Bradley Wiggins

by John Deering

  It’s not just because he’s a big star that people emulate Brad or talk about him. It’s because he is cool. When Miguel Indurain was the glittering star in cycling’s firmament, people didn’t suddenly start growing monobrows. Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong yellow wristbands are probably the only cultural impact that cyclists have made upon the public consciousness in recent years, and while they were a truly brilliant innovation, the wearing of the band indicated commitment to a cause rather than an attempt to create a style.

  Other cyclists are stylish people, but that doesn’t make them style leaders. As Stuart points out, ‘Mark Cavendish is another huge cycling star, but no one is emulating his “steeze”. That’s not to say he’s not well turned out, and I’m sure Dior, Gucci and Prada are delighted to have him as a customer.’

  It’s Brad’s multi-layered character that makes him fascinating, especially compared to the footballers who are paraded through the middle pages of the tabloids on a daily basis.

  ‘Sportsmen and women are usually pretty one-dimensional. Brad gives the papers something more than the obvious; he gives the media an angle. The whole mod thing being quintessentially British has helped, too, very well timed with it being an Olympic year. How many other sports people align themselves so strongly with a movement or fashion like that? If you can think of one, I’d like to meet him or her.

  ‘The closest thing I can think of in terms of sport and fashion influencing each other is in skateboarding or surfing. It’s different though, because those are movements rather than sports; plenty of people are in surfing or skating purely because of the fashion. And most skaters would be outraged to be described as “sportsmen”. British skateboarder Geoff Rowley is a fashion icon for skaters, but they wouldn’t be able to roll off a list of events he has won. Similarly, you’re unlikely to ride a bike just because you like The Who.’

  Brad is also riding the crest of a cultural wave when it comes to cycling due to its rapidly expanding popularity. The Middle Aged Men In Lycra, or mamils, who keep bike shops roaring through the economic depression and clog up the lanes of Britain every Sunday morning, are desperate to distance themselves from the traditional view of the cyclist in baggy tights and trouser clips, clipboards and saddle bags. They want to be cool. They want to be Brad.

  And then there’s his love of music. Printing his Tour play list in his published diaries. His regular tweets about music and the bands he loves, his association with the Moons and the High Numbers.

  ‘It’s nice to see a sports personality giving a shit about the arts full stop,’ says Stuart. ‘Mod culture is pretty well documented. The music, the scooters, the clothes. Bradley endorsing the band the Moons is pretty interesting. He was tweeting the launch of their album and I know people will buy it as a result.’

  The genuine nature of Brad’s passion for it all is clear, too. ‘People can smell fakery a mile off with this stuff. There are enough real mods out there to sniff him out if he’d just got on to it and thought, “Ooh, mods, that’s cool, I’ll do that.” It’s not like he’s gone out and bought The Best of The Who and a pair of desert boots and, bang, he’s a mod quicker than you can shout “Bell Boy!”’

  His guitar playing is well known, but it’s not showy; it’s for his own entertainment. As of yet, we haven’t seen Bradley Wiggins and the Yellow Jerseys popping up on GMTV trying to punt out a faux northern soul record for Christmas. He’s a good guitarist, too, and his choice of instruments shows a profound understanding of what’s cool: a Jimi Hendrix Strat, an ES335 and, coolest of all, a Gibson Firebird. These aren’t the guitars that kids learning to play buy, or grown men twiddling Metallica solos in their bedrooms have an eye for. These guitars are too cool for that. Brad understands that there’s no point in visiting guitar shops that sell new instruments, as all the best guitars have already been made.

  Brad’s willingness to put his money where his mouth is and tell us what he cares about marks him out, but it’s also a reflection of our age and the usefulness of social media in telling people stuff. Perhaps Jimmy Connors was a massive Electric Light Orchestra fan, or maybe Geoffrey Boycott travelled Europe in the winter collecting sightings of new experimental aeroplanes. ‘Do you know who Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s favourite band was?’ asks Stuart. ‘Do you know which song David Gower used to get psyched-up to before he went to the popping crease? No, very unlikely, but with Bradley, people watching from afar will probably have an idea.’

