What's been going on at the Tour since I was last here? Well, let me tell you, it's been an action packed week with drama-a-plenty. First and worst is the positive drug test of Frank Schleck on 14th July. Traces of Xipamide were found in this B-sample and he was immediately suspended by his team RadioShack-Nissan. Prior to the start of the Tour Frank had been touted as one of the big pre-Tour favourites, but his performances early in the season did little to convince me that he would be a threat once the race got under way. Under pressure to win and succeed did Frank buckle and try cheat the system? I don't know and the only one who really knows for sure is Frank himself. However, I do believe in innocent till proven guilty and until the case against him is proven and Frank is actually banned I, for one, shall allow him the benefit of the doubt.
Frank is not a stupid man and I cannot believe that if he intended to cheat and take the risk of ruining not only his career, but his hard won reputation, then surely there would be a far better choice of drug than Xipamide. Xipamide is, as far as I can tell, a diuretic drug that is used in the treatment of hypertension (high blood pressure) and oedema. This is a drug that would be unlikely to add any sort of performance-based improvement, in fact some doctors state that under duress this drug can be dangerous and even cause death. It also has common side-effects that include cramps and muscular weakness (see both Frank banned and Xipamide) making this is a poor choice of banned substance if one is intent on cheating.
This is a story that will no doubt run and run, but for now in the light of the current evidence I give Frank my thumbs up and hope that cycling can avoid being raked over the coals yet again. I just hope the truth wins out and every party gets what they truly deserve.
At the Tour itself we left the Alps and hit the huge mountains of the Pyrenees - always my favourite section of the Tour, not just for the amazing beauty of the scenery, but for the excitement that always accompanies the big mountain stages. And this year was no different.
Stage 16 saw the peleton tackling the Hors Categorie giants of the Col d'Aubisque and the Col du Tourmalet. In 1910 Octave Lapiz (who went on to victory in Paris after a ding-dong battle with Francois Faber) made the first ascent of the massive Tourmalet and upon reaching the summit screamed to the officials checking the riders through that "vous etes tous des assassins!" - You are all murderers! These days there is a proper road for the cyclists to ride on, as opposed to the donkey tracks that Lapiz had struggled up, but even at over 19km long and 2115m high the Tourmalet is anything but an easy ride. In 1983, on the exact same stage (Pau to Bagneres du Luchon), Robert Millar had also famously become the first Briton to win a mountain stage of the Tour. Would 2012 see something similar?
With HC giants behind them, by the time the riders had reached the final climb of the day, the first category Col du Peyresourde, all the riders were suffering. After a brutal day Nibali's options from third position overall were becoming limited and with time now short he needed to make his play for the top. Finally Nibali took his opportunity and broke away with about 4km of the climb remaining and initially opened a small gap. But Froome never looked like letting Nibali get away and he closed down the threat with Wiggo on his wheel. At the top of the climb the top three went over together and finished together in Bagneres du Luchon (Fig. 1). Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) won the day magnificently from the break away for his second win of the Tour.
Figure 1. Nibali, Wiggins and Froome cross the line together in Bagneres du Luchon. Photo from Team Sky
The following day, stage 17, was another monster day and perhaps more significantly, was the last chance for Nibali to make any impression on the dynamic duo. He had to mix it up knowing that he stands to lose significant time to both Wiggins and Froome in the final time trial 2 days later.
In the event the day was won from the front by Alejandro Valverde (Team Movistar) with a fantastic solo ride. Nibali never found the legs and struggled up the Peyresourde losing significant time to both Wiggo and Froome.
At the bottom of the final climb Valverde had almost 7 minutes on the chasing group that included all the top names, but by the finish he just hung on to win by 11 seconds from a fast closing Chris Froome, with Brad a close third. Fantastico!!
For me watching it was emotional. I never thought I'd live to see a British winner of the Tour de France, but here was Wiggo making it happen right before my eyes. Wiggo himself said afterwards, "The minute we went over the Peyresourde I knew that was it. I still felt fantastic at that point. We hit the last climb and I went on the front. I just lost concentration and started thinking a lot of things. Froomey was egging me on for more but I knew that [the riders behind] were all gone".
