Monday, July 23, 2012

Chapeau Brad.

You wait 99 years and two of them come along at once…General Classification contenders in the Tour de France, that is. The first time a Brit has appeared on the podium (the previous best being 4th) and the top two steps are taken by Sky team mates Brad Wiggins and Chris Froome.
 
It was a good night for an expat to be burning the other end of the candle, watching the British squad cap a dominant tour with a record fourth Champs Elysees sprint victory. 

Wiggins has been dominant in the time trials and looked untroubled in the mountains by anyone other than his lieutenant, Froome. Along the way he has silenced those critics who suggested that Sky should be protecting his team mate as the stronger man, and endeared himself to French cycling fans, by appearing to lead out sprints for Boasson-Hagen and Cavendish. He might be an Englishman, but showing that kind of respect for the race and the Yellow Jersey is a sure fire way to win over the locals. One paper even dubbed him “Le Gentleman”. Chapeau indeed.

The pommie press has made much of Wiggins’ love of “mod’ culture in general and Paul Weller and the Jam in particular, his collection of classic scooters and his sideburns…so as a tribute from another lover of classic scooters, here’s another scooter scene favourite’s take on French culture. I like to think this is what team sky were doing on their bus following the presentation.


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