Bradley Wiggins Of England Wins Tour De France 2012.Bradley Wiggins saved one of his best performances en-route to becoming the first Briton to win the Tour de France to the end - and he was on the podium, not his bike when he did it. The moment being when he was handed the microphone during the jersey and trophy presentations and told the crowd of thousands who lined the Champs Elysees on a glistening summer's day and said: "We're just going to draw the raffle numbers now"Those who got Wiggins' humour in the crowd that was lacquered heavily with thousands of British fans who had either followed the Tour in France throughout or part of its journey, or who had just travelled over for the historic occasion, cheered at his impromptu impersonation of a bingo caller."My old mother over there, her son has just won the Tour de France".He continued: "I want to thank everyone, the support has been amazing. It's been a magical couple of weeks. Some dreams do come true. My old mother over there, her son has just won the Tour de France," before signing off to join his teammates that included Australians Michael Rogers and Richie Porte for a quick celebration before flying home to Wigan in England to say: "Thanks again. Have a safe journey home. Don't get too drunk."How the crowd roared and the smiles beamed. And so the 99th Tour de France came to a joyous end, especially for the British - the riders, the fans, the sport of cycling and no doubt the whole of Great Britain that will now turn its attention to hosting the Olympic Games starring Wiggins 'et al.'Top billing with Wiggins there no doubt will be another of his Sky teammates, Briton Mark Cavendish, the world champion who signed off on an almost perfect Tour for their team with a bunch sprint victory to win the final and 20th stage, a 120km race from Rambouillet south of Paris to the Champs Elysees. It was his second stage win for the Tour, his team's fifth and, with David Millar's (Garmin-Sharp) win, the sixth for British cycling.As if that was not enough, Sky clinched a rare one-two with Briton Chris Froome (Sky) placing second overall to Wiggins at 3 minutes 21 second, while in third at 6mins 19secs was Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) whose brave bid to crack the Sky defence earned his podium place.Meanwhile, Australian Cadel Evans (BMC), last year's winner, pledged to return to the Tour next year and confirmed his hunger for a second win.After the stage which saw Wiggins finish 54th at 9 seconds to Cavendish who beat Slovakia's Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Australian Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEDGE) in that order, Evans was left in seventh place overall, but at 15 mins 49secs after he finished 27th at 7 secs to Cavendish."To finish another Tour is always a satisfaction. Its always good to be with a great group of guys. And the team we have, I enjoy working with them and being with them," Evans said. "But after the success of last year ... it wasn't what we had hoped for and it certainly wasn't up to the level of last year."Asked if he got any satisfaction, he said: "Sometimes ... but winning is a lot more fun. It's a lot easier when you are winning. When you are having a bad time, when you are sick or something in this sport it plays on you in those hard days in the mountains ... this is the hardest sport one earth."Then when pressed on a tilt at the 2013 title, he said: "Absolutely, I will come back again ... 100 per cent better than this year, that's for sure. We will work everything for a big and better Tour. I think I still have the capability to win and in the end its always up to me. So that's what matters most."Meanwhile, for Goss and the Australian OricaGreenEDGE team it was another case of the "what ifs" in the stage finish won by Cavendish. But it was not for lack of trying. The teams put up a brave fight in the stage finish to combat Cavendish's sheer speed and power, even though the Manx Missile still came over the Australian to win the stage convincingly. "It's not easy to lose a stage here in the Tour de France. We have given it everything we have a couple of seconds, a few thirds, we got taken out of the points classification wtih that [early] disqualification," Goss said. "But we had a good Tour. We have gelled really well. It's our first year out. We have been around the mark. It's a huge honour to come on to the Champs Elysees. I got goose bumps coming out of the tunnel and riding with these guys. We had such a good time and the feeling of the team is so good. We didn't win a stage here, but there are a lot more races ahead. We've already had a lot of success in the early part of the season. It's not going to stop I think."
Jersey winners:
Yellow jersey (general classification): Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)
White jersey (best young rider aged 25 and under): Tejay Van Garderen (USA/BMC)
Green jersey (points classification winner): Peter Sagan (GER/LOT)
Polka dot jersey (best climber's competition): Thomas Voeckler (FRA/EUR)
Stage winners and yellow jersey holders
Prologue: Fabian Cancellara (SUI/RNT)/Fabian Cancellara (SUI/RNT)
Stage 1: Peter Sagan (SVK/LIQ)/Fabian Cancellara (SUI/RNT)
Stage 2: Mark Cavendish (GBR/SKY)/Fabian Cancellara (SUI/RNT)
Stage 3: Peter Sagan (SVK/LIQ)/Fabian Cancellara (SUI/RNT)
Stage 4: Andre Greipel (GER/LOT)/Fabian Cancellara (SUI/RNT)
Stage 5: Andre Greipel (GER/LOT)/Fabian Cancellara (SUI/RNT)
Stage 6: Peter Sagan (SVK/LIQ)/Fabian Cancellara (SUI/RNT)
Stage 7: Chris Froome (GBR/SKY)/Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)
Stage 8: Thibaut Pinot (FRA/FDJ)/Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)
Stage 9: Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)/Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)
Stage 10: Thomas Voeckler (FRA/EUR)/Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)
Stage 11: Pierre Rolland (FRA/EUR)/Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)
Stage 12: David Millar (GBR/GRM)/Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)
Stage 13: Andre Greipel (GER/LOT)/Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)
Stage 14: Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/EUS)/Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)
Stage 15: Pierrick Fedrigo (FRA/FDJ)/Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)
Stage 16: Thomas Voeckler (FRA/EUR)/Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)
Stage 17: Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV)/Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)
Stage 18: Mark Cavendish (GBR/SKY)/Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)
Stage 19: Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)/Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)
Stage 20: Mark Cavendish (GBR/SKY)/Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY)
Overall standings:
1. Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY) 87hr 34min 42sec
2. Chris Froome (GBR/SKY) at 3min 21sec.
3. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/LIQ) 6:19.
4. Jurgen Van den Broeck (BEL/LTB) 10:15.
5. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/BMC) 11:04.
6. Haimar Zubeldia (ESP/RSH) 15:43.
7. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC) 15:51.
8. Pierre Rolland (FRA/EUC) 16:31.
9. Janez Brajkovic (SLO/AST) 16:38. 10. Thibaut Pinot (FRA/FDJ) 17:17.
11. Andreas Kloden (GER/RSH) 17:54.
12. Nicolas Roche (EIR/ALM) 19:33.
13. Chris Horner (USA/RSH) 19:55.
14. Chris Anker Sorensen (DEN/SAX) 25:27.
15. Denis Menchov (RUS/KAT) 27:22.
16. Maxime Monfort (BEL/RSH) 28:30.
17. Egoi Martinez (ESP/EUS) 31:46.
18. Rui Costa (POR/MOV) 37:03.
19. Eduard Vorganov (RUS/KAT) 38:16.
20. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV) 42:26.
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