Filed under: Other Sports, Cycling
Bradley Wiggins confirmed his position as a genuine dark horse contender for this summer's Tour de France as he closed in on overall victory in the Dauphine Libere, one of the primary warm-up events for the world's most famous bike race.The British Olympic champion, who had built his lead in the one-week event through his speciality of time trialing, was seriously put to the test on a mountainous stage six but not only defended the yellow manfully, but even managed to increase his advantage over his main challenger, the Aussie former World Champion Cadel Evans.
It was a masterful performance from Wiggins, who finished fourth in the 2009 Tour but had a miserable time a year ago when he failed to find his form and struggled to cope with the pressure of being team leader on the new Team Sky.
But Wiggins was not the only British cyclist who will remember the weekend. Mark Cavendish, the world's best sprinter and another rider who will be a major player in the upcoming Tour, was made an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.
"It is a massive honour for me to be recognised like this - it is not often that a cyclist is honoured without winning an Olympic medal," said the 26-year-old Manxman. "It is a great list of names that have been honoured and for me to be alongside them is massive for me.
"Cycling is growing and I am more known now, but I don't do this for any celebrity status, I do it for the love of the sport. To know that cycling is getting recognised makes me massively proud."
Wiggins had started his Saturday by tweeting his congratulations to his GB Olympic team mate before continuing his Tour preparations in the Dauphine. While the event does not feature a number of major contenders - defending champion Alberto Contador or last year's runner-up Andy Schleck, to name but two - the 2011 Dauphine field was strong enough to make it a meaningful indicator of Tour form.
Saturday saw Wiggins taking on challengers to his yellow jersey on the 185km stage six from Les Gets to Le Collet d'Allevard in the Alps in which the 31-year-old was expected to come under pressure from Evans and other contenders such as Alexandre Vinokourov and Jurgen van den Broeck. He did but with the able assistance of his team, particularly Edvald Boasson Hagen who set a devastating pace on the early slopes of the mountain top finish, Wiggins responded to practically every challenge.
More importantly, he timed his efforts superbly. In the closing metres he finally failed to hold onto Vinokourov, who gained a miserly four seconds on the Brit while an earlier surge from van den Broeck earned him 15 seconds on Wiggins.
But Evans was unable to live with Wiggins' pace, losing 15 seconds to the yellow jersey and leaving the Team Sky leader with a 1 minute 26 second cushion heading into the final stage on Sunday.
That 118km stage seven features another mountain top finish, in La Toussuire, but includes the mid-race ascent of the near-2,000-metre Col du Glandon.
It will be a stiff ask for Wiggins to limit his losses in similar fashion to stage six and clinch the most significant title of his road racing career but, given the form he and his team have shown in France all week, it would be a brave man who bet against him.
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/06/11/cycling-yellow-jersey-and-an-mbe-a-successful-day-for-british/
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