Bradley Wiggins and Cadel Evans entered the 2012 Tour de France as the betting favorites to take it all. Most experts believed that one of those two men would emerge victorious at the end of 20 grueling stages. Evans, the returning champion, slowly found himself losing time to Wiggins and his aggressive Team Sky teammates. Before long, Evans was well out of contention.
In the end, Team Sky took the top two spots in the general classification. Wiggins won his first Grand Tour and became the first British-born rider to take the Tour de France title. Wiggins' teammate, Chris Froome, finished over three minutes behind Wiggins for second place and may eventually stand atop the winner's podium himself one day.
In the points classification, Peter Sagan racked up 421 points and left the competition for the green jersey in the dust, including early points leader Andre Greipel, who ended up with just 280 points. Sagan claimed three separate stage wins throughout the Tour.
As for the polka-dot jersey and the 2012 King of the Mountains, that went to Thomas Voeckler, who dominated the superhuman climbs featured in this year's Tour. Tejay Van Garderen, meanwhile, distinguished himself as the Best Young Rider. The future may be bright ahead for the 23-year-old from Tacoma.
Stick with this StoryStream for results, news updates and more from the 2012 Tour de France. For all things cycling, check out Podium Cafe.
