It took 99 tries, but a British cyclist has finally won the Tour de France. Bradley Wiggins of Sky Procycling is the 2012 Tour de France winner after the ride to the Champs-Élysées in Paris on Sunday. His winning time was 87:37:47, three minutes and 21 seconds better than teammate and second-place finisher Christopher Froome
Wiggins took over the yellow jersey lead at the conclusion of Stage 7, taking the item of clothing from Fabian Cancellara, who had worn it since capturing victory on the prologue in Liege, and never looking back. Over that span, Wiggins saw his lead eventually stretch to over three minutes while capturing two stage victories. On Stages 9 and 19, Wiggins won those individual time trials.
Peter Sagan won the points competition and wears the green jersey (maillot vert) on the final podium with 421 points, 141 points better than second-place finisher Andre Greipel. He has worn that jersey since the end of Stage 2, taking it away from Fabian Cancellara. Thomas Voeckler is the King of the Mountains and Colorado resident Tejay Van Garderen wears the white jersey as the top youth rider in the race. He defeated Thibaut Pinot by six minutes and 13 seconds.
SB Nation Denver is your source for 2012 Tour de France updates on Team Garmin-Sharp, and be sure to visit cycling blog Podium Cafe as well.
