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Satellite TV network Eurosport UK may have failed to realise the significance of his efforts, as they delayed their promised live coverage of the Dauphine Libere bike race in the Alps, but Bradley Wiggins' comfortable overall victory may have been one of the most significant in the history of British road cycling.The Dauphine is a prestigious one-week stage race, an annual tune-up for the Tour de France and, in its 63-year history, it has only twice been won by British riders - Brian Robinson in 1961 and the great Scottish climber Robert Millar in 1990.
It is viewed as a perfect preparation for the world's biggest race, covering similar - sometimes identical - routes to those that make up the three-week carnival that is the Tour de France.
And even though the climbs will be more arduous and the competition deeper and stronger when the 2011 Tour starts on July 2, Wiggins has done enough this week to show he has a real chance of becoming the first Brit ever to finish on the Tour Podium (top three).
Just as significantly, as Wiggins finished just 11 seconds behind stage winner Joaquin Rodriguez on the mountain-top finish on the final stage seven in La Toussuire on Sunday, the 31-year-old also learned he has top-quality support for that effort.
Although ranked as an individual sport, road racing - particularly stage road racing - is almost always determined by the support an individual rider can enjoy from team mates.
In 2010, their inaugural year in the pro ranks, Wiggins' Team Sky talked a good game, but delivered little.
However, in protecting the yellow jersey Wiggins earned earlier in the week through his dominance in time trialling, Sky showed they have the strength in depth to offer meaningful back-up to their team leader when they return to France next month.
Rigoberto Uran protected Wiggins on the final climb of the final stage on Sunday, setting the pace early on to prevent his closest rivals, Cadel Evans and Alexandre Vinokourov, from launching a meaningful attack.
That backing allowed Wiggins to wear the comfortable, contented look of a Sunday club cyclist as he matched every prod and probe from his rivals and coasted to the most significant win of his road racing career.
Of course, Wiggins only made a strenuous task look easy, although the fact he seemed to be riding so far within himself augurs well for not only his supporters but those of British cycling in general. The winning margin of 1 minute 26 seconds which he built on Saturday's mountainous stage six held firm on Sunday and Wiggins' performance opened eyes around the cycling world.
The Tour will be far more difficult - not least because Alberto Contador who won the 2010 edition - was absent from the Dauphine. Contador recently looked so dominant in winning the Giro d'Italia, particularly in the mountains, that it is hard to see beyond the Spaniard regaining his title even if the fact he failed a drugs test on last year's Tour means that victory, and any subsequent wins, he collects could yet be thrown out by the Court of Arbitration for Sport when his appeal is finally heard in August.
Contador this weekend confirmed he will take his place on the start line for the 2011 Tour, despite the huge controversy swirling over him.
But, while that sub-plot threatens to dominate the Tour, at least British fans now have the alternative of following the progress of a genuine contender.
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/06/12/cycling-bradley-wiggins-shows-he-has-quality-to-contend-at-the/
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