  The tweet that captured the public imagination the most, and really marked Bradley Wiggins out as a folk hero, didn’t come until after most people were already aware of him. In fact, it may never have happened – many denounced it as fake – but the sentiment is pure Brad, and sums up perfectly why we love him so much. We want it to be true even if it isn’t.

  Piers Morgan, somehow a popular figure in our great nation, tweeted: ‘I was very disappointed @bradwiggins didn’t sing the anthem either. Show some respect to our Monarch please!’

  Wiggins replied: ‘@piersmorgan I was disappointed when you didn’t go to jail for insider dealing or phone hacking, but you know, each to his own.’

  STAGE 19:

  Bonneval–Chartres, Time Trial, 53.5km

  Saturday, 21 July 2012

  Despite the looming prospect of a Team Sky British one-two in Paris tomorrow, despite the team’s great display of unity in delivering Mark Cavendish’s second win of the race yesterday and despite their utter dominance of this year’s Tour de France, there is still an undercurrent around the Team Sky camp.

  Sluggishly, the British tabloids have picked up on the Twitter row surrounding Cath Wiggins and Michelle Cound, with the Daily Mail running the ‘Wag War’ story that had enflamed the central part of the race. Team Sky had probably hoped and even assumed that it would blow over after the team and the duo’s storming procession through the Pyrenees, but it seems that Chris Froome’s girlfriend is still not happy about her man being forced to play second fiddle to his leader, as she sees it.

  On the day that Cavendish was the goal scorer for the team’s sweeping set piece move, Cound tweeted, ‘Team work is also about giving the people around you, that support you, a chance to shine in their own right.’

  The inflammatory comment was quickly deleted, but not before the Independent had picked up on it and the whole Wiggins versus Froome rivalry, so carefully deconstructed by Team Sky, was back at the top of the agenda.

  One assumes that she had in mind the top of Peyragudes on Thursday when her boyfriend had decided to wait for/encouraged his friend and leader/was forced by team instructions to stop attacking (delete as per your choice) Bradley Wiggins near the summit of that last climb.

  The time trial is so often referred to glibly as ‘the race of truth’ that we forget the real meaning of the cliché. It means that one can’t hide behind team instructions, assistance or circumstances: it’s just the man, the bike, the road and the clock. Surely, if Chris Froome wanted to demonstrate that he, and not the tall Londoner, should be the rightful leader of this race, now was the time to prove it. He wouldn’t have to adhere to any plan or instructions, wouldn’t be seen to attack his friend and leader, and could deliver a telling blow without any accusations of disloyalty.

  Froome’s motivation throughout the race has been hard to read. His performance has been exceptional and of massive assistance to Wiggins’s march on Paris. The sight of Froome cruising behind Mick Rogers and Richie Porte with the yellow jersey comfortably alongside him has been an intimidating one for those who would unseat Team Sky. The fear when he has taken up the race has been tangible. Nobody could match the Kenyan-born rider when he actually led in the hills and he would have taken the King of the Mountains competition with ease if he hadn’t had more pressing concerns in this race.

  In his interviews he has been effusive in his praise of the team ethic at Team Sky and how everybody is expected to make sacrifices, without ever giving the impression that he wouldn’t jump at a chance to win the race himself
if it was at all possible. ‘Anyone in a team position has to make personal sacrifices for the sake of the team, and that’s what we’ve been doing so far, and it seems to be working for us. So, why stop doing that?’

  His personal ambitions, said Froome, lay firmly at the Tour de France, but not this year. ‘In my future, I might be given the opportunity to try and lead a team myself one day. But again, for now, we just need to focus on what we’re doing here and achieve the goals we have here. I’m 27 at the moment, so hopefully I should still have a good ten years of racing. I do see myself as a future Tour winner, that’s what I aspire to become one day.’

