A Grand Five

In May at the Giro a short stage ended in a bunch sprint. Mark Cavendish was the beneficiary as he pulled on his first Paul Smith maglia rosa for a third stint in pink. The Manx man was one of five riders to wear the leaders jersey at the Giro which has set a trend in 2013. Although Ryder Hesjedal as defending champion at the Giro wore the pink jersey on the first stage, this is about jerseys as won on the road.

At the 2012 Giro five riders had the pleasure of making their way to the podium to pull on the pink fleece. At the 2012 Tour there was just one change in the maillot jaune as Fabian Cancellara and Bradley Wiggins racked up the plush lions toys for their kids.

At the Vuelta there were four red jersey wearers with the first jersey wearer of the race, Jonathan Castroviejo the odd one out. He was the only rider to have worn red and not finished on the podium.

Tom the Butcher

Rabobank withdrew their public sponsorship of the Dutch team in the wake of USADA's reasoned decision which led to allegations, of which many have since been proven to be true, that the outfit had a chequered past of utilising drugs administrated by doctors to ensure top results by its riders. The team continues with the financial support of Rabobank but as the new team name Blanco suggests, this is a blank team with more or less a blank image. Many of the riders on the team will be riding for contracts this season not only for personal gain but to find a willing sponsor who is keen to back and support the team under a new name. To attract a sponsor before the Tour de France is a team goal and the only way that Blanco can absolutely ensure this is so is by winning and winning as often as possible. 

2012: Another Tumultuous & Exciting Edition

The 2012 season will be defined by pictures of cyclists on the road as much as cyclists off the road. Bradley Wiggins became the first British rider to win the Tour de France, Alberto Contador made a winning return after his doping suspension, Philippe Gilbert won his maiden worlds rainbow jersey and Tom Boonen owned the cobbles. Yet for all the excitement and dominance of Team Sky plus individual and collective feats of the peloton, it was the USADA investigation into US Postal which lifted the lid on Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel as the masterminds behind the most organised doping practise the sport has ever seen. As the season comes to a close there are trails that seem only destined to be endlessly consumed with chasing the murky past down rabbit hole after rabbit hole. There has been no admission by Armstrong and the 1990s culture of Omerta has lessened but still exists among the peloton and with two major Italian investigations now looking like handing down their findings in 2013, this is certainly a tumultuous time for the sport. However there were brilliant rides full of bravery, panache and courage across the season. Looking back to the seasoning races in January of this year, it becomes apparent several of those rides will become timeless images of the sport, as well as part of cycling’s folklore for the years to come. 

2012 Men's ITT World Championships: 58 Riders Battle for the Rainbow

Tony Martin will roll down the ramp at 3:24pm today with 57 riders having gone before him. Second last in the order is the recent Vuelta a España champion Alberto Contador who was the 2009 Spanish ITT Champion. Martin's teammate on Omega Pharma-Quick Step Sylvain Chavanel will be riding in the French colours and may just challenge the reigning champion for the rainbow stripes. 

Current Cyclists Days in Yellow at Le Tour de France

Rank	Rider (Overall Rank)	Country	Yellow Jerseys	Years Rider Wore Yellow
1st	Fabian Cancellara (12)	Switzerland	28	2004, ’07, ’09, 2010, 2012
2nd	Thomas Voeckler (=20)	France	20	2004, 2011
3rd	Bradley Wiggins (=35)	Great Britain	14	2012
4th	Andy Schleck (=41)	Luxembourg	13	2010, 2011
5th	Alberto C0ntador (=53)	Spain	11	2007, 2009
6th	Thor Hushovd (=57)	Norway	10	2004, '06, 2011
7th	Stuart O'Grady (=60)	Australia	9	1998, 2001
=7th	Michael Rasmussen (=60)	Denmark	9	2007
9th	Cadel Evans	Australia	8	2008, 2010, 2011
10th	Tom Boonen	Belgium	4	2006

Note: Years in bold indicate when the rider also won the general classification.

