anthony galvin

An update to a post I made this time last year adding Froome to the list of British cyclists who have worn yellow at Le Tour. As I mentioned when I posted about this before, nationalism and sport are tricky areas, especially when we start talking about British sports people. Of the people on the list only 3 were born in the UK (by birth Millar, Wiggins and Froome are Maltese, Belgian and Kenyan respectively), which throws into relief what British might mean in this context. 

From my perspective I’d hope to cheer anyone who rides with panache in the pro peloton, but as a British cyclist myself I take some pride in the performances of people representing British cycling. So to these six I say Chapeau.

Five British men have worn the yellow jersey at The Tour de France. Tom Simpson, Chris Boardman, Sean Yates, David Millar and now Bradley Wiggins. 

I find nationalism a difficult area, especially in relation to sport (something which is going to be tested over the course of the next few weeks with the Olympics on our doorstep), despite this the performances of the British riders at La Grande Boucle is important to me.  

In years gone by I’ve ridden a stage of the tour, trailed round france and camped out on the top of the alps to cheer the riders, bought L'Equipe, watched entire stages on Dutch TV and immersed myself in every book, magazine and podcast available. This year I'm more excited about “Le Tour” than ever. 

Allez Wiggo!