It was at La Planche des Belles Filles where Team Sky crushed their rivals and paved the way for Wiggins to grab his first yellow jersey, a piece of clothing he wore all the way to Paris.
For Wiggins, however, success was impossible to enjoy. “When I won those races in 2012, I don’t remember it being fun doing it,” he says.
“It was more of a check-off exercise. Which is a shame really, we never enjoyed its success. In contrast, I think that was probably why we had such success. It was always about winning and winning became the norm. It was very businesslike, which contradicts everything I love about the sport, and the passion I have for it.
“The last time I was happy when I got off the bike and really enjoyed it was probably the 2009 Tour in Paris with Garmin, with people like David Millar, [Christian] Vande Velde, Jonathan Vaughters and all those guys. After that, it felt like everything became very corporate.
“But when we look at the 2012 Tour from a distance, it was a remarkable team performance – even with all the infighting [with Froome]† British World Champion Mark Cavendish – the first since Tommy Simpson – is led by a British rider in the yellow jersey and Chris Froome finished second overall. Then of course what happened immediately afterwards at the Olympic Games in London.
“While riding in Surrey for the Olympic road race we stopped at a cafe – remember we had been in the Tour de France bubble for over three weeks. There I was, Cavendish, Froome, David Millar – who had also won a stage in that year’s Tour – and then I realized that life would never be the same for me.
“In the years since, Chris Froome won four Tours, of course, then Geraint Thomas won in 2018, it’s remarkable what has happened over the past 10 years. Now of course we have Simon Yates, Adam Yates and now the younger generation is coming through.”