When, a few short years ago, Team Sky announced they intended to put together the greatest pro squad in the world it perhaps seemed like hyperbole. Yesterday in Paris they had undeniably achieved their ambition with a record breaking fourth Champs-Élysées finishing sprint from Mark Cavendish and a team overall standings 1-2 for Wiggins and Froome to deliver up the first ever British winner of the Tour de France. Whilst the inevitable winner would usually regard and ride the final leg as a victory lap, Wiggins, along with his team mates, dug deep to help propel World Champion Cavendish to victory in one of the most highly anticipated and nail-biting finishes in le Tour’s 109 year history.
Cavendish was, of course, full of praise for his team mates, saying, ‘It’s incredible what we’ve achieved today – what a team. We got a one and two on GC but still we were riding to control things on the Champs-Elysees. It was an honour to have the yellow jersey leading me out. Bradley told me he’d go full gas to the last kilometre and then Edvald (Boasson Hagen) led me into the last corner. The finish couldn’t have been more perfect – no better end to this Tour.’
For his part, a post-race and jubilant Wiggins commented, ‘I’ve had 24 hours for this to soak in and today we were just on a mission to finish the job off with Cav. So job done and what a way for him to finish it off. I’m still buzzing. I’ve got to get used to going into the history books now, but I’m just trying to take everything in today first. It’s very surreal at the moment because this type of things [usually] happens to other people. You never imagine it happening to yourself…. It’s hard to take in as it happens. Every lap of the Champs-Elysees was goose-pimple stuff. We had a job to do with Mark today and we were all motivated to do that so it made it go a lot quicker. The concentration was high and for Mark to finish it off like that, well, it couldn’t get any better.’