Final Classifications Winners at the 2012 Tour de France

General Classification: Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky)87:34:47
Points Classification: Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 421 points
King of the Mountains: Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 134 points
Young Riders Classification: Tejay van Garderen (BMC) 87:45:46
Team Classification: RadioShack-Nissan 263:12:01
Combativity Award: Chris Anker Sørenson

TDF: Standings after Stage 17

Overall Classification 

1st Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 78:28:02
2nd Chris Froome (Team Sky) +2:05”
3rd Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) +2:41”
4th Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) +5:53”
5th Tejay van Garderen (BMC) +8:30”
6th Cadel Evans (BMC) +9:57”
7th Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack-Nissan) +10:11”
8th Pierre Rolland (Europcar) +10:17”
9th Janez Brajkovic (Astana) +11:00”
10th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) +11:46”

TDF: Standings after Stage 16

With one final mountain to come the GC classification looks like it will be won by a British rider for the first time. Bradley Wiggins has shown his superiority in the ITT over his rivals who will need to attack in Stage 17 for one final shot at yellow in Paris. For Cadel Evans the Tour defence is over and he may be given a chance to join a breakaway and gain a stage win but at only eight minutes he may still be seen as a threat. Chris Froome will be kept on a leash and will only protect Wiggins and he should be rewarded by a podium finish in Paris for doing so. Vincenzo Nibali will need to gain at least three minutes on Wiggins before the ITT and to do so in one stage looks unlikely considering he hasn’t been able to take significant time off Wiggins so far.

There may be a minor shake up of the GC but it seems the top ten is to be settled in the Stage 19 ITT to Chartes. Wiggins looks like he’ll hold onto yellow after first pulling it on after Stage 7. There may be a final attack by the mountain climbers to shore up a top ten position before the ITT but it appears that there may be too much to lose by doing so and so instead they will look to limit their losses against the clock in Stage 19.

With the final big climbing classification points on offer tonight Thomas Voeckler and Fredrik Kessiakoff who are only separated by four points will be chasing all 52 points that are on offer. There are 6 points on offer during the stage 19 ITT but these two would be keen to wrap up the classification in the Pyrenees. The first of these riders to summit Port de Balés could wrap up the classification with the points on offer at this HC climb. Otherwise the other four categorised climbs with points on offer could witness a strategic battle between these two for the maillot pois.

In the points classification it is looking likely that Peter Sagan will win the green jersey in his debut Tour. There are still two flat stages on offer but as Sagan as been either winning or contending the sprints it appears unlikely that he will pass that jersey onto either André Greipel or Matt Goss who both sit over 100 points in arrears to the Slovakian in the classification.

The white jersey is now a battle between Tejay van Garderen and Thibaut Pinot. Van Garderen holds a healthy 3:48” lead over the French rider and van Garderen should be riding into Paris in white. Van Garderen and Pinot are the two stand out young riders in 2012 as the closet rider to these two sits over 45 minutes behind the BMC rider is Steven Kruijswijk.

The most combative rider classification now has two riders who have both won the award on two occasions in 2012. A combative ride in Stage 17 by either Thomas Voeckler or Michael Mørkøv could settle the classification by Paris.

RadioShack-Nissan holds a commanding 17:15” lead in the team classification over Sky and are all but assured of a podium appearance in Paris. Only Team Sky can really threaten their chances but unless a calamitous final four stages awaits the leaders they should roll into Paris with yellow numbers on their backs.

There are still minor alterations that await in each of the classifications but it appears that the current leaders in the classifications will be the winners. The final ITT looks like it will settle any last gaps in these classifications besides the mountains classification. The points classification should be settled by Stage 19 or if not it will be settled in the final sprint along the Champs-Élysées.

