Time flies! It's three years to the day since Bradley Wiggins won the Tour
Sir Bradley Wiggins took to Instagram on Wednesday morning to remind us all that on July 22, 2012, he became the first Brit to win the Tour de France.

Bradley Wiggins on stage twenty of the 2012 Tour de France. Photo: Graham Watson
Wiggins, whose contract at Team Sky ended in April, uploaded a picture of him in his yellow jersey, riding on the Champs-Elysees in Paris - the stage where he famously led out Mark Cavendish for the win.
Team Sky entered the professional peloton in 2010 with ambition to win the Tour with a clean British rider in five years. After a shaky couple of seasons they managed their goal three years early, repeating the feat the following year with Chris Froome.
In 2012, Wiggins took the yellow jersey from Fabian Cancellara on stage seven and never let it go, beating teammate Froome by 3:21 and 2014 champion Vincenzo Nibali by over six minutes.
He won both individual time trials and was second in the prologue in Liege, won by Cancellara. Three other top-10 finishes sealed his win saw him enter the record books as the first ever Brit to win the Tour.
In all 2012 was a great year for Wiggins - a dominant performance in the Tour de France resulted in him being asked to ring the bell in the London Olympic Games opening ceremony.
A couple of days later he added his fourth career Olympic gold medal by winning the time trial around Hampton Court Palace, with one of the iconic shots of the Games coming when he sat on the winner's throne.
>>> The tech behind Bradley Wiggins’s Hour Record success
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
A knighthood was to follow for Wiggins, but he was never to return to the ride the Tour. In 2015 he left Team Sky for his own eponymous Team Wiggins with the ambition to ride on the track at the 2016 Olympic Games.
Watch Bradley Wiggins overtake his minute man at the Hull RC 10-mile time trial
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Stuart Clarke is a News Associates trained journalist who has worked for the likes of the British Olympic Associate, British Rowing and the England and Wales Cricket Board, and of course Cycling Weekly. His work at Cycling Weekly has focused upon professional racing, following the World Tour races and its characters.
-
'If you think you're suffering you don't have enough problems in your life': Michael Hutchinson puts hard riding into perspective
CW's own Dr Hutch was chatting on our Going Long podcast about his new book, Further
-
Don’t call it a come back, Campagnolo’s new 13-speed groupset is (almost) a knock out
Super Record 13 offers the Italian brand a chance at redemption. We rode it to see if it delivers.
-
Would Dave Brailsford returning to Ineos Grenadiers be a good idea?
Reportedly on his way out of Manchester United back to a wider role at Ineos Sport, the old Team Sky boss might be back in the world of cycling
-
Geraint Thomas to move into management role at Ineos Grenadiers after retirement - reports
Welshman due to retire at end of 2025 but expected to stay with team
-
'I only found out I was coming to this race yesterday' - Sam Watson claims first WorldTour win in 3.4km Tour de Romandie prologue
Brit wins by just three tenths of a second to take leader's jersey
-
'It can really push me along' - How a velodrome comeback is making Caleb Ewan faster on the road
Australian says he'll "definitely" continue track work after rekindling passion
-
Could Caleb Ewan be Ineos Grenadiers' first Tour de France sprinter since Mark Cavendish? 'That's my goal'
"All I can do is try to win as much as possible and prove that I deserve to be there," says Australian
-
'An unprecedented opportunity for brands to be part of the evolution' - Ineos Grenadiers sponsor hunt steps up with sales agency partnership
Sportfive have been employed to find "non-endemic global partners for the team"
-
'We've all got a little bit extra in us this year' - Ineos Grenadiers recapture 'fighting spirit' with aggressive Paris-Nice display
British team continue to put tumultuous 2024 behind them with momentum and a new found mentality
-
Could a TotalEnergies deal be the end of Ineos Grenadiers as we know them?
Reports suggested this week that Ineos could be close to signing a deal with the French petrochemical firm