(Originally published in the July 29 to August 4, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---
a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---
by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)
BRADLEY Wiggins made history last week by becoming the first British to win this year’s Tour de France --- considered to be the toughest sporting event and the most popular cycling competition on Earth.
Off the back of a phenomenal season which already included overall victories in Paris-Nice, Tour de Romandie and the Critérium du Dauphiné, cycling journalists are unanimous in saying that Wiggins “seemed destined for the win” this year’s 3,497-kilometer Tour de France made up of 1 Prologue, 9 flat stages, 4 medium-mountain stages (with one summit finishes), 5 mountain stages (with 2 summit finishes), two individual time trials and two rest days.
In what was initially thought of as a two-man battle between Wiggins and defending champion Cadel Evans, Wiggins took the upper-hand from the prologue in and never looked back. Claiming his fifth Tour de France Prologue (a short individual time trial before a stage race to determine which rider wears the Yellow Jersey on the first stage) win, Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) turned out a highly-impressive 7:13 clocking through the 6.4-kilometer course over the determined Wiggins who finished second (7 seconds down). Defending Tour de France champion Cadel Evans finished in 13th place, nine seconds down on Cancellara.
If Wiggins had a true rival, it was his teammate Chris Froome who would finish second overall in his second Tour de France appearance, 3 minutes and 21 seconds in arrears. Liquigas-Cannondale’s Vincenzo Nibali, third overall, found it tough-going on the time-trial-friendly course but became the first Italian to step onto the podium since Ivan Basso in 2005.
Cancellara carried the overall leader’s Yellow Jersey well into the 6th stage after which Wiggins took over the leadership until the Tour reached Paris 14 days later --- the first time in 13 years when the Yellow Jersey shifted just once. The last time it happened was when American Lance Armstrong won his first of seven Tour de France titles in 1999.
Taking time from all of his general classification rivals early in the Tour, Wiggins finally took the Yellow Jersey by finishing third on the first mountain top finish in the 199-kilometer Stage 7, becoming the only the second British rider to have led all three Grand Tours.
Wiggins won Stage 9 (an individual time trial) which ultimately helped him increase his lead over. On Stage 10, Wiggins and his team were able to stave off an attack by Vincenzo Nibali on the descent of the Grand Columbier, leading Nibali to accuse Wiggins of showing him a lack of respect.
Born on April 28, 1980, Bradley Marc Wiggins started his cycling career on the track where he specialized in the pursuit and Madison disciplines and eventually evolved towards road racing.sad
Wiggins won a bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics, three further medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics and two golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Wiggins' haul of six Olympic medals, which include three gold medals, make him the sixth most successful British Olympian and is the most bemedalled British Olympian alongside rower Steve Redgrave with six medals. In road cycling, he turned professional in 2002, but his involvement was limited by his track cycling until 2007.
After the 2008 Olympics, Wiggins took a break from the track to focus on the road. Initially viewed as a time-trial specialist and a rouleur (a type of racing cyclist considered a good all-rounder), Wiggins showed his ability in stage races when he finished fourth at the 2009 Tour de France --- the joint highest placed finish by a British rider in Tour de France history.
With his impressive 2009 Tour de France finish and a podium finisher in the 2011 Vuelta a España, Wiggins displayed excellent racing form the entire season by winning the overall title in the highly important stage races of the eight-stage 1,155.5-kilometer Paris-Nice (established in 1933 and is also known as The Race to the Sun) last March, the Tour de Romandie (5 stages, 1 prologue for a total 695.1 kilometers) the following month, and the 1,052-kilometer Critérium du Dauphiné (7 stages, one prologue) just last month.
The son of an Australian professional cyclist Gary Wiggins, Bradley started racing at south London's Herne Hill Velodrome at age 12. In 2010 he was inducted in to the London Youth Games Hall of Fame.
At 20, Wiggins won a bronze medal for Britain in the team pursuit at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Wiggins became the first British athlete in 40 years to win three medals at one Games.
This year’s Tour de France general classifications final results are in the following order from first to tenth: Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome (also a British) who finished 3 minutes and 21 seconds behind, Vincenzo Nibali (Italy), Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Belgium), Tejay van Garderen (USA), Haimar Zubeldia (Spaid), Cadel Evans (Australia), Pierre Rolland (France), Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia), and Thibaut Pinot (France).
Thomas Voekler (France) is this year’s the King of the Mountains while 24-year old Tejay van Garderen (USA) is the Best Young Rider.
The entire tour involved 25 climbs classified under Category 1 or (hors catégorie) and Category 2, four climbs of which are in the 197-kilometer Stage 16 (mountain stage). Hors catégorie is a French term used in cycle races to designate a climb that is “beyond categorization” --- an incredibly tough climb. Climbs in cycling are designated from Category 1 (hardest) to Category 4 (easiest), based on both steepness and length. A climb that is harder than Category 1 is designated ashors catégorie. The term was originally used for those mountain roads where cars were not expected to be able to pass.*
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