Sky's captain fell sick after racing in Paris-Nice and doctors believed he had shingles. After taking antibiotics and skipping the E3 Harelbeke classic, he has returned on top.
"I was a bit sick at the start of last week, I thought I had shingles," Wiggins said.
"So I didn't start E3 and I was coming off antibiotics. I didn't feel great on Sunday, but I feel like I've ridden into it in the last few days. After today, certainly, I'm back on track now."
Wiggins won the time trial by 10 seconds over Stefan Küng (BMC Racing), which was enough to move him to third overall.
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Alexander Kristoff seals overall victory in 2015 Three Days of De Panne, with Bradley Wiggins moving up to third place
The three-day stage race included a split stage in the final day, a short 114.4-kilometre road stage won by victor of the first two stages, Norwegian Alexander Kristoff (Katusha). In the afternoon, Wiggins flew his rainbow colours.
"To be honest, it's nice to go out like this with this jersey on, winning a race and I'd hate to get lost in the next couple of years, punch drunk like some old boxer who can't leave it alone. I had my time," Wiggins added.
Bradley Wiggins won the final time trial in the 2009 Three Days of De Panne
(Image credit: Watson)
"We were talking about it, and I said to the guys, 'What were you doing 14 years ago this week?' A lot of them couldn't remember. I said, 'I can f***ing remember, I was in De Panne doing this s***hole of a race.'
“14 years is a long time to be riding around de Panne getting your head kicked in."
Wiggins raced the Three Days of De Panne as a first-year pro 13 years ago in 2002 with French team, Francaise des Jeux. He placed 12th in the time trial. He returned, with American team Garmin-Slipstream, and won the time trial in 2009.
"This is probably my last one on this level. It's been on my mind today and all week, I really wanted to win this one," Wiggins said.
"I always liked this time trial, especially when the weather picks up."
The sun came out and the wind died down slightly today on the coast, but still blew cold air around at about 15mph.
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Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
