10 Sporting Heroes Who Ruled 2012
4. Bradley Wiggins
"To go out there today and put a performance like that together nine days after the Tour and win another Olympic title in another event, it is never, ever going to get any better than that. There is almost slight melancholy. I realised on the podium that thats probably it for me. I dont think anything is going to top that." I now introduce the man that managed to make sideburns fashionable in 2012. This was the only year I will probably ever have a great fascination with cycling, even though Britain is to cycling what America is to swimming, and Spain is to football. After a few days of the Tour de France, I began to hear stories of how Bradley Wiggins was on course to win the event and become the first Britain to ever win the prestigious competition at the 99th attempt (by the way, before I get too many comments, he is no relation to me, but I really wish he was). The most celebrated cycling event in the calendar would see much aplomb and congratulations to the supremely confident Wiggins, but that was merely the highlight of a year in which he dominated the sport like no other person had done before (without the use of performance-enhancing drugs). Wiggins became the only man in history to win Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie, the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de France in a single season. He helped Mark Cavendish towards winning the final stage of the tour, and also worked his backside off to try and win Cavendish a medal at London 2012. Despite the gruelling effort it took to try and support Cavendish, Wiggins was himself able to win a gold medal at London 2012 in the Time Trial event, becoming the most decorated British Olympian of all time. Furthermore, he is the only cyclist in history to win both a gold medal and Tour de France in the same year. This remarkable year meant that Wiggins won the Velo d'Or trophy for best rider of the year, and more importantly earnt him fourth place on this list. Standout Moment of 2012: Being the first Britain to ever win the Tour de France.