Overall Classification 

1st Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 74:15:32
2nd Chris Froome (Team Sky) +2:05”
3rd Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) +2:23”
4th Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) +5:46”
5th Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack-Nissan) +7:13”
6th Tejay van Garderen (BMC) +7:55”
7th Cadel Evans (BMC) +8:06”
8th Janez Brajkovic (Astana) +9:09”
9th Pierre Rolland (Europcar) +10:10”
10th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) +11:43”

Points Classification 

1st Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 356 points
2nd André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 254 points
3rd Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) 203 points
4th Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) 130 points
5th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) 127 points
6th Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 109 points
7th Cadel Evans (BMC) 100 points
8th Chris Froome (Sky) 91 points
9th Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 88 points
10th Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) 84 points

Mountains Classification 

1st Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 107 points

2nd Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) 103 points
3rd Chris Anker Sørenson 77 points
4th Pierre Rolland (Europcar) 55 points
5th Brice Feillu (Saur-Sojasun) 38 points
6th Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp) 34 points
7th Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) 33 points
8th Chris Froome (Team Sky) 32 points
9th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) 32 points
10th Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) 31 points

Young Riders Classification 

1st Tejay van Garderen (BMC) 74:23:27”
2nd Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) +3:48”
3rd Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) +45:26”
4th Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) +52:39”
5th Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) +54:43”
6th Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) +1:01:56”
7th Rafael Valls (Vacansoleil-DCM) +1:01:32”
8th David Malacarne (Europcar) +1:18:57”
9th Dominik Nerz (Liquigas-Cannondale) +1:19:10”
10th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) +1:26:02”

Team Classification 

1st RadioShack-Nissan 222:58:15
2nd Team Sky +17:18”
3rd Astana +28:53”
4th BMC +29:13”
5th Europcar +50:03”
6th Liquigas-Cannondale +56:34”
7th Movistar +59:56”
8th FDJ-BigMat +1:01:22”
9th Katusha +1:01:31”
10th Omega Pharma-Quick Step + 1:20:04”

Combativity Award 

Stage One: Nicolas Edet (Cofidis)
Stage Two: Anthony Roux (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Three: Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage Four: Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar)
Stage Five: Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Six: David Zabriskie (Garmin-Sharp)
Stage Seven: Luis León Sanchez (Rabobank)
Stage Eight: Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana)
Stage Nine: Not Awarded
Stage Ten: Thomas Voeckler (Europcar)
Stage 11: Pierre Rolland (Europcar)
Stage 12: Robert Kiserlovski (Astana)
Stage 13: Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage 14: Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale)
Stage 15: Nicki Sørenson (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage 16: Thomas Voeckler (Europcar)

Tour Stage Winners by Nationality since 2002

With three individual stage wins so far, Great Britain is enjoying the 2012 Tour. In recent years some countries have dominated in terms of individual stage wins for one country. In particular that has been Spain and France who have had numerous stage winners in one tour. Looking back over the last ten years at stage winners by nationality to gauge which nations have been dominate in the last 10 years of the Tour Spain and France lead Great Britain and the USA of nations to have won the most stages since 2002. Below is a breakdown of which nations won stages and had multiple individual stage winners at the Tour since the 2002 edition.

Why Support Wiggo?

Bradley Wiggins is on the cusp of an unprecedented achievement in the world of cycling. Wiggins is a proven multiple Olympic and world champion gold medal winning cyclist but in the last year has proven himself to be a Grand Tour GC contender. His third placing at the 2011 Vuelta de España was a sign of what Wiggins is capable of as well as a validation of fourth place in the 2009 Tour. After crashing out during Stage Seven of last year’s Tour with a broken collarbone, Wiggins has been working hard on returning to the Tour and taking home yellow. 2012 appears to to be year of the self confessed mod whose Tour it is to lose.

The British Dominance in 2012

Parlez-vous Anglais?

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. 

TDF: Standings after Stage Nine ITT

The first rest day of the 2012 Tour de France is upon us and wearing yellow is the Team Sky rider Bradley Wiggins. Wiggins will be the centre of attention on a day that is usually for the benefit of the press. The story of the day continues to be the blistering ITT stage win by Wiggins in which he put some serious distance between himself and his rivals. He is now in a position in which he can afford to ride defensively and simply follow the wheels of his rivals and till the Tour.

Leading the other classifications is three time stage winner Peter Sagan in green, American Tejay van Garderen in white and Fredrik Kessiakoff in the maillot pois. In the team classification, RadioShack-Nissan leads Sky by over a minute and will be wearing yellow helmets on Stage 10 as leaders of that classification.

