Britain’s Bradley Wiggins Wins the Tour de France

There wasn’t much suspense as the 99th Tour de France wheeled into Paris for the grand finale, with its traditional last eight laps on the Champs-Elysées. Britain’s Bradley Wiggins, who had been sporting the leader’s yellow jersey for nearly two weeks, cinched his victory on Saturday by winning the last time-trial stage of the race in Chartres. But that foregone conclusion didn’t dampen the spirit of celebration as Wiggins circled his way around Paris en route to officially becoming the first British rider ever to win the Tour. His Sky Procycling (SKY) teammate Christopher Froome took second honors, making it a British double whammy on the winners’ podium, with Vincenzo Nibali, riding for Italy’s Liquigas-Cannondale (LIQ) stepping into third place.

Capping the SKY triumph at the Arc de Triomphe today, Britain’s Mark Cavendish set a record, winning the Tour’s 20th and final stage for the fourth consecutive year, this time in a well-planned but tightly fought last-minute sprint.

Other winners: The young Slovak Peter Sagan (LIQ), riding his first-ever Tour de France, took the green jersey for the most points, Thomas Voeckler of France’s Team Europcar (EUC) the red and white polka dot jersey for best climber, and American Tejay Van Garderen of the US BMC Racing Team—who placed fifth overall—won the white jersey of the Tour’s top young rider. Chris Anker Sorensen of Denmark’s Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank was awarded the “Super-Combative” red jersey, and the best team title went to Luxembourg’s Radioshack-Nissan (RNT).