JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press
CHARTRES, France — For Bradley Wiggins, the champagne on the Champs-Elysees is about to flow.
He all but locked up the Tour de France title with a tour-de-force performance to win the final time trial — putting him on the cusp of becoming the first Briton to win cycling’s showpiece race.
Wiggins blew away the field in Saturday’s race against the clock in Stage 19, his second Tour victory this year in a time trial, his specialty.
“I really wanted to go out there and finish with a bang, and fortunately I was able to do that,” said Wiggins, noting he realized the breadth of emotion when he spotted his mechanic in tears.
Even before the Tour started, Wiggins was the favorite. The 32-year-old rider took the yellow jersey in Stage 7. Then came questions about the unity of his Sky Team, pre-race preparations and his ability to get up mountains — all of which he put to rest.
There was also the absence of two-time Tour champion and cycling superstar Alberto Contador, who is serving a doping ban. That led many to wonder whether Wiggins was really the sport’s best.
Wiggins has been vocal in his criticism of doping in cycling and said the sport may be changing after the sport’s governing body put tough controls in place.
“I think the Tour is a lot more human now with everything the UCI is doing,” he said, suggesting that dopers — and their intermittently astonishing performances — are being driven from the sport.
Wiggins is a three-time Olympic track champion who made the difficult transition to road racing. He crashed out the Tour a year ago with a broken collarbone. He envied Australia’s Cadel Evans, who had the elation of winning the yellow jersey.
“That was my motivation: I want to feel what he’s feeling,” Wiggins said.
The Team Sky leader obliterated the pack in the 33-mile ride from Bonneval to Chartres and punched the air and shouted as he crossed the finish line.
Today’s ride to the finish on Paris’ Champs-Elysees will be largely ceremonial — Wiggins is too far ahead for any competitor to erase his lead over the 75-mile ride from Rambouillet.
After Saturday’s stage, with victory secure, Wiggins sighed and looked skyward as he hoisted the winner’s bouquet.
“I have a lot of emotion right now,” he said. “It’s the stuff of dreams to win the final time trial and seal the Tour.”
Wiggins was timed in 1 hour, 4 minutes, 13 seconds. Countryman and teammate Christopher Froome was second, 1:16 behind. Luis Leon Sanchez of Spain was third, 1:50 back. Overall, Wiggins has a 3:21 lead over Froome, who is second. Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali is third, 6:19 back.
Wiggins was fourth in the 2009 Tour and 24th in 2010.
But he has been the favorite to win in 2012 since his dazzling turn with three stage-race victories.
This Tour has been about as favorable as it could be for Wiggins: he is among the world’s best in the time trial. Mountains — not his specialty — carried relatively less importance this time. But he proved through two days in the Alps and two in the Pyrenees that he’s among the best climbers, too.
And now he can savor it all with champagne.
