Stage six witnessed an extraordinary performance from Bradley Wiggins, 40 years to the day after his compatriot Tom Simpson collapsed and died on Mont Ventoux. There is no doubt that the British contingent on the Tour, particularly those with a keen sense of history, were disappointed by the Tour organisers’ unwillingness to pay respect to Simpson, either by routing this year’s race over the Ventoux or by marking the date with some kind of ceremony.
So, in the Tour press room, speculation grew that Wiggins, prompted by David Millar and the three other Brits on Tour, Mark Cavendish, Charly Wegelius and Geraint Thomas had decided to fly the flag himself.
His attack, after just two kilometres of the 199.5 kilometre stage, saw his lead rise to more than 17 minutes at one point. The Olympic pursuit champion opened the route du Tour, on his own, for more than 190 kilometres, which equated to five hours and nine minutes of solo riding.
Racing alone, in the heat and facing a headwind on dead straight roads in the final 15 kilometres, was sheer folly — and Wiggins knew it. But we all told ourselves it didn’t matter. This break was clearly to prove a point and to show some respect to Simpson’s memory, a notion that was further fuelled by a chance encounter with Team GB manager, David Brailsford.
“Brad can be quite deep sometimes,” Brailsford said admiringly, as Wiggins soloed on towards the finish in Bourg-en-Bresse.
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It’s well known that Wiggins and Millar are good friends. The belief that a Simpson tribute, sanctioned by the peloton and made flesh by Wiggins, was taking shape before our very eyes gathered momentum when a group of Saunier Duval riders cruised to the front of the bunch and blocked the pace, allowing Wiggins’ lead to increase once more.
Even in the final 15 kilometres, the peloton’s pursuit seemed half-hearted, surely another sign that they could have caught the Briton easily and that they were deliberately holding back.
In fact, none of the above apply. It turned out that even his wife’s birthday hadn’t been the inspiration for Wiggins’ attack.
The truth is that today’s events had nothing to do with Tom Simpson and everything to do with the peloton conserving energy before the Alps, Bradley Wiggins enjoying great form and his team’s need to show off the Cofidis logo on live television.
At the finish line, Millar described the lack of awareness of the Simpson anniversary as “the sad truth”, but maybe it’s also the pragmatic reality of a Tour characterised by growing uncertainty.