Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky dominated Stage 19 of the 2012 Tour de France, and in doing so secured his place in history as the first British cyclist to ever win the Tour de France. His teammate Christopher Froome finished second on the stage, with Rabobank's Luis Leon Sanchez finishing third.
With Stage 20 having little chance of making a difference in the General Classification, Wiggins can rest easy on the way to his first Tour de France victory. With three time trials in the race it was a year well suited to a Wiggins victory, and he didn't disappoint. He came in second in the opening TT, dominated the one in the middle of the race, and won the final one by more than three and a half minutes over his closest rival. The other riders tested Wiggins in the mountains, but he was able to match or surpass their attacks. Froome ends up second on the podium, and Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas-Cannondale takes third.
Tejay Van Garderen of Santa Rosa-based Team BMC had a shot at winning the Young Rider's jersey, a prize given to the fastest man under 25. He beat his main rival Patrick Gretsch (Argos-Shimano) by six seconds in Stage 19, but it wasn't enough to take home the jersey. In what must be a heartbreaking loss, Van Garderen misses winning the Young Rider classification by eight seconds.
Stick with this StoryStream for news updates and more from the 2012 Tour de France. For all things cycling, check out Podium Cafe.