Overall classification 

1st Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 39:09:20
2nd Cadel Evans (BMC) +1:53”
3rd Chris Froome (Team Sky) +2:07”
4th Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) +2:23”
5th Dennis Menchov (Katusha) +3:02”
6th Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack-Nissan) +3:19”
7th Maxime Monfort (RadioShack-Nissan) +4:23”
8th Tejay van Garderen (BMC) +5:14”
9th Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) +5:20”
10th Nicolas Roche (AG2R-La Mondiale) +5:29”

Points Classification 

1st Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 217 points
2nd Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) 185 points
3rd André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 172 points
4th Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) 129 points
5th Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) 109 points
6th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) 95 points
7th Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) 89 points
8th Cadel Evans (BMC) 82 points
9th Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 78 points
10th Tom Veelers (Argos-Shimano) 76 points

Mountains Classification 

1st Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) 21 points 

2nd Chris Froome (Team Sky) 20 points
3rd Cadel Evans (BMC) 18 points
4th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) 16 points
5th Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 12 points
6th Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 9 points
7th Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) 9 points
8th Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) 9 points
9th Chris Anker Sørenson (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 4 points
10th Jérémy Roy (FDJ-BigMat) 5 points

Young Riders Classification 

1st Tejay van Garderen (BMC) 39:14:34”
2nd Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) +42”
3rd Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) +45”
4th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) +3:39”
5th Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) +5:11”  
6th David Malacarne (Europcar) +13:55”
7th Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) +18:15”
8th Rafael Valls (Vacansoleil-DCM) +18:54”
9th Arthur Vichot (FDJ-BigMat) +19:33”
10th Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) +20:34”

Team Classification 

1st RadioShack-Nissan 117:36:25
2nd Team Sky +1:25”
3rd Omega Pharma-Quick Step +13:25”
4th Liquigas-Cannondale +16:06”
5th Katusha +16:23”
6th BMC +17:32”
7th Movistar +22:39”
8th Astana +22:47”
9th AG2R-La Mondiale +24:28”
10th FDJ-BigMat +26:52”

Combativity Award 

Stage One: Nicolas Edet (Cofidis)
Stage Two: Anthony Roux (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Three: Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage Four: Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar)
Stage Five: Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Six: David Zabriskie (Garmin-Sharp)
Stage Seven: Luis León Sanchez (Rabobank)
Stage Eight: Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana)
Stage Nine: Not Awarded

TDF: Standings after Stage Eight

Overall Classification 

1st Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 38:17:56
2nd Cadel Evans (BMC) +10”
3rd Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) +16”
4th Dennis Menchov (Katusha) +54”
5th Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack-Nissan) +59”
6th Chris Froome (Team Sky) +1:32”
7th Maxime Monfort (RadioShack-Nissan) +1:09”
8th Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) +2:11
9th Nicolas Roche (Ag2r-La Mondiale) +2:21”
10th Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) +2:27”

Points Classification 

1st Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 217 points
2nd Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) 185 points
3rd André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 172 points
4th Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) 129 points
5th Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) 109 points
6th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) 95 points
7th Tom Veelers (Argos-Shimano) 76 points
8th Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) 74 points
9th Cadel Evans (BMC) 72 points
10th Kenny Van Hummel (Vacansoleil-DCM) 69 points

Mountains Classification 

1st Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) 21 points
2nd Chris Froome (Team Sky) 20 points
3rd Cadel Evans (BMC) 18 points
4th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) 16 points
5th Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 12 points
6th Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 9 points
7th Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) 9 points
8th Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) 9 points
9th Chris Anker Sørenson (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 4 points
10th Jérémy Roy (FDJ-BigMat) 5 points

Young Riders Classification 

1st Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) 38:20:23
2nd Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) +46
3rd Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) +1:14
4th Tejay van Garderen (BMC) +1:41
5th Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) +3:38
6th David Malacarne (Europcar) +10:57
7th Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) +14:16
8th Rafael Valls (Vacansoleil-DCM) +16:20
9th Arthur Vichot (FDJ-BigMat) +16:31
10th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) +17:04