I could see Wiggo chatting to Froomey on the descent from the Hors Categorie Port du Bales Nibali had struggled up the last kilometer of the Bales and Brad had clocked it. "At that point, the first time in this whole Tour since I've led this race, I thought 'maybe I've just won the Tour'. And that's when it starts getting hard then because you lose concentration. It was an incredible feeling. It really was."
You're not wrong Brad. It was. An incredible feeling.
Stage 18 saw the return of the prodigal. Mark Cavendish took the field apart in the final 600m dash winning clearly from Matt Goss (Orica Green EDGE) and green jersey holder, the ever combative, Peter Sagan of Liquigas. It was Cav's 22nd win and puts him equal 4th on the all time list of Tour Stage Winners along with Lance Armstrong.
Figure 2. Cav salutes another amazing win in stage 18 (Blagnac-Brive la Gaillarde). Photo from Team Sky
Having done their share in the lead out to the line Wiggo (yellow jersey) and Froomey (at 2m 05secs) both finished close up in the peleton retaining their positions overall leaving it all to play for in the next day's time trial.
And when that day arrived, what a day we had!
Brad was imperious. From the get go Wiggins set the standard and in the shake down he was the only one who could stand the pace he himself had set. Throughout the day Luis Leon Sanchez (Team Rabobank) sweated as big hitter after big hitter failed to crack his time of just over one hour and 6 minutes. Finally Tejay Van Garderen (Team BMC) took away Luis Leon's fastest time at the first check after 14km, then came Froome faster still and finally the Wiggins whirlwind blowing everything apart. Van Garderen then faded so that by the second check he was some 25 secs behind Sanchez. The wind it seemed had changed direction and was now working against rather than for the riders in this part of the course. I began to fret a bit, especially after Froome came in with his initial advantage over Sanchez whittled down to a mere 4 seconds at the second check. But I needn't have worried. Wiggins breezed through the check point almost a minute up on his compatriot and it was all but game over.
By the finish Froome had rallied and fair slaughtered Sanchez's long standing best time coming in 34 seconds up. Unbelievable! But what did Wiggins have left in the tank after an incredibly gruelling Tour?
The bike camera following Wiggo gave us the answer as it flashed onto the bike's speedo to show 60kmh! Wiggo wasn't just beating the rest; he was hammering them out of sight! Young Brad sped across the line a full one minute 16 secs ahead of Froome, covering the 53.5km in an astounding 1 hr 04m 13secs at an average speed of just under 50kmh (Fig. 3). Simply the best!
Wiggins tried in vain to explain where this spectacular ride came from. "53km is a long way but it’s what I do best. I came out in March and looked at this course with Sean [Yates, Team Sky Sports Director]. I felt fantastic out there. The first pedal stroke in the warm-up I normally know whether I’m on it or not. I knew today the minute I rolled off that ramp that I was on a good one." 'A good one' is a slight understatement I think, but I applaud Wiggo's modesty!
Figure 3. Wiggo punches the air in delight. An amazing and historic Tour victory just 24 hours away.
"I wouldn't say it was a lap of honour, because it hurt, but I just wanted to finish the job off in style. There was a lot of emotion in the last 10k. Everything was going through my mind. All the years of getting to this point, my family, disappointments, crashing out the Tour last year, watching Cadel in this very position a year ago in Grenoble. I always imagined what that would feel like and now I know"
And it must feel amazing. At home I was sobbing quietly hoping the Missus wouldn't come in and change the channel! Wiggo continued.....
"I was thinking about my wife and children, my grandfather, my nan, my mother. That was just spurring me on with every pedal stroke. It sounds cheesy but you work your whole life to get to this point – it’s a defining moment in your life. From the minute I got into cycling as a kid it’s all summed up for today."
And a defining moment in my life too and I thank you Bradley Wiggins for giving it to me. You were my hero before....now, to call you a superhero seems inappropriate, but that is surely what you have become!
Congratulations on making history!
P XX
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