Wiggins wins Paris-Nice

Bradley Wiggins (Sky) secured overall victory at Paris-Nice by winning the concluding time trial on the slopes of the Col d’Eze with a performance that married power and poise. The Englishman relegated the plucky Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) to second place on the day and the second step of the podium to retain the yellow jersey by eight seconds.

Race favourite from the moment he mastered the wet conditions to finish second in the short opening time trial last Sunday, Wiggins had looked assured throughout his spell in the overall lead, but he was put to the pin of his collar to ensure that his confident display over the past week didn’t go unrewarded as Westra threatened to create a huge upset on the outskirts of Nice.

Six seconds down overall, the Dutchman thundered down the start ramp and attacked the lower slopes with considerable gusto. As the road flattened out slightly on the approach to the time check at the 5.5km point, it was clear that Westra’s tactic was to begin as quickly as possible in a bid to put Wiggins under pressure.

Westra certainly fulfilled his part of the bargain, as he came through the check point a full two seconds quicker than Wiggins, but it was here that the Sky rider showed admirable grace under fire. Though his overall lead was now just four seconds on the road, Wiggins refused to panic, and scarcely broke from his aerodynamic position.

He remained seated, his arms resting on the tri bars, and with only the mildest lilt of his shoulders, Wiggins continued to tap out the same metronomic rhythm even as the road reared up again in the second half of the course.

For his part, Westra was beginning to roll his body ever so slightly as he kept his gear turning around, but the Dutchman was certainly not labouring over the final section of the course. Out of the saddle as he charged into the finishing straight, Westra strained every sinew as he dived for the line, stopping the clock with a time that was a remarkable 31 seconds quicker than the previous best established by Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r-La Mondiale).

The crowds at the finish line must have begun to sense that a major surprise was on the cards, but unbeknownst to them, Wiggins had begun to claw back his early losses to Westra. Inside the final kilometre, he appeared as implacable as ever and remained firmly seated until the final 200 metres. At this point, he buried his hands into the drops and climbed out of the saddle in one final effort to summon up every last ounce of strength and he flashed under the finishing banner two seconds quicker than Westra to save his yellow jersey and take stage victory for good measure.

“I had a fright, he won at Mende so I knew he had the legs,” Wiggins said of his dauphin after the finish.

Westra’s disappointment at coming so close to such a big win was palpable, but he was gracious in his praise of Wiggins. “Bradley was stronger today,” he said. “I was never as strong myself as this week, and for me and the team it was a great week.”

A two-man race

Levi Leipheimer’s travails on Saturday’s stage to Nice meant that the battle for final overall victory had been effectively reduced to a two-way struggle between Wiggins and Westra. Although Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) began the day just 18 seconds off Wiggins’ lead, the Spaniard was never the most adept time triallist even prior to his suspension for his implication in Operacion Puerto, and that form line held on Sunday as he finished the stage in 6th place, 52 seconds down on Wiggins.

That performance was enough to guarantee the third spot on the podium for Valverde, although he would ultimately surrender his green jersey to Wiggins. Simon Spilak (Katusha) and Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) also did enough on the day to secure their places in the top five overall, but a disappointing showing from Maxime Monfort (23rd at 1:35) saw the RadioShack-Nissan rider drop behind Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ-BigMat) and into 7th overall.

There was a sense from the off that Wiggins and Westra’s race within a race would decide both stage and overall honours, and so it proved, although Jean-Christophe Peraud was emphatically the best of the rest. The Frenchman was disappointed to have missed the race-deciding split on Monday and he took out his frustrations by thrashing around the course 14 seconds quicker than Spilak and 18 faster than Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun).

Once the final two starters screamed through the intermediate check with the two quickest times at that point, however, Péraud knew that he would be vacating the hot seat at the finish line. In the end, it was Wiggins who refused to blink and who dosed his effort to a tee over the 9.4km to take both stage and overall honours. Wiggins' victory meant that he becomes the second British rider to win Paris-Nice, 45 years after the late Tom Simpson's triumph on the Riviera.

Sky’s much-heralded pursuit of “marginal gains” may have been a source of some mirth to outsiders during the team’s mixed opening season, but with so little room for error on the Col d’Eze, Wiggins was leaving nothing to chance – while Westra tackled the course in a normal helmet, Wiggins wore his time trial headgear.

As with his use of elliptical chainrings, opinion will be divided as to whether the real benefits of his choice of equipment were psychological or material, but no matter, every little helps and there can be no arguing with the result. With Paris-Nice now added to his Critérium du Dauphiné title of last season, Wiggins’ build-up to that other famous French stage race in July can continue apace.