Team Classification 

1st RadioShack-Nissan 114:56:52
2nd Team Sky +2:51
3rd Liquigas-Cannondale +10:16
4th Katusha +10:40
5th Omega Pharma-Quick Step +13:07
6th Cofidis +15:38
7th BMC +16:17
8th Movistar +16:53
9th Astana +18:57
10th Ag2r-La Mondiale +19:05

Combativity Award 

Stage One: Nicolas Edet (Cofidis)
Stage Two: Anthony Roux (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Three: Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage Four: Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar)
Stage Five: Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Six: David Zabriskie (Garmin-Sharp)
Stage Seven: Luis León Sanchez (Rabobank)
Stage Eight: Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana)

Overall Hopes for the top ten after La Planche des Belles Filles

The first mountain stage of the 2012 Tour de France was an indication who the GC candidates really are in the 99th edition of the race. After the posturing of the flattish first week and the endless hype and predictions that surround Le Tour, the climb to La Planche des Belles Filles was finally a sign of who has the legs in 2012. Chris Froome won the stage ahead of Cadel Evans and his Sky team mate Bradley Wiggins and as a reward will wear the maillot pois in tomorrow’s stage.

After the nasty crashes that occurred throughout the first week of the Tour, the first GC stage of the Tour was a welcome relief from the carnage on the flat roads. Several GC candidates have lost time and skin after the needless crashes and after yesterday, the GC is starting to fall into place. Fabian Cancellara ended the stage in 20th place 1:52 down on Froome and surrendered his yellow jersey to Wiggins. Cancellara is now 12th outright in the history of yellow jersey wearers having worn yellow on 28 days. Wiggins will wear his first yellow jersey on Stage Eight and the yellow helmets that Team Sky have been wearing as leaders of the team classification won't look so out of place. As well as yellow, Sky will also have Froome in the climbers jersey which means Sky have worn three of the four classification jerseys in 2012 as well as leading the team classification since the prologue in Liège. Team Sky have now won two stages out of seven and the British team must be feeling good about the 2012 Tour so far. Yellow in Paris is still the goal but it appears doubtful that Wiggins will hold onto yellow until then. He may wish to offload the jersey to a rival and take it back after the Stage Nineteen time trial from Bonneval to Chartes with the 53.5km time trial still looking likely to be decisive in the overall classification.

Of the GC men who were touted as favourites for yellow in Paris, Wiggins and Evans didn’t disappoint last night. Vincenzo Nibali who was seen as a second tier favourite came in fourth and will have been buoyed by his result. Evans had instigated the attack up the 5.9km last climb, whose average gradient was 8.5%, was reeled in and surpassed by Froome. Considering Wiggins has the impressive Froome as a team mate, Nibali and Evans may just form an alliance of convenience to overcome Team Sky. As well as Froome, Sky displayed its depth of domestiques with Richie Porte and Michael Rogers also proving that in the bigger mountains, they will be decisive in Wiggins’s attempt to ride into Paris wearing yellow. Porte is a lowly 88th in the overall after Stage Seven but will most probably move up after the ITT during Stage Nine. As it stands currently in the GC, Froome and Rogers are both in the top ten and could finish the Tour in high positions. Team Sky could lead the team classification from Liège to Paris simply due to the efforts of Wiggins, Froome and Rogers with their high GC positions. They seem the team most likely to finish with multiple riders in the top twenty positions.

