After 109 years, the United Kingdom finally have a Tour de France champion, as Bradley Wiggins, who won two stages during the 2012 Tour and held on to the yellow jersey since stage 7, won the title leading his Team Sky teammate Chris Froome by 3.21 seconds after three weeks.
Wiggins wasn’t in the leading pack on the final day, as the cyclists rode into Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Fellow Brit and Team Sky rider Mark Cavendish won the 20th stage, his third stage win of the 2012 Tour and the 23rd of his career, putting him one up over Lance Armstrong. He’s the leader among all British racers and is 11 stage wins behind Eddy Merckx of Belgium.
Wiggins wasn’t in any real threat heading into the last day, but made sure nothing outrageous, like some kind of fall in one of the narrow passages occurred. Team Sky eventually missed out on the team win after leading through the first 7 stages, eventually giving up the win to RadioShack-Nissan, led by Spaniard Haimar Zubeldia, who finished sixth in the general classification, 15.43 seconds behind Wiggins.
Peter Sagan finished with the Green Jersey, winning the Points Classification, leading that category since the second stage, winning three of the first six stages in the 2012 tour. Thomas Voeckler won the ‘best climber’ title, winning two stages during the tour and Tejay van Garderen won the young rider classification award.