Home-grown riders in frame for title of greatest ever British cyclist

Published on Sunday 26 July 2009 23:29

BRADLEY Wiggins matched the highest placing by a British rider in the Tour de France yesterday when finishing fourth, leading to claims he is the country's greatest ever cyclist. Here, we look at rival candidates for that accolade.

&#149 TOM SIMPSON

The only British rider to win the men's road race World Championship and the first rider to wear the yellow jersey, finishing the 1962 Tour in sixth overall. BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1965, Simpson died during the 1967 Tour after taking amphetamines.

&#149 BERYL BURTON

The Yorkshirewoman won the road race World Championship in 1960 and 1967 as well as five track world titles. She won the national road race 12 times and the best all-rounder title 25 years in a row from 1959 to 1983. In 1967, she set a record for the distance covered in 12 hours of 277.25 miles, which beat the men's best as well as the women's.

&#149 ROBERT MILLAR

The Glaswegian became the first and only British cyclist to win a Tour de France classification when he claimed the polka-dot jersey as King of the Mountains in 1984. He finished fourth that year – a British high that Wiggins equalled this year. Won three stages of the Tour in his career and the King of the Mountains title in the 1987 Giro d'Italia.

&#149 SIR CHRIS HOY

The only pure track cyclist on the list. Won gold in the kilometre at the Athens Olympics, but could not defend his title as the event was eliminated from the Games programme. Reinvented himself as a sprinter and won three golds in Beijing – the first Briton to do so at a single Olympics since 1900. Is a nine-times world champion, and BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

&#149 NICOLE COOKE

The only cyclist of any nationality, man or woman, to hold the Olympic and world road race titles at the same time, Cooke followed up her victory in Beijing with success at the World Championships a month later. Has won ten national titles, the first when she was only 16, and was also the 2002 Commonwealth champion.

&#149 BRADLEY WIGGINS

The velodrome has brought Wiggins a total of six Olympic medals, three of them gold, and six world titles. In 2004, he was the first Briton since 1960 to win three medals at a single Olympics. Previously a time-trial specialist on the road, he has now established himself as a contender for the major titles.

&#149 MARK CAVENDISH

Holds the British record for Tour de France stage wins after three seasons, beating the previous best by Barry Hoban, amassed in eight years. Became the first Briton to win on the Champs Elysees yesterday. Twice a world champion on the track, he won the Isle of Man's only gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

FINAL STANDINGS

1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 85hrs 48mins 35secs

&#149 2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank at 4.11

&#149 3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana at 5.24

&#149 4 Bradley Wiggins (Gbr) Garmin – Slipstream at 6.01

&#149 5 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank at 6.04

&#149 6 Andreas Kloden (Ger) Astana at 6.42

&#149 7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas at 7.35

&#149 8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream at 12.04

&#149 9 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas at 14.16

&#149 10 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Francaise des Jeux at 14.25

&#149 11 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi at 14.44

&#149 12 Sandy Casar (Fra) Francaise des Jeux at 17.19

&#149 13 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Team Katusha at 18.34

&#149 14 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale at 20.45

&#149 15 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Silence – Lotto at 20.50

&#149 16 Stephane Goubert (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale at 22.29

&#149 17 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo Test Team at 26.21

&#149 18 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Team Katusha at 29.33

&#149 19 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia – HTC at 33.27

&#149 20 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step at 34.09

Selected Others

&#149 59 Charles Wegelius (Gbr) Silence – Lotto 87hrs 18mins 12secs

&#149 85 David Millar (Gbr) Garmin – Slipstream 2:15.04

&#149 131 Mark Cavendish (Gbr) Team Columbia – HTC 3:21.54

TEAM

&#149 1 Astana, 256:02:58

&#149 2 Garmin-Slipstream, 22 minutes, 35 seconds behind

&#149 3 Team Saxo Bank, 28:34

&#149 4 AG2R-La Mondiale, 31:47

&#149 5 Liquigas, 43:31

&#149 6 Euskaltel-Euskadi, 58:05

&#149 7 Francaise des Jeux, 1:01:48

&#149 8 Cofidis, 1:05:34

&#149 9 Team Katusha, 1:13:57

&#149 10 Agritubel, 1:20:38

&#149 11 Caisse d'Epargne, 1:23:05

&#149 12 Team Milram, 1:24:10

&#149 13 Silence-Lotto, 1:24:38

&#149 14 Team Columbia-High Road, 1:29:54

&#149 15 Bbox Bouygues Telecom, 1:32:59

&#149 16 Cervelo Test Team, 1:40:08

&#149 17 Rabobank 1:59:45

&#149 18 Quick Step, 2:40:01

&#149 19 Lampre-NGC, 3:59:03

&#149 20 Skil-Shimano, 7:02:52

GREEN JERSEY (points)

&#149 1 Thor Hushovd, Norway, Cervelo Test Team, 280

&#149 2 Mark Cavendish, Britain, Team Columbia-High Road, 270

&#149 3 Gerald Ciolek, Germany, Team Milram, 172

&#149 4 Jose Joaquin Rojas, Spain, Caisse d'Epargne, 145

&#149 5 Tyler Farrar, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, 136

RED POLKA DOT JERSEY (climber)

&#149 1 Franco Pellizotti, Italy, Liquigas, 201 points

&#149 2 Egoi Martinez, Spain, Euskaltel-Euskadi, 135

&#149 3 Alberto Contador, Spain, Astana, 126

&#149 4 Andy Schleck, Luxembourg, Team Saxo Bank, 111

&#149 5 Pierrick Fedrigo, France, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, 99

WHITE JERSEY (youth: Under-25)

&#149 1 (2 in overall race) Andy Schleck, Luxembourg, Team Saxo Bank, 85:52:46

&#149 2 (7) Vincenzo Nibali, Italy, Liquigas, 3:24 behind

&#149 3 (9) Roman Kreuziger, Czech Republic, Liquigas, 10:05

&#149 4 (22) Pierre Rolland, France, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, 33:33

&#149 5 (23) Nicolas Roche, Ireland, AG2R-La Mondiale, 34:09

RED BIB (combativity)

&#149 1 Franco Pellizotti, Italy, Liquigas