BMC will be feeling that they had a mixed result after yesterday. Tejay van Garderen surrendered the white jersey of the young riders classification to Rein Taaramäe and is now second in that classification. Evans finished second in the stage but showed he is willing to attack when the road starts going upward. At only 10 seconds off Wiggins, Evans will be feeling somewhat relieved to be this close to his major GC rival after seven stages and will be delighted to have some of the focus of attention shifted from him onto the British rider. Wiggins has shown that he can cope with the pressure of being the race leader after his exploits at Paris-Nice, the Tour of Romandie and the Critérium de Dauphiné this year. However, this is the Tour and those stage races were only a warm up. Wiggins will have to confront the press for each day he is in yellow and he isn’t the biggest fan such appearances. Cancellara was considering losing the yellow jersey simply because he was tired of these press shenanigans. Considering Wiggins and Cavendish have given only little snippets of interviews so far, the yellow jersey press conferences may be an unwanted sideshow that increase any anxiety Wiggins or Team Sky are feeling about being in yellow. This is Sky’s first maillot jaune and completes a Grand Tour leader’s jersey hat trick. Wiggins wore the Maglia Rosa of the Giro d’Italia in 2011, the red jersey of 2011 Vuelta de España and now in 2012, the maillot jaune. As well as Wiggins, Froome also wore the Vuelta’s red leader’s jersey on Stage 11 last year.

Nibali and Taaramäe were the most impressive of the other GC favourites as they came in fourth and fifth respectively yesterday. Rein Taaramäe has threatened an impressive Tour performance in his two previous Tour appearances. This is the second consecutive year that Taaramäe was worn the white jersey and is the last year in which he his eligible for the young riders classification. Taaramäe’s break out Grand Tour was at the 2011 Vuelta in which he won Stage 14 before he withdrew. Now 2012 is looking like it could be his most successful Grand Tour appearance. His stage win was a sign that the Estonian could back up the praise that he had received and now as the white jersey leader, his endeavours may justify even further praise. As a three time time trial champion of Estonia he has shown that time trials should not be an obstacle to mounting a challenge for the overall. Tejay van Garderen looks like he’ll be the major challenge to Taaramäe taking the white jersey and as he is also a fine time trialler. After the 41.5km Stage Nine time trial the classification will become a little clearer and whoever rolls out in white on Stage Ten may just be wearing white in Paris.

The 2010 Vuelta de España winner Nibali has also won two stages at the Giro as well as finishing on the podium twice in Milan. At the Tour, Nibali hasn’t been as successful as in the other two Grand Tours. Having only made two appearances at the Tour, Nibali has done well but has done so without making any big headlines. A 2oth place on debut in 2008 was good enough for him to finish third in the young riders classification and was as sign of his Grand Tour maturation. His return in 2009 resulted in seventh overall and second place overall for the white jersey. No longer eligible for white, Nibali is entirely focused on yellow. With super domestique Ivan Basso an ally in the mountains, Nibali will look for an improvement upon seventh as a minimum. Stage wins and a stint on yellow could be likely but the overall looks to be beyond the Sicilian.

Nibali hasn’t finished outside the top ten in a Grand Tour since 2008 and he looks to be on track to continue such a fine record but a second Grand Tour victory looks like it won't be won in Paris. Having announced he is leaving Liquigas-Cannondale at the end of this season, Nibali will also be looking to impress and ensure he signs the best deal he can. Rumoured to have agreed a deal with Astana, Nibali’s loyalty to Liquigas has ensured that he will be supported over Basso as the team leader. Since he moved to the Italian team in 2006 from Fasso Bortolo, Nibali has been a key rider for the team and won a third Grand Tour for the team and its first Spanish Grand Tour.

In a top ten are still one or two riders that by Paris will have dropped down several places but the GC is beginning to take shape. Tonight’s stage into Switzerland from Belfort to Porrentruy contains seven categorised climbs which will again shake up the GC. However the ITT the next day will sort out the pretenders from the contenders so some the riders who are poor in that discipline may just try to limit their losses in Stage Nine by attacking tonight and gaining some precious time over their rivals. Nibali may just be one of those riders whose time trialling is somewhat inferior to Wiggins and Evans. With six of the current top ten previous national champions in the ITT the shakeup of the GC could see those such as Chris Froome and Nibali looking to make up time in tonight’s stage. With almost twenty kilometres from the summit of the Col de la Croix to the finish in Porrentruy, there could a very fast descent on the card and a yellow jersey awaiting one of the top ten riders.

