? Team Sky leader triumphs at national road race championship
? Wiggins in immaculate shape ahead of the Tour on Saturday
Team Sky have changed their jerseys to a green model for this year's Tour de France but Bradley Wiggins will be wearing red white and blue after adding the national road race championship on Sunday to the time-trial title he won last September.
In his final outing before the Tour starts on Saturday, Wiggins led Sky to a clean sweep of the first four placings on the tough 125-mile course over the Northumberland fells at Stamfordham. It was a carbon-copy of their performance in last year's national title over a tougher course in Lancashire, where Geraint Thomas was the winner.
Crossing the line first in a one-day road race is a rare thing in Wiggins's career ? this was only the third such triumph since he turned professional in 2003 ? but the last one, albeit in a British domestic event, came in 2009 over these same roads, including the steep climb of the Ryals, just a few weeks before he claimed an unexpected fourth place in that year's Tour de France. That coincidence apart, the victory confirms he is in immaculate shape as the Tour approaches.
Sky dominated an elite 12-man lead group which was soon reduced to six, with four Sky riders in the front, and at roughly half-distance Wiggins, the defending champion Geraint Thomas ? who will also start the Tour on Saturday ? and Peter Kennaugh rode clear, with their team-mate Ian Stannard policing the only two non-Sky riders to remain within reach, the 2008 champion, Kristian House of Rapha-Condor, and Ian Bibby of Motorpoint.
By the final lap of the finish circuit the trio were more than five minutes clear and in the last mile Wiggins escaped, time trialling to victory by 35 seconds, with Thomas taking second place from Kennaugh. Stannard escaped House and Bibby to claim fourth, while Ben Swift, another of Sky's Tour team, led in the next chase group, eight minutes back. Mark Cavendish was among the many riders trapped in the bunch after the initial escape went clear, and he eventually abandoned.
"It's difficult to put into words what having a National Champions jersey means but, if you're a cycling fanatic or historian, you will know exactly what it means," Wiggins said. "This is all part of the build-up to the Tour de France, and the plan today was to win for the team. The three of us were all equally strong."
There is only one potential cloud over Team Sky's near-perfect Tour de France build-up: their Norwegian starlet Edvald Boasson Hagen contracted shingles last week and is a doubtful starter, although the team were not to be drawn on this.
The 24-year-old was one of Wiggins's strongest team workers when he won the Dauphin� Lib�r� stage race and would be a strong candidate for a stage win in his own right. If he were to withdraw, Stannard would be among his potential replacements, as would the Australian Mathew Hayman.
On Sunday, the north-east also hosted the national women's road race championship, where the Olympic champion Nicole Cooke was undone by the Garmin-Cerv�lo trio of Lizzie Armitstead, Sharon Laws and Emma Pooley, with Armitstead succeeding Pooley as national champion after winning a four-woman sprint at the end of the 65 miles. Cooke was frustrated for the second year running, after taking only third last year. But she was isolated in the finale after the four women dominated the race, with Laws leading out Armitstead ? runner up in 2009 and 2010 ? to claim victory by some six bike lengths.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/jun/26/bradley-wiggins-national-title-tour-de-france
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