Bradley Wiggins secures historic Tour de France triumph as Cavendish wins final stage

Bradley Wiggins has become the first British Tour de France champion – and celebrated his success by leading Mark Cavendish to victory in Paris.

Wiggins completed his 13th day in the yellow jersey and the 99th Tour in first place, three minutes 21 seconds ahead of Team Sky colleague Chris Froome, who became the second Briton, after his team-mate, on the podium in the history of the race.

Not content with his personal success, Wiggins played an integral role as world champion Cavendish won the 120-kilometre 20th stage from Rambouillet, sealing victory on the Champs-Elysees for a fourth consecutive year.

It was the seventh British stage success of the 2012 Tour, with Cavendish finishing with three wins, Wiggins with two, Froome with one and David Millar (Garmin-Sharp) one.

All four Britons, together with Ian Stannard, are due to combine on Saturday in a bid to help Cavendish win Olympic gold in the 250km road race on the opening day of London 2012.

Cavendish has won on the French capital’s most famous boulevard in each of the Tours he has completed – in 2009, 2010, 2011 and now in 2012.

A frantic finale ensued, but Team Sky took over in the final kilometre and Cavendish finished off a stunning three weeks for Britain with a sensational win, as Wiggins claimed an historic success.

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