Just in case you’ve been hiding under a rock and weren’t aware - we have a British man in the winner’s jersey of the Tour de France for the first time ever and boy, does it feel special. Team Sky were so clinical and meticulous in their assault that it almost seemed like a foregone conclusion from the moment he first donned le maillot jaune. When in Britain have we ever before actually been optimistic about a sportsman’s chances of success?!
I’ll be honest, this time last year I didn’t know what a time trial was, I didn’t know who Mark Cavendish was and I watched my first ever Tour de France trying to make some sense of what on earth they were doing and how the teams operated. But as my addiction to the sport has developed over the last 14months I have found myself spending the last three weeks constantly checking Twitter updates for race feeds and then rushing home from work to replay the stage.
Sky+ is great for fast forwarding through the first 100km, stopping to watch if there is a crash, a breakaway or intermediate sprint! I have been inspired every day by the way those guys ride and it has spurred me on to keep getting out there and work at my riding. I don’t know about you but I in some way feel part of his victory - I don’t mean quite like Chris Froome but I feel like I’m in ‘the club’ and am so excited for what this is going to do for the profile of our sport.
I hope that he has inspired many more people to give cycling a shot - we can’t all win the Tour but we can all enjoy a life on two wheels! I’m sure the entries for the ‘Ride With Brad’ sportive just went through the roof but there are so many other sportives out there for riders of all abilities. If you know anyone who is saying ‘I could never do that’ whilst sitting on the couch watching the boys on the Champs Elysees, get them out riding with you!
If we all take a non rider out to do a few miles and show them what is possible we can get more people involved in what is a very, very special time for British Cycling. And we haven’t even started the Olympics yet!!
Well done Mr Wiggins, I salute you!
