Joining past Tour victors such as Miguel Indurain, Jan Ullrich, Marco Pantani and Alberto Contador, Bradley Wiggins has secured the Velo d’Or trophy after his overall success in the Tour de France.
The Team Sky rider has been confirmed as the victory of this year’s competition, taking the prestigious French prize voted on by a range of sports journalists.
The Tour de France was his biggest triumph, but an extremely strong season also saw him win the Olympic time trial, Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie and the Critérium du Dauphiné. He beat the dominant rider of the early season, Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma Quick Step), who took Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders plus other big wins.
Third was UCI WorldTour champion Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), who won Flèche Wallonne and Il Lombardia plus took second in the Giro d’Italia and third in the Vuelta. Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) and Tour de France green jersey Peter Sagan (Liquigas Cannondale) were fourth and fifth.
Meanwhile Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) triumphed for the third consecutive year in the Velo d’Or Français, which rewards the best French rider. He beat the Olympic and world champion MTB rider Julie Bresset, with Arnaud Démare and Thibaut Pinot sharing third and track rider Grégory Baugé closing out fifth.
Both Wiggins and Voeckler will take a good deal of satisfaction from the award, which is one arguably the most respected of its type in the sport.
Velo d’Or 2012:
1, Bradley Wiggins (GBR)
2, Tom Boonen (BEL)
3, Joaquim Rodriguez (ESP)
4, Philippe Gilbert (BEL)
5, Peter Sagan (SLQ)
Velo d’Or Français:
1, Thomas Voeckler
2, Julie Bresset
3, Arnaud Démare and Thibaut Pinot
5, Grégory Baugé
Previous Velo d’Or winners:
1992, Miguel Indurain (Spain)
1993, Miguel Indurain (Spain)
1994, Tony Rominger (Switzerland)
1995, Laurent Jalabert (France)
1996, Johan Museeuw (Belgium)
1997, Jan Ullrich (Germany)
1998, Marco Pantani (Italy)
1999, Lance Armstrong (USA)
2000, Lance Armstrong (USA)
2001, Lance Armstrong (USA)
2002, Mario Cipollini (Italy)
2003, Lance Armstrong (USA)
2004, Lance Armstrong (USA)
2005, Tom Boonen (Belgium)
2006, Paolo Bettini (Italy)
2007, Alberto Contador (Spain)
2008, Alberto Contador (Spain)
2009, Alberto Contador (Spain)
2010, Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)
2011, Philippe Gilbert (Belgium)