Arise Sir Bradley.....

Bradley Wiggins is the Tour de France winner - and he deserved every drop of the champagne, traditionally offered, upon his entry into Paris. But he didn't have time to take too many sips as he worked relentlessly to deliver his team mate Mark Cavendish into a position from which he could sprint to a final victory on this last stage of a historic 2012 Tour. What excitement, a fitting finale to a thoroughly enjoyable and of course memorable Tour.

Cavendish has seen his ambitions somewhat dampened in this years Tour - his usual fistful of stage wins have been reduced dramatically to only two up until today. We have seen him carrying water bottles, stuffed up his shirt, to his team mates in the peloton, working as a 'domestique' rather than a coveted star sprinter and world champion. It's like having Wayne Rooney in the team and playing him in goal. But today Mark looked good - in fact the whole of the Sky team looked fantastic, dominant and all conquering. I thought for a moment that they would be unable to reel in the breakaway, but as the tempo picked up and Brad took his turn at the front of the peloton and wound up the pace it really was an emotional moment.

Sky were looking at fulfilling a dream this year - a dream that has resulted in history being made -Victory in the Tour de France for a British rider. Already the pundits are announcing that this is the singular most important achievement by a British sportsman - ever!

And, if having won the Tour, Bradley Wiggins goes on to add more gold medals to his already considerable collection at the Olympics, he will deserve a place in the House of Lords not just a simple knighthood.

Bradley Wiggins leads out Mark Cavendish on the final stage