Wiggins finished third today in a gruelling stage from Tomblaine to the summit of La Planche des Belles Filles that was won by his British teammate Chris Froome.

The Londoner is only the fifth Briton to have worn the yellow jersey in the 99th staging of the Tour de France.

He follows in the footsteps of Tom Simpson in 1962, Chris Boardman in 1994, 1997 and 1998, Sean Yates in 1994 and David Millar in 2000.

But Wiggins will be hoping that he can wear it longer than any other Briton, with the best being Millar, who had it for three days. 

On a landmark day for British cycling, Froome also took over the lead in the King of the Mountains jersey, meaning that British riders lead two of the three competitions after seven of 20 stages.


Wiggins (pictured above middle with Froome on left), who was third behind defending champion Australian Cadel Evans (pictured right) in the stage, was a favourite before the Tour, and his performances over the first week have consolidated his status.

He leads Evans by 10 seconds overall, with Italy's Vincenzo Nibali in third place.

'I've dreamed of wearing the yellow jersey since I was a child,' said Wiggins.

'Whatever happens in the rest of the race, I'll remember this day - it's a massive thing.'

Wiggins, who broke his collarbone last year on the corresponding stage of the Tour, aims to keep the jersey all the way to Paris.

"We will take it day by day," he said.

"You can't choose when you take the yellow jersey.

"We shouldn't have too many problems on the next stage, then at the time trial on Monday we'll try to consolidate it.

"It's not something I'm going to try to lose."

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