£20m and a knighthood next for wonderful Wiggins
History man: Bradley Wiggins is held aloft in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris yesterday, after becoming the first Briton to win the Tour de France
ELATED Bradley Wiggins glided down the ChampsElysees and into the history books as he sealed triumph in the Tour de France yesterday.
Crossing the finish line on the sun- dappled cobbles of the Paris boulevard after 2,173 miles of racing over three gruelling weeks, he raised his arms in a victory salute.
The first Briton to win the world’s greatest cycle race since it began in 1903, he then applauded the tens of thousands of spectators there to witness his achievement.
The champagne moment happened under clear blue skies amid scores of Union Flags waved by patriotic fans who had crossed the Channel to be there.
Thunderous cheers of ‘Allez Wiggo!’ rang out as he pedalled his way to sporting immortality past the Arc de Triomphe, along the Seine and in sight of the Eiffel Tower on a baking hot day when he confirmed his place in the French public’s affection too.
The media there refer to Wiggins as ‘Le Gentleman’ after his sporting response to an attempted race sabotage during an earlier stage.
When a near rival’s tyre was punctured by tin tacks deliberately scattered across the road by vandals, Wiggins signalled for the entire bunch of riders – a peloton in cycling parlance – to slow down. ‘No one wants to benefit from other people’s misfortunes,’ he remarked later.
After sealing victory yesterday, Wiggins, 32, looked close to tears and was embraced by fellow Briton Chris Froome, one of his Team Sky teammates, who came second overall. He then went to find and hug his wife Catherine, 30, and their children Ben, seven, and Isabella, five.
Stepping on to the podium to be presented with the trophy, Wiggins bowed to the British fans before opera singer Lesley Garrett, in a long, flowing Union Flag skirt, belted out God Save The Queen.
Wiggins lightened the mood as he quipped: ‘We’re going to start drawing the raffle numbers now.’
He added: ‘I just want to say thank you to everyone for the support all the way around. It has been a magical couple of weeks for the team and British cycling.
‘Sometimes dreams come true and to my mother over there, her son has now won the Tour de France. Have a safe journey home and don’t get too drunk tonight.’
Wiggins’ mother Linda, 55, raised him on a council estate in Kilburn, North West London, as a single parent.
His alcoholic father Gary Wiggins – an Australian professional cyclist who used to hit Linda – abandoned the family when Bradley was just two.
Father and son were briefly reunited and reconciled when Bradley was 19.
But they drifted apart again and his father died in hospital in 2008 aged 55 after being found badly beaten in a street in the small town of Aberdeen, New South Wales.
Mystery still shrouds the exact circumstances of his death.
When they cleaned out his flat, relatives found scrapbooks full of clippings about his son’s cycling career.
In his autobiography, In Pursuit of Glory, Wiggins wrote of his father: ‘He may have gone Awol for most of my life but his achievements as a cyclist and almost “legendary” hard-man status on the circuit undoubtedly helped propel me towards a competitive career in the sport.
‘Our shared DNA is at the heart of the story.’
Steeped in romance, the Tour, which was first held 109 years ago, is a superhuman test of endurance that includes mountain climbs through the Alps and the Pyrenees.
Britain’s previous best place in the Tour was fourth – achieved by Wiggins in 2009 and Robert Millar in 1984. Only
‘It’s very surreal at the moment’
an accident could have stopped Wiggins’ historic victory yesterday. After Saturday’s time trial, he went into the last of the Tour’s 20 stages with a 3min 21sec lead over Froome.
The convention is that the other riders do not attack the race leader, who wears the yellow jersey, on the final day as to do so would be considered unsporting after he has earned the coveted position over all the gruelling racing that has gone before.
So yesterday was very much about the spectacle – almost a celebration parade for Wiggins as he cycled into Paris from the 20th stage’s starting point in the suburb of Rambouillet before completing eight glorious laps around the city.
Sprint expert Mark Cavendish, a third Briton and also a Team Sky member, won the stage – the fourth consecutive time he has won the final stage. Wiggins was placed 54th for the stage but his overall time for the entire Tour made him champion, beating