21 Days to Glory by Team Sky

Author:Team Sky
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

‘Mark has waited a long time and been patient and he has got his reward. He has had to put away his goals and make sacrifices on the Tour so far, and that is hard for a world champion. We all wanted to repay him somehow.’

Bradley Wiggins

STAGE 19

The 53.5 kilometre time-trial between Bonneval and Chartres had been earmarked as a banker for Wiggins if things had not gone to plan in the mountains. Pre-race previews had set up this penultimate stage as a potential clash between two adversaries: Wiggins versus Cadel Evans. Purists might have wanted to see a showdown of nerves and firepower between the defending champion and the season’s top performer, but Team Sky were happy to see their leader still in the yellow jersey and with a comfortable two-minute-and-five-second advantage over the second-placed rider – their very own team member Chris Froome. The ambition behind setting up Team Sky in 2010 was to see the first Briton win the Tour de France. Three years down the line, could it really be a British 1–2?

To those not immersed in the world of cycling, all the talk about seven or eight men ‘helping’ Wiggins and ‘protecting’ him en route to Paris made him sound oddly vulnerable, which of course he was not. He was the most decorated British Olympic cyclist, with a haul of six Olympic medals that was the equal of Sir Steve Redgrave. Road cycling is a team sport, and the one thing Brailsford was keen to project was the unity and teamwork involved in Team Sky’s successes: ‘The guys work tirelessly for each other. They get on really well and they all back each other no matter what the situation is.’ For 19 days, it had been all about ensuring Wiggins had the space to do his stuff. And now, on 21 July 2012, he was poised to underline his superiority. Nowhere does Wiggins show his talent better than in a Race of Truth.

After warming up for the biggest moment in his life, in the glare of the world, Wiggins was last to go down the start ramp. Froome had just posted a stunning time. Pumped up, concentrated, determined, Wiggins put in a sublime display, stopping the clock in one hour, four minutes and 13 seconds. It was fully one minute and 16 seconds faster than Froome, who took second. It meant Wiggins would go into the champagne-swilling promenade of the largely processional stage in Paris with a huge advantage – three minutes and 21 seconds over Froome and six minutes and 19 seconds over Nibali.

‘It’s what I wanted to do – I wanted to go out with a bang,’ said Wiggins, with what could only at this stage be understatement. ‘It’s a long way, 53km, but it’s what I do best. I came out in March and looked at this course with Sean. I felt fantastic out there. From 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.

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