BRADLEY WIGGINS (2)

Bradley Wiggins became the first Englishman to win the Tour de France, when it finished in Paris this afternoon. As I predicted at the start, the combination of lots of time-trialling and a strong Sky team to help him in the mountains played to his strengths. In the end, it wasn't even close, his closest competitor more than three minutes back. And that was his Sky teammate Chris Froome.

Although this was a triumph for Wiggins, it was even more of a triumph for Sky. The team only came into being at the start of 2010, with the goal of winning the Tour de France within five years. Many teams have that goal, and never attain it; so to do so two years early is pretty amazing. They also have Mark Cavendish on the team, the best sprinter in the world, and current world champion following his victory in Copenhagen last year. Overshadowed for much of the race, he still managed to win three stages, including the final sprint on the Champs Elysees for the fourth year in a row. The sight of Wiggins himself leading him out over the final kilometer showed how much this was a team effort.

Some commentators are already beginning to pick at Wiggins' victory; Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck weren't there, defending champion Cadel Evans was clearly below par, Wiggins didn't win a stage outside the two time trials, Froome looked to be stronger than his captain in the mountains. These are all quibbles in my view. Sky had a detailed plan, and they executed it to perfection. You can only beat the people who turn up, and Wiggins did that and more. And even if Contador and Schleck had taken time from him in the mountains, I doubt very much if they would have been able to keep up with Wiggins over 100km of flat time-trialling.

The biggest discussions have been over Froome's role as super-domestique. If he had attacked his captain in the mountains, could he have won the Tour? A lot of this is froth. Cycling is a team sport par excellence, so if the team management have formulated a plan around one captain, then it's stupid to change the plan, unless the captain falls completely to pieces (which Wiggins never did; he was either second, behind Fabian Cancellara, or first for the whole of the race). And although Froome distanced Wiggins on the finish to Thursday's mountain stage to Peyragudes, before falling back to help him, he would only have gained 20 seconds or so if had continued. There was a lot of speculation about what would have happened if Froome had genuinely attacked earlier. But it remains speculation. After all, mountain attacks often blow up (as Evans' own did in the Alps); and although Wiggins is not at his best in the mountains, he is no slouch either.

Anyway, we'll soon find out if Froome really is that good. Rumour has it that he will ride the Vuelta a Espana in August, where he will be up against a returning Alberto Contador on home turf and with something to prove. My guess is that Contador will win, and by some distance.

Walter Blotscher