Ciclismo: The British Dominance in 2012

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British riders are having their most successful Tour de France in 2012 with the likelihood of a British rider wearing yellow in Paris no longer appearing to be fantasy. David Millar won the 226km stage yesterday beating Frenchman Jean-Christophe Péraud across the line for his fifth stage win at Le Tour. Millar’s stage win was the fourth by a British rider in 2012 and only adds to the success the Brits are having this year. British cycling seems to be coming of age at the Tour and several more stage wins could still be on the cards. Bradley Wiggins looks assured of collecting his seventh yellow jersey after tomorrow’s relatively flat stage and in the process will become the British rider to have spent the most time in yellow. The efforts of Wiggins and his Team Sky are unprecedented by British cyclists.

In recent years the Tour has become the domain of English speaking riders. With Lance Armstrong’s seven wins, Cadel Evans winning last year, several incarnations of American teams, an English team and now an Australian team to say the very least, the Tour in 2012 is not only English speaking but distinctively English. The prologue was won by Fabian Cancellara riding for an American-Luxembourg team while the English Team Sky has bossed the peloton from Liège and appears capable of controlling proceeding still Paris. The two favourites for the overall classification coming into the Tour were English and Australian. Evans has slipped in the overall behind Bradley Wiggins who could remain in yellow all the way to Paris but still holds a top ten position. With Wiggins looking strong and commanding in yellow it will take a formidable attack by Vincenzo Nibali or Cadel Evans to wrest yellow from the Brit’s shoulders and unless it was Nibali, the Tour still looks to be won by an English speaking rider. With an overall win by Evans becoming unlikely, Wiggins has two Australians riding for him and both will be crucial in his attempt to win yellow. Richie Porte and Michael Rogers have been seen at the front of the peloton controlling the pace in the mountains while keeping Wiggins safe.

Sky finished the 2011 Vuelta de España with two riders on the podium in Madrid and could do the same in Paris. Chris Froome finished runner up in Spain while managing to win a stage and spend time in the leaders jersey. He has one stage win at the 2012 Tour and could have another after the Pyrenees. Froome has been picked in the Great Britain Olympic road race team for the upcoming London games and will also ride the ITT. With four of the five Great Britain riders at this year’s Tour, they have miraculously each won a stage. Three of those riders are on Team Sky who have had a dominating Tour thus far and who can scarily still improve upon their performances. With Froome showing good form in the first ITT, a second consecutive Grand tour podium position awaits as does the role of sole leader at the Vuelta. Froome was seen attacking on the slopes on La Toussuire but was called back to support Wiggins up the climb. Froome has shown he has the legs this Tour and barring time losses in the first week he could be yellow. Froome will play the loyal domestique role for the last week of the Tour but will be essential in the overall hopes of Wiggins.

The French are still awaiting the successor to Bernard Hinault who was the last French rider to win the yellow jersey in 1985. With three stage wins in 2012, the French can be excited by potential GC candidates Pierre Rolland and Thibaut Pinot while Thomas Voeckler once again has been entertaining and graced podiums. Jean-Christophe Péraud almost made it four stage wins in 2012 only to beaten by the Garman-Sharp rider Millar yesterday. With Rolland 8:31 down on Wiggins in eight place overall and Pinot 8:51 down at ninth overall, to have two riders in the top ten overall after 12 stages is encouraging for French GC hopes. Particularly with this being Pinot’s first Tour and Rolland backing up after his 10th place and stage win at Alpe d’Huez last year on his way to winning the white jersey. These two are just the tip of the iceberg regarding the future of French cycling but will be up against several English speaking young stars as well. Continuing the English speaking dominance at the Tour has been American Tejay van Garderen who has spent the majority of the Tour in the white jersey. He currently holds a 1:54 lead over Pinot but with the Pyrenees approaching and the form that Pinot has shown so far in the mountains, the 22 year old FDJ-BigMat rider may claw back that time deficit. Consecutive white jerseys for the French would hopefully be a sign that it won't be too much longer until Hinault is no longer the last French rider to have won the Tour.

For now the English speaking dominance looks to continue while the French continue to build for the future. BMC will still be hoping that Evans can take a stage win and move up into the podium positions while attention will also turn to assuring the white jersey remains with van Garderen. Garmin-Sharp have been decimated by the crashes that punctuated the first week of the Tour and with a stage win under their belt, the Tour can now be seen a little more positively in 2012. Orica-GreenEdge is yet to excel in the Tour having so far been no more than thereabouts. Matt Goss opened their Grand Tour stage win account at the Giro d’Italia in Denmark and from there grand tours looked promising in 2012. The team has decided the green jersey was goal but Goss was docked 30 points for deviating from his sprint line in the finale of yesterday’s stage and now looks like he’ll have to settle for second in the sprint classification behind Peter Sagan. Goss may still win a stage which would make the Tour somewhat of a success for the Australian team but so far they have been a little underwhelming. It will be hard to gain the points Goss needs so Simon Gerrans or Michael Albasini may be given free rein to join breakaways and chase stage wins.

The increase of English speaking interest in the Tour is hardly a phenomenon in 2012 but since beginning arguably with the dominance of Armstrong and US Postal it has come to the fore this year. With Wiggins in yellow, RadioShack-Nissan leading the team classification, van Garderen in white and four stage wins to Great Britain riders it has been a Tour in which these riders have excelled. The French have performed well, in particular the stage winners so far; as has Peter Sagan who has put up a European fight but 2012 looks like it be the year the English broke through and finally won yellow. Millar’s stage win yesterday was all the more resonating as it was on the 45th anniversary of Tom Simpson’s death. The English rider died on the slopes of Mount Ventoux during the 1967 Tour just two years after he won the road race world championships. He had won two stages during the Vuelta earlier in the year when the Vuelta preceded the Tour as well as the Paris-Nice overall prior to his final Tour. Simpson was the first British rider to wear the maillot jaune at the Tour which was in 1962 and as a result was a leading influence upon British cycling before his untimely death. Simpson is still a revered figure and if Wiggins does win in Paris, he will no doubt pay tribute to Simpson and his efforts in paving the way for British Tour success.

Stage 13 is Bastille Day and the French will be keen for a stage win in Le Cap-D’Agde. However the relatively flat stage could be another day for British success in which Cavendish makes it 22 stage wins. A breakaway could be on the cards with a strong French contingent. The race goes back uphill in Stage 14 before another flat stage a day later. The English speaking dominance of the 2012 Tour could be increased with wins on these stages but it could also result in plucky French wins via breakaways. A GC shake up looks unlikely and therefore Rolland and Pinot should hold onto their top ten GC positions and instead the French success will be in stage wins.

Stage Profiles

Stage 13: Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux - Le Cap D’Agde 217km