98 editions passed before a British rider won the Tour de France. It took only one further edition for the feat to be repeated.
Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome are now both etched into Tour de France history.
Wiggins and Froome
Bradley Wiggins looks very unlikely to repeat his win from last year. Froome proved his climbing superiority last year, and this year proved a match in the time trial.
Froome is 5 years younger and is now, after this resounding performance and Wiggins' poor Giro, the clear leader of Team Sky.
Wiggins does not appear to have the appetite and motivation to repeat his outstanding 2012 successes.
The feeling now is, that if Wiggins wants to lead a Tour de France team again, it will have to be with someone other than Team Sky.
Froome however, at only 28 has the cycling world at his feet. His last 4 grand tour positions have been 2nd, 4th, 2nd and 1st. He is clearly a Grand Tour contender whenever he is at the start line.
The status quo
2013 was a year when the status quo was challenged. There was no Prologue, it was the first time the TdF visited Corisca, the last department of France to receive the Tour. The race finished at twilight on the champs Elysse but went around the Arc de Triomphe.
Awards
Best Rider
Chris Froome - Team Sky - No
surprise here, he blew the race apart each time the parcours went uphill. With
a less dominant team than last year, Froome proved he was superior to every
rival.
Best Newcomer
Nairo Quintana - Movistar - He
announced himself on the Grand Tour stage in emphatic style, consistently
attacking in the high mountains. He won the King of the Mountains, the Young
rider award and 2nd place, all in his first Tour de France, impressive.
Best Latecomer
Joaquin Rodriquez - Katusha -
Katusha and Rodriquez were all but invisible for the first half of the tour.
Indeed Rodriquez was 10th after the 13th stage and 7 minutes adrift after Mont
Ventoux. He finished the tour 3rd just over 5 minutes down on Froome. He was
the only one who could live with Froome and Quintana in the final mountain
stages.
Best French Rider
Technically it was 15th placed
Romain Badret, who finished ahead of John Gadret. Badret was however fairly
non-existent despite this result. His team-mate Christophe Riblon however was
not. Riblon consistently attacked, as did Sylvain Chavanel, Riblon was though
more effective.
Best Stage
Although the Champs Elysse was spectacular at night, the most active on stage 9 into Bagneres-de-Bigorre. Seeing Team Sky crumble under incessant attack from Movistar and Saxo Bank was unexpected, due to Sky's dominance last year. The stage also saw Dan Martin win and Chris Froome prove that he could win the Tour.
Best Crash
Stage 12's pile up was a notable favourite of mine for the cartwheel by one of the Sky riders. Tom Veelers crash captured the most media attention, whilst Froome fans might look at the Contador crash as their favourites as Froome nearly "ran over his head".
Most courageous
Geraint Thomas finished the Tour
140th out of 169 riders, despite having broken his pelvis on
Notable mentions
The old men of the peloton deserve a mention. Jens Voigt, the oldest rider in this years Tour de France at 41, proved he was still able to tell his legs to 'shut up'.Stuart O'Grady completed his 17th Tour start and retired with immediate effect. His first Tour was in 1997, a different era (at least we hope so), when cycling was on Channel 4 and drugs were rife in the peloton.
Most untimely mechanical
Alejandro Valverde. Untimely for him, but timely for Rui Costa, who dropped back to assist and found himself with ample time to penetrate two breakaways and win two stages.
Roll on 2014 with the Grande Bretagne depart from Yorkshire.
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