CHARTRES, France — For Bradley Wiggins, the champagne on the Champs-Elysees is about to flow.
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, prerace 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 of 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.