You wait 99 Tours for a podium place and then two turn up at once!

Well that's the 99th Tour de France over, a Tour that has seen far more interest in the UK than any of the preceding 98. And that's because Bradley Wiggins has just become the first ever British winner. If that's not enough good news, fellow Britin Chris Froome shares the podium as runner up (or should that be cyclist up?). Congratulations also to Italian Vincenzo Nibali for achieving third place. It looks as if Froome cold follow Wiggins to the Yellow jersey. I hope so


Congratulations to Mark Cavendish for winning crossing the line first on le Champs Elysees for a record fourth time.
  
Congratulations to Slovak Peter Sagan for winning the Green Jersey on his first Tour. I daresay we will be seeing rather more of him over the coming years (if you follow cycling that is).

Congratulations to Thomas Voeckler from France for winning the polka dot jersey as King of the Mountains

Congratulations to American Tejay van Garderen for winning the white jersey for young riders. He is another rider with a bright future ahead of him.

Congratulations to Chris Anker Sorensen for being the most combative rider

Congratulations especially to Jimmy Engoulvent for winning the prized Lanterne Rouge for the rider who complete the tour in last place.

Congratulations to each and every rider who finished the tour.


Wiggins won well aided to a massive extent by a superb Sky team. Froome Cavendish and the whole team can bask in the glory knowing that it was their hard work that assured victory.  People have moaned how dull this race has been. Perhaps those moaners prefer their riders to be doped up to the gills like Alberto Contador or Floyd Landis et al. Screw them.

Blody Hell (in relation to sports again - this tme cycling))

The first tour de France took place in 1904 but it wasn't until 1958, when Brian Robinson won a stage, that a Briton made even the slightest impression in the event. It wasn't until 1962 that a Briton this time Tommy Simpson, held the yellow jersey for any period. It took until 1984 for a Briton, Robert Millar,  to be croned King of the Mountains. It wasn't until last year that a Briton, Mark Cavendish took the prestigious green jersey.

But now Bradley Wiggins will lead off the final with a comfortable lead... over another briton Chris Froome....

Given that the final stage is usually a processional rather than a competitive stage, Wiggins will, barring injury or disaster, be crowned as the winner of the 99th Tour tomorrow. Despite the scandals that have rocked the Tour in recent years to win this, one of the toughest sporting competitions in any event, is a triumph.

People, especially on the comment sections of l'equipe, have knocked the tour for being boring and are convinced that had top riders like Contador or Andy Schleck competed it would have been a different story. Well Schelck was injured and Contador is currently banned for drug use so Wiggins could only compete against those who could and did compete. People have moaned about the robotic riding of Wiggins's team, Sky, but domestiques are there to support the lead rider. Don't forget that Wiggins  had already won several top races this year so he was o top form.

Over the last 15 years cycling has come fro the margins of British sport towards centre stage, particularly track cycling. Here's hoping that it stays there.

Nothing new under the sun (cycling division)

The Tour de France is undoubtedly one of the great sporting events but not for the first time in recent years it has been hit by scandal (see Michael Rasmussen, Alexander Vinokourov etc). However, French sportswriter Francis Thmoazeau reminds us that there really is nothing new under the sun.

The Tour de France came close to being permanently cancelled was in 1904 ( its second year of existence) when some riders cheated by taking the train or hitch-hiking. The four leading riders were disqualified. The race's founder, Henri Desgrange, was so appalled he nearly threw in the towel, but gave the Tour one last chance. The reprieve went on for another century. In 1924 the Pelissier brothers quit the race in Normandy, summoned the press to a cafe and showed them the pills they claimed they needed to meet the rigours of the Tour - strychnine, cocaine and other unidentified stimulants. Let’s not forget British cyclist Tommy Simpson whose death during the 1967 Tour was in no small part due to drug consumption.

There have been calls in France in recent years, especially after the “Festina affair” in 1998. Scandal or no scandal though, the Tour is still enormously popular: just look at the crowds that turned out for this year’s prologue in London! Crowds still line French roads hoping to catch a glimpse of the race. While the Tour does need to sort itself out (as does the world of competitive cycling) would you “destroy La Scala because the tenor sings out of tune?”

It may take a lot of reform but I am sure the Tour is here to stay. Those who want to look back to a “golden age” of the tour are a bit like those who hanker after a sweeter England (with the crack of leather on willow etc, in that they hanker after something that never quite existed. It doesn’t mean that it can’t exist in the future though.