Tour De France 2012 Winner: Bradley Wiggins Wins Historic Marathon Race

After one of the wildest Tour de Frances in recent history, Great Britain’s Bradley Wiggins has won the most illustrious prize in all of cycling—the Yellow Jersey from the Tour de France.

Wiggins told ESPN about locking up his 2012 Tour de France win with a huge Stage 19 win:

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I have a lot of emotion right now. It's the stuff of dreams to win the final time-trial and seal the Tour.

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Sunday’s final stage (Stage 20) was the run through Champs-Elysees, but while many were fighting for the best run they could, Wiggins was cruising through on his way to the biggest win in his entire career.

The casual ride to victory was the best way for the veteran to soak in the magnitude of his accomplishments.

 

What It Means

With all of the talk about doping in the sport over the recent years, Wiggins is one of the many names that have come out against doping and have not been associated with it.

The negative perception of performance-enhancing drugs has hurt cycling, but Wiggins is the perfect face for the changing tide of the sport.

With his British heritage, his win will wake up one of the biggest cycling markets in the world.

What’s Next?

After entering five previous Tour De France races and having a career-best fourth-place finish in 2009, Wiggins was finally able to shake the monkey off his back. Now it’s on to bigger and better things.

With the strongest team behind him—Team Sky—there is little doubt that Wiggins will not only be a threat next year, he will be a threat as long as he is healthy.

If you love cycling, I’d get used to seeing a lot of Bradley Wiggins.

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