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Hoy hails Wiggins' amazing Tour effort
Tour de France: Hoy says Wiggins win will be best Brit achievement
Sir Chris Hoy has claimed if Bradley Wiggins wins the Tour de France then it will be the "greatest sporting achievement" by a British athlete.
Wiggins is almost certain to become the first Briton to win the Tour on Sunday.
Olympic cyclist Geraint Thomas“He's a changed bike rider, he has the confidence and belief and when he's like that there's no stopping him”
The 32-year-old leads Team Sky team-mate Chris Froome by two minutes and five seconds with Italian Vincenzo Nibali a further 36 seconds back.
"If he does it, I think this will be the greatest achievement by any British sportsperson ever," Hoy said.
The four-time Olympic gold medallist continued: "That's a big claim, but you cannot overstate how hard it is to win the Tour de France.
"There's a reason why no-one from Britain has ever done it before. I still have to pinch myself. It's just unbelievable."
Mark Cavendish won stage 18 of the Tour on Friday, his second stage win in this year's event, as Wiggins maintained his advantage over Froome and Nibali ahead of Saturday's 53.5km contre la montre to Chartres stage.
Given Wiggins won the previous time trial in this year's Tour by 35 seconds from team-mate Froome, he will be confident of extending his advantage in the penultimate stage.
Tour de France 2012 British stage winners
- Stage 2 - Mark Cavendish
- Stage 7 - Chris Froome
- Stage 9 - Bradley Wiggins
- Stage 12 - David Millar
- Stage 18 - Mark Cavendish
Olympic team pursuit gold medallist Geraint Thomas was also full of praise for Wiggins and the Welshman thinks the Team Sky rider's performances will be a boost for British cycling.
He said: "It's unbelievable really, the way he's ridden all year, he's been so consistent. He's ridden phenomenally.
"Like he always does he's delivered the goods and it's just been incredible to watch. I rode Paris-Nice with him and [Tour de] Romandie this year and you can see he's a changed bike rider, he has the confidence and belief and when he's like that there's no stopping him.
"It's great for British sport and I think cycling will continue to grow, it's fantastic for cycling."
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Comment number 209.
TheCorrectResponse22nd July 2012 - 20:48
I agree with Sir Chris! http://cyclingsam1blog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/bradley-wiggins-britains-best-ever.html ...Arise Sir Bradley!
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Comment number 208.
truthsayer511522nd July 2012 - 20:04
Wiggins has done something no Brit has done since the first TDF in 1903 however in olympic year it will be tough for him to win SPOTY unless he does the Olympic gold as well. My concern is that the man who truly deserves the credit for British cycling's remarkable climb to the top, Dave Brailsford who deserves the SPOTY award for coach/manager will passed over again
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Comment number 207.
Little_Old_Me22nd July 2012 - 10:31
184.evilweevil - "i assumed that mark cavendish won the bbc sports personality of the year because he won the tdf ( assumed wrongly obviously) so does that mean mr wiggins will definately win the beeb thing"
That possibly depends on if Cavo wins the Olympic gold to go with his status as reigning World Champion!
Link to this (Comment number 207)
Comment number 206.
butter fingers22nd July 2012 - 10:17
I invite you to listen (especially if you are a cynic) to last 5 minutes (from 19:50) of yesterday's press conference.
http://soundcloud.com/cycling-central/tour-de-france-stage-19
Bradley explains why his team were able to control much of the race. In it he addresses the issue of doping, attention to detail and teamwork.
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Comment number 205.
deleted22nd July 2012 - 9:15
Bit of a subjective thing this and it's current. Chris Hoy is a cycling god, so a cycling success will be at the top of his list. The whole cycling emergence over the last 20 years has been amazing and sustained which makes it unique in British sports success.
Wiggo's a top bloke and deserves all the praise. He's worked for this.
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Comments 5 of 209