Go Go Wiggo!

Hiya!
What else is there to talk about?

Bradley Wiggins.  You are a God amongst men.

What an amazing victory!  And what an amazing team you are a part of.   Quite rightly Wiggo will get most of the plaudits but if ever there was a team who the Tour this was it.  Team Sky - each and every one of them - were head and shoulders above the rest.  Dave Brailsford's (Team Sky Principal - Fig. 1) vision has been laid bare for the rest of us mere mortals to marvel at.  After turning Britain's track team from also runs into the premier nation in the world he joined Team Sky as Principal two years ago, promising at the time (if memory serves) a British winner of the Tour within 6 years.  Well, the man has done it in less than a third of the time and, in my humble opinion, deserves as much credit for the victory as Wiggo himself. 

Figure 1.  Dave Brailsford - Team Sky Principal

The plaudits will rain down thick and fast on Wiggo.  A knighthood is almost guaranteed and with yet more glory beckoning at the upcoming London Olympics (Wiggins is scheduled to be riding in Saturdays Road Race as part of Team GB who will be looking to get Cav into a Gold medal winning position and he must now also be firm favourite for the Individual Time Trial 3 days later).  But it was Brailsford's vision that sealed Wiggo's victory.  The way Brailsford prepared for and ushered his team during this Tour was the epitome of professionalism and organisation.

Wiggo was never lower than second place in this years Tour and once he took hold of the maillot jeune there was no way he and Brailsford were going to let go.  A remarkable achievement that owes so much to the way the whole team worked together to nullify any possible threats, in most instances, before they even arose.  The Spanish commentator yesterday noted how, when the peleton hit the Champs Elysees, Team Sky had not two or three men at the front closing down any time gaps for their sprinter, but six, all working together.  And it's been that way throughout the Tour.  Yesterday it was for Cav who pulled out all stops, once again showing he has the most fearsome acceleration in cycling today as he ripped the opposition apart to win clearly for his 4th consecutive victory on the final day of the Tour (Fig. 2).

But in the mountains it had been for Wiggo.  Christian Knees, Edvald van Boassen Hagen, Berhard Eisel, Michael Rogers, Richie Porte and Cav himself, all did more than their bit.  Again the Spanish commentators marvelled each time Cav was seen dropping back to be the water carrier for the team.  'A World Champion and the best sprinter on the planet?  Water carrying?  He can't be happy!'  But one only had to see Cav's reaction in the post-race interview yesterday to know how much it all meant to him.

Figure 2.  Cav holds up 4 fingers to show the number of victories he has to his name on the Champs Elysees.

Every member of the team worked to fulfill Brailsford's instructions to the letter.  Each of them hitting the front as the mountains loomed, working their socks off to keep Wiggo in touch.  From the moment Wiggo put himself in yellow the team began to push the pace so hard, one rider after another giving their all then falling back, that I truly believe all of Wiggo's rivals were suffering too much to establish any strong breakaways.  As the peleton raced up mountain after mountain Team Sky kept the pressure on.  Eisel, Knees, Boassen Hagen, Rogers, Porte and then finally second placed hero, Chris Froome all rode so hard that when push finally came to shove Nibali, Van den Broeck, Brajkovic, Evans and the rest had nothing left to offer.

Figure 3.  Wiggo crosses the line yesterday to become the first British winner of the Tour de France.

In the end there was only one man left standing shoulder to shoulder with Wiggins and that was his team-mate Froome (Fig. 4).  At only 27 Froome must surely have many grand tours left and his performances in the Tour and last years Vuelta mark him now as a genuine contender for future victories himself.  On TVE they had the Director of the Vuelta and he said (if I got my Spanish correct) that they were hoping Froome would be riding this years Vuelta as Team Sky leader against, none other than, Alberto Contador who would be competing in his first grand tour since returning from his ban.  Now that would be something I would love to see.

Figure 4.  Chris Froome always seems to be smiling!

There is much speculation and not an insubstantial amount of criticism here in Spain of Wiggins, Brailsford, and Team Sky because of the way Froome rode, particularly on stage 17 at Peyragudes.  The criticism peaked as Froome appeared to be capable of riding away from Wiggins on the final part of the climb.  With Nibali and Evans already distanced, and Alejandro Valverde up ahead and seemingly catchable by Froome, they were appalled to see Froome waiting for and egging Wiggins on.  For them there is no altruism or team play apparently.  Froome should have been allowed to go for the victory and that was all there was to it!

Well, maybe.  But in the end it would not have made any difference to the final result.  The time gap between Wiggins and Froome was large enough to have accommodated another win for Froome I think, but I'm not Dave Brailsford.  And I'm certainly not Wiggins.  Team Sky came to the Tour with the specific aim of winning with team leader Bradley Wiggins.  That is exactly what they did and Froome was a huge part of that and, for want of a Spanish rider on the podium, the jealousy and pettiness exhibited by the producers and commentators of the Spanish broadcast was shameful.  After Wiggo's virtuoso performance on stage 19 to slaughter the field in the final time-trial they refused to show his post-race interview.  The only day during the whole Tour when we didn't hear from the stage winner.  But to compound their childish jealousy, as Wiggins was on the podium yesterday the main presenter said, "Yes, a good winner, but not a fair one.  He won't win it again!"  And then the producers neglected to show Wiggo's interview once again.  As the interview started they proceeded to talk over him and then just left it altogether to talk about a stage of the upcoming Vuelta.  Perhaps, I thought, they might show it later!  But no!  It didn't stop there either.  Criticism of British cycling generally because 'so much money has been thrown at them, how can they possibly fail?' along with a more directed critique of Team Sky for making the Tour boring by not allowing breakaways to establish.  It's pathetic!  It really is!

Figure 5.  Enlarge this pic, then print off cutting carefully round Brad's face.  Then finally stick on your Brad-burns!

Wiggo has shown himself to be the best cyclist in the world right now.  He has won a very hard Tour with huge winning margin and must now surely be regarded as one of Britain's greatest ever sportsmen.  Why not jump on the Brad-wagon and make yourself up a Brad mask (Fig. 5) like me and the lady in the picture!

See you soon
 P XXX