And the winner of the 2012 Tour de France is Bradley Wiggins, the first British rider to win the gruelling 2,000 mile race that is in its 99th year. Not one to be particularly emotional, or talkative, Wiggins was overwhelmed and on the podium at first just said:"Thank you everyone. Cheers. Have a safe journey home and don't get too drunk."
The Sky team had another task today as well, as Wiggins explained: "Every lap of the Champs-Elysées was goosepimple stuff. We had a job to do with Mark today and we were all motivated to do that so it made it go a lot quicker." And the job was done; Mark Cavendish won today's race in fine style.
Now Bradley Wiggins has gone home to Britain as he has an Olympic time trial tomorrow. It's business as usual for the 34-year old Brit from Kilburn.
The top ten
Bradley Wiggins, British, Sky Team
Christopher Froome, British, Sky Team
Vincenzo Nibali, Italian, Liquigas-Cannondale
Jurgen van den Broeck Belgium, Lotto-Belisol
Tejay van Garderen, USA, BMC Racing
Haimar Zubeldia, Luxembourg, Radioshack-Nissan
Cadel Evans, USA, BMC Racing Team
Pierre Rolland, French, Europcar
Janez Brajkovic, Kazakhstan, Astana Pro
Thibaut Pinot, French, FDJ-Bigmat
The Team winner was Radioshack-Nissan and the prize for super-combative rider went to the Danish rider, Chris Ander Sorensen of Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank.
Image: Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali on the podium © Doug Pensinger/Getty Images Sport