page_title: Bradley Wiggins
section_title: 2012: Tour de France and Olympic gold
hierarchical_section_title: Bradley Wiggins / Professional career / 2012: Tour de France and Olympic gold
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Bradley Wiggins, col d'Eze paris-Nice 2012
context_page_description: Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. Nicknamed "Wiggo", he began his cycling career on the track, but made the transition to road cycling and is one of the few cyclists in the modern era to gain significant elite level success in both those forms of professional cycling. In a career, notable for its breadth and diversity in terms of elite achievement, he won world titles in four disciplines, and Olympic gold in three. He is the only rider to have won both World and Olympic championships on both the track and the road, as well as winning the Tour de France, and holding the iconic track hour record. In addition, he has worn the leader's jersey in each of the three Grand Tours of cycling and held the world record in team pursuit on multiple occasions. He has won a gold medal at 4 successive Olympic Games from 2004 – 2016, and as of 2020 held the record as Great Britain's most decorated Olympian with 8 medals. He is the only rider to win the Tour de France and Olympic Gold in the same year, winning them a week apart in 2012.
context_section_description: In 2012 Wiggins continued to focus on road racing. The individual pursuit was removed from the programme at the Olympics later in the year, and in December 2011 coach Rod Ellingworth told The Guardian, "The chances of him doing the team pursuit are really slim now". He began his 2012 season with third place in the Volta ao Algarve, including victory in the concluding time trial, edging out world champion Martin (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step) by less than a second.
  In March Wiggins finished second in the opening time trial of the Paris–Nice, one second behind Vacansoleil–DCM's Gustav Larsson, who avoided the wet conditions, unlike Wiggins and the other favourites that set off later in the day. The following day he took the lead in the race after being part of a 30-man breakaway as the peloton split into echelons. He held the lead for the rest of the event, winning the final stage, a time-trial on the Col d'Èze, to win the race by eight seconds overall and become the first British rider to win the race since Tom Simpson in 1967. His final stage victory was also good enough to give him the points classification. Wiggins' time is the fastest time for the traditional time-trial on the Col d'Èze.
  On the stage one of the Tour de Romandie in April, Wiggins took a rare sprint victory from a group of 59 riders. He lost the jersey to Rabobank rider Luis León Sánchez after Sánchez won two consecutive stages, but won the final time trial, despite suffering a dropped chain, to take the overall victory and become the first Briton to win the race in its 65-year history.
  In June Wiggins competed in the Critérium du Dauphiné, and began the defence of his title with a second-place finish in the prologue, one second behind Mitchelton–Scott's Luke Durbridge. He took the overall lead the following day, after Durbridge was dropped on one of the stage's six climbs. Wiggins won the fourth stage of the race, a time trial over a course of 53.5 km (33.2 mi), 34 seconds ahead of Martin, his nearest rival, extending his lead over him to 38 seconds. He held the lead to the end, eventually winning by over a minute, with teammate Rogers in second place.
  Wiggins entered the Tour de France as one of the favourites to win it. Wiggins began the Tour with second place in the prologue, behind Cancellara of RadioShack–Nissan. He took over the yellow jersey by finishing third on stage seven, the first mountaintop finish, becoming the fifth British rider to wear the jersey, and first since David Millar in 2000. Wiggins won the time trial on stage nine. On stage ten, he and his team staved off an attack by Nibali on the descent of the Col du Grand Colombier, leading Nibali to accuse Wiggins of disrespecting him. Wiggins extended his lead on stage 11 after Froome helped him to bridge across to his rivals, who had attacked on the finishing climb to La Toussuire. Froome accelerated about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the finish, and was ordered via his team radio to wait for his leader.
  During stage fourteen, a mountain stage, a spectator threw carpet tacks onto the narrow road at the top of the Mur de Péguère climb. Several riders suffered punctures, including Evans, the defending champion, who lost approximately two minutes while his team repaired his bicycle. Wiggins and his fellow members of Team Sky emerged without a puncture. Believing that a puncture resulting from an unfortunate incident should not determine the fate of a competitor, Wiggins then had his teammates and the rest of the peloton slow down to allow Evans and other affected cyclists to catch up. It was perceived as a generous act of sportsmanship and Wiggins was called "Le Gentleman" as a result. On stage 16, Wiggins and Froome were able to follow attacks by Nibali on the final climb of the day and finished with the same time as the Italian. On stage 17, the final mountain stage, Froome and Wiggins finished together in second and third place respectively, with Nibali coming in 19 seconds later. Wiggins won the time trial on stage 19, giving him a lead of three minutes and 21 seconds at the start of the fi
caption: Wiggins riding the time trial on the final stage of the 2012 Paris–Nice, which he won, claiming the general classification.
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