Team Work, Loyalty & Sacrifice TDF 2012

Last night's final high mountain stage of the 2012 Tour de France has all but sealed the victory of the general classification yellow jersey for Bradley Wiggins and team Sky.

Alejandro Valverde of Movistar redeemed himself after a disappointing tour, leaving his breakaway comrades behind and taking the stage win in the Pyrenees.

With Cadel out of contention it was left to Vincenzo Nibali to attack the Sky team and try and make up some ground on the podium. Nibali's team Liquigas-Cannondale set the pace for quite a bit of the stage however it was evident that Nibali didn't have the gas to successfully attack Sky who again rode brilliantly to protect their team leader.

Sky's dominance in the peloton, and indeed Wiggins' impending victory has been quite the topic of this years tour.

Like him or not, Wiggins must be respected for his win.

Yes, he may well have been 'towed' across France, yes, his style of riding may be boring, yes, he has no idea on how to handle the media and yes, those sideburns..... but all that aside he is going to be a winner of the greatest bike race on the planet - and that is no mean feat.

It may be obvious that Wiggins certainly isn't the strongest rider in the peloton or his team for that matter, but he is the selected team leader. Congratulations and much respect must go to Christopher Froome for sacrificing himself and offering 100% loyalty to the team and Wiggins'.

We know, as does he, that he could have won the tour himself. And he certainly could have won the stage last night which is something that I don't' understand. With no doubt that the yellow jersey was secure why didn't team management let Froome go to chase down Valverde for the stage win? Is Wiggins that fragile? I cannot understand why Team Sky wouldn't want a stage win when the yellow jersey was safe. But that's another story, for another day...

When all is said and done, Team Sky came to the tour with the best team. Australians Mick Rogers and Richie Porte worked tirelessly, day after day for Wiggins. True workhorses and two of the finest domestiques on the road. Then of course there is Froome, Boasson Hagen, Eisel, and Knees. They have all done their job and deserve the yellow jersey as much as Bradley Wiggins. It has been a text book team victory.

Would things have been different if Cadel was on form? If Andy Shleck hadn't have been injured? If Contodor was available? Maybe. But 'What ifs' aren't acknowledged in the record books.

Are you a 'Wiggins' Fan? What do you think of Team Sky's dominance?

Dream Tour Result - Tour de France 2012

I had a few topics running around in my head to blog about tonight. There's the Frank Schleck shame, Team Sky's dominance, and of course the anticipation of the next two stages but....

Let's forget all that 'stuff'  I want to blog about my dream 2012 Tour de France result. Something fantasy, something written from the heart and something to add a bit of excitement to the tour.

Here are where things stand today at the beginning of Stage 16. We have good old Bradley 'one pace' Wiggins in first, Christopher 'biding my time' Froome in second and Vincenzo 'waiting to the last minute' Nibali in third and of course Cadel 'Aussie Fighter' Evans in fourth.

From here how would my dream tour evolve?

Firstly of course I would love to see Nibali, Van Den Broeck and Evans and their teams work in successful collusion to destroy Team Sky. Not that I dislike Bradley Wiggins or Team Sky. In fact I think that they have riden a perfect text book tour to protect Wiggins (apart from Froome's little 'moment'). But I want to see some action!

They would work them over and take back time leaving the top five riders all within a minute of each other by the end of the stage tonight. Then of course Cadel would break loose and attack on tomorrow's hill top finish smashing them all and taking a three minute lead into Stage 18 where he can rest up ready to have the time trial of his life the next day. The rest of the podium can work itself out.

No? Wishful thinking? La la land?

Possibly. Okay, most likely.

Apart from that I would love to see Wiggins faulter and Froome be able to be let loose and really show us what he is capable of.

And the ultimate finish would be a Sagan, Greipel, Goss dead heat on the Champs Elysees!

As I said, dream tour results. More chance of happening in my head than in France right now.



So what would you love to see happen over the last five days of racing? (Be as outlandish or as realistic as you like!)

Time for some action

After a brilliant, action packed stage yesterday which saw yellow jersey leader Bradley Wiggins turn into a lead out man (anyone else thought he looked like he was back on the track?), today's stage sees the riders head for the first time into the Pyrenees. Although not classed as the Pyrenees proper, with two category one climbs I think we will finally see some action for GC podium contenders.

Team Sky have controlled the peloton and protected the yellow jersey since Stage 7, and although we have had some exciting sprint finishes to excite us, and some gallant attacks from Cadel Evans, really there hasn't been much 'action'.

I for one am hoping for an attack not only from Cadel yet again (and let's hope he has the legs and luck to pull it off), but also Vincenzo Nibali. Perhaps the yellow jersey position is comfortable, almost, but the podium is still to be decided.

Wiggins' team mate Froome who is currently in second position in the GC, will of course sacrifice all to support Wiggins, which really leaves the final two podium spots up for grabs.

Evans, Nibali and perhaps Van den Broeck need to attack Wiggins - repeatedly. This is the stage they need to make him finally work hard for his jersey, in an effort to tire his legs heading into the final stages of this race to have any chance of dislodging him. And then the battle for this years tour will really be on.

So who do you think will attack? And will they succeed?