is certainly a possibility that can never seem too remote.

There is a case that nothing in all of sport is more demanding, except possibly stepping into a boxing ring. The view here is that it is nearly too close to call.