  He walked a tightrope at times, giving an interview to L’Équipe that appeared to confirm that he was under some duress to continue toeing the line at Team Sky. ‘I could win this Tour, but not at Sky. I cannot lie to you, it’s difficult, but it’s my job,’ he said. ‘It’s a very, very great sacrifice. We have a strategy around Wiggins and everybody respects it.’ He may have been suggesting that being at Team Sky meant that he was there to help Wiggins, but many commentators saw it as what tabloid football editors call a come-and-get-me plea to potential suitors.

  He also made occasional references to the route of this Tour de France, possibly inferring that if it had contained more mountain top finishes and fewer time trialling kilometres – more than usual in 2012 – then he would be less happy about not being the chosen leader. When pressed on his thoughts on the 2013 race, he said, ‘It all depends on the route. If there are passes, I hope Sky will be honest and all my teammates will be at my service, with the same loyalty I have shown today.’ That’s a hard call to make though, as Nibali and Van Den Broeck would surely applaud such a change in parcours, too, not to mention Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck, and he would be fighting them as much as his current skipper. And would Team Sky really ask Wiggins to support him even though he was the defending champion and a national hero? Really?

  Wiggins has responded with gratitude and kind words to Froome without ever showing the deep affection that he obviously holds for Mark Cavendish, another supposed ‘rival’ for the support of Team Sky. The yellow jersey and rainbow jersey embraced each other in a long hug of pure joy after the latter’s victory yesterday. That may have more to do with Cavendish’s more emotional character though; he inspires stronger and more immediate feelings than the quieter but affable Froome. He echoed Froome’s words about the future without committing himself to 2013 in quite the same way. ‘Chris will have his day for sure – and I’ll be there to support him every inch of the way when he does at the Tour.’

  With his case to prove, Chris Froome scorches around the course of today’s final time trial. The long-time leader is Luis Leon Sanchez, the National Time Trial Champion of Spain, another rider who has enjoyed this Tour de France more and more with each passing day. He would hold the lead for fully two and a half hours today as other riders came and went.

  Froome’s insistent style sees him set the fastest time at the first, second and final time checks out on the course, seeing off not only Sanchez but BMC’s fine young emerging talent, Tejay van Garderen. The white jersey had set the best time at the first check when he arrived there a few minutes before Froome, before fading to an eventual seventh on the day. Embarrassingly, the American catches and passes his team leader Cadel Evans out of the start house one place ahead of him a minute earlier. This has not been a good race for the champion who, in contrast to Sanchez, has encountered more problems as the race has progressed. After coming into the race full of hope in the absence of Contador and Schleck Junior, the anticipated head-to-head battle with Bradley Wiggins never really materialised. However, he will leave this race with his head held high after a gutsy performance in the face of poor form and a stomach bug that has made the final week less than enjoyable. His decision to lead his team all the way to Paris when an early exit must have beckoned has won him the respect of all connected to this race, not least the winner-in-waiting, Wiggins.

  Chris Froome presses all the way out into the headwind that greets him on the wide roads out of Bonneval before speeding along the narrower more protected final part of the race into Chartres, the city’s bizarre lopsided cathedral spires guiding him in along the Eure. He reaches the packed finish line in a time 34 seconds less than it took Luis Leon Sanchez to cover those 53.5km. Nobody else has completed it anything like as quickly as these two and there is only one man left to arrive.

  The bad news for Froome is that this last man will arrive very soon indeed.

  Bradley Wiggins’s languid style in the time trial is deceptive. He sits so still, his back so flat, he could be completing one of Team Sky’s many wind tunnel tests designed to unearth the best equipment and position for such an event, rather than riding towards victory in the world’s greatest bike race. After 14km, he is twelve seconds ahead of his teammate Chris Froome. After 30km, he has found an advantage of 54 seconds. By the finish, it is a crushing one minute and sixteen seconds difference between the two men. He has ridden this course at the cool speed of 50kph.

  It is rare to see a proper victory salute in a time trial, but there are several mitigating factors in play today. Firstly, only the last man off can ever truly know if he has won a time trial. Secondly, winning a second stage in the Tour de France is a victory worth celebrating, as the demonstrative Thomas Voeckler, Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish have all shown in the last three weeks. Becoming the first ever British winner of the Tour de France probably counts for something, too.