Yellow Jersey Statistics after Stage Seven

Rank	Rider	Country	Yellow Jerseys	Years Rider Wore Yellow
1st	Eddy Merckx	Belgium	96	1969, 1970, 71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ‘75
2nd	Lance Armstrong	United States	83	1999, 2000, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ‘05
3rd	Bernard Hinault	France	75	1978, ‘79, 1980, ’81, ’82, ’84, ’85, ‘86
4th	Miguel Indurain	Spain	60	1991, ’92, ’93, ’94, ‘95
5th	Jacques Anquetil	France	50	1957, 1961, ’62, ’63, ’64,
6th	Antonin Magne	France	38	1931, ‘34
7th	Philippe Thys	Belgium	37	1913, ’14, 1920
=7th	Nicolas Frantz	Luxembourg	37	1927, ’28, ‘29
9	André Leducq	France	35	1929, 1930, ’32, ‘38
10th	Ottavio Bottecchia	Italy	34	1923, ’24, ‘25
=10th	Louison Bobet	France	34	1948, 1953, ’54, ‘55
12th	Fabian Cancellara	Switzerland	28	2004, ’07, ’09, 2010, 2012
=13th	Sylvére Maes	Belgium	26	1936, ’37, ‘39
=13th	René Vietto	France	26	1939, 1947
15th	François Faber	Luxembourg	25	1909, 1910, 1911

Note: Riders italicised are currently still active. Years in bold indicate when the rider won the overall classification.

Bradley Wiggins becomes the fifth rider from the United Kingdom to pull on the yellow jersey following Stage Seven to La Planche des Belles Filles. Wiggins holds a 10 second lead over second place Australian Cadel Evans. Evans has been in the yellow jersey for 8 days in three different editions of the race and depending on results across Stages Eight and Nine he could slip into yellow for a few more days. However Wiggins prowess in time trials could see him leap to second of British riders to wear yellow behind Chris Boardman who wore yellow in 1994, 1997 and 1998.

TDF: Standings after Stage Seven

Overall Classification

1st Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 34:21:20
2nd Cadel Evans (BMC) +10”
3rd Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) +16”
4th Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) +32”
5th Dennis Menchov (Katusha) +54”
6th Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack-Nissan) +59”
7th Maxime Monfort (RadioShack-Nissan) +1:09”
8th Nicolas Roche (AG2R-La Mondiale) +1:22”
9th Chris Froome (Team Sky) +1:32”
10th Michael Rogers (Team Sky) +1:40”

Points Classification 

1st Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 217 points
2nd Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) 185 points
3rd André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 172 points
4th Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) 129 points
5th Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) 109 points
6th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) 95 points
7th Tom Veelers (Argos-Shimano) 76 points
8th Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) 74 points
9th Kenny Van Hummel (Vacansoleil-DCM) 69 points
10th Juan José Haedo (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 68 points

Mountains Classification 

1st Chris Froome (Team Sky) 20 points
2nd Cadel Evans (BMC) 16 points
3rd Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 12points
4th Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 9 points
5th Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) 8 points
6th Chris Anker Sørenson (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 4 points
7th Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) 4 points
8th Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) 2 points
9th David Moncoutié (Cofidis) 2 points
10th Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 2 points

Young Riders Classification 

1st Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) 34:21:52
2nd Tejay van Garderen (BMC) +2:37
3rd Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) + 2:41
4th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) +3:35
5th Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) +3:38
6th Rafael Valls (Vacansoleil-DCM) +4:44
7th Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) +8:19
8th David Malacarne (Europcar) +8:20
9th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) +9:08
10th Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) +11:39

Team Classification 

1st Team Sky 103:05:23
2nd RadioShack-Nissan +1:37
3rd Katusha +5:54
4th Liquigas-Cannondale +6:16
5th BMC +7:08
6th Omega Pharma-Quick Step +7:22
7th Euskaltel-Euskadi +7:57
8th AG2R-La Mondiale +10:53
9th Vacansoleil-DCM +11:22
10th Cofidis +11:34

Combativity Award 

Stage One: Nicolas Edet (Cofidis)
Stage Two: Anthony Roux (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Three: Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage Four: Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar)
Stage Five: Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Six: David Zabriskie (Garmin-Sharp)
Stage Seven: Luis León Sanchez (Rabobank)