  Bradley Wiggins stands on his pedals and thumps the air like Ayrton Senna at Monaco. The emotion so rarely seen while his face is concealed behind helmet and sunglasses is raw and available for the whole world to see. And make no mistake, the whole world is watching. Bradley Wiggins has won the Tour de France.

  It is clear that the emotion had started before he even reached the finish line. ‘In the last 15 to 20km I knew what my advantage was and I was thinking about my wife and kids, my mum, all of the people who’ve helped me get to where I am. I know it sounds cheesy, but I was thinking about the fact that I’ve spent my whole life working to get to this point. This is the defining moment.’

  Among a host of people that have played their part in reaching that defining moment, Dave Brailsford is entitled to feel a little proprietary about the success. This whole journey began as something of a pipe dream for him and Shane Sutton, chewing the fat up on the bleachers of Manchester Velodrome years ago.

  ‘Bradley’s had an amazing race and what a way to demonstrate he is the best rider in the race by finishing with a time trial like that. I’m incredibly proud of both him and Chris as well as every single person in the team. It’s never been done before by a British rider, or by a British team – it’s a very special day.’

  THE TWIN THREADS OF these fascinating stories were coming together. From the apartment in Ghent to the flats in Paddington. From the Hayes Bypass to Herne Hill. From the Leicester track to the velodrome in Havana. From Kuala Lumpur to Sydney. From Athens to Beijing. From an OBE to a CBE. From 78kg to 68kg. From the London Grand Depart to Mont Ventoux. And now from Liège to Paris. Bradley Wiggins’s journey has been the stuff that dreams are made of, full of improbabilities, disappointments and unbridled success.

  On the eve of his first Tour ride in 2006, Brad had said, ‘I’d be gutted not to finish it. It’s a race you simply have to finish. Places in the Tour are priceless so I might only ever get one chance to ride, and it’s one of the few races you can look back on at the end of your career and be happy merely to have completed the course.’

  Six years on and he is finishing the Tour, but not as an also-ran, as the winner.

  Sir Chris Hoy and the Olympic track squad were pausing in their training each day to watch Brad’s progression to Paris. The time trial in Chartres drew the loudest cheers. They knew their erstwhile teammate was going to pull off the unthinkable and be the first British winner of a race that has been run since 1903.

  ‘The greatest
achievement by any British sportsperson – ever,’ was how Sir Chris described Brad’s performance.

  In the Daily Mail, Bradley Wiggins was held up as a beacon of British sportsmanship and success. David Jones wrote: ‘Here is a man who inner-city children can truly relate to. He had a difficult start in life, was disinterested in school, and admits he came dangerously close to going off the rails. Instead, he got on his bike, spent countless lonely, gruelling hours developing the supreme fitness and iron willpower required to win the world’s toughest race, and pedalled his way into the history books.’

  The same paper reached for the book of superlatives and concentrated on one in particular: ‘Ever. It certainly is a big word. Just the two syllables but huge in sport. Hugely misused, too. The best ever, the first ever. That last word is superfluous. We mean the best, we mean the first. Yet when Bradley Wiggins made his way up the Champs-Élysées, each pumping limb its own little revolution, ever has never sounded more appropriate. Bradley Wiggins is the first British winner of the Tour de France. Ever. Bradley Wiggins is the greatest British cyclist. Ever. Bradley Wiggins may well be the finest British sportsman. Ever.’

  David Cameron and Nick Clegg were both apparently backing moves to knight him. Well, he already had an OBE and a CBE, and Sir Chris Hoy said he was the greatest of all time . . . Where else could they go with Brad? Intensely proud of representing his country, ‘Sir Bradley Wiggins’ still has an establishment ring to it that sounds awkward. But, in many ways, one can think of no more fitting accolade.

  The Prime Minister, never one to miss a chance to align himself with a bit of success, said, ‘I am, like everyone in the country, absolutely delighted. Bradley Wiggins has scaled one of the great heights of British sporting achievement. To be the first British person in 109 years to win the Tour de France is an immense feat of physical and mental ability and aptitude. I think the whole country wants to say, “Well done, brilliant.”’