Bradley Wiggins pulls on the yellow jersey after successfully defending the maillot jaune after winning his first Tour de France stage victory in the time trial between Arc et Senans and Besancon.
(CNN) -- It has been a bittersweet month for British sport. Andy Murray's bid to become the nation's first Wimbledon men's singles champion since 1936 was derailed, while the England football team suffered penalty-shootout heartache at the recent Euro 2012 tournament.
But across the channel there is one Briton at the forefront of his sport who, through a series of peerless performances, is in line to become the UK's first Tour de France winner.
Bradley Wiggins, with his mutton-chop sideburns and slim physique, does not instantly come across as an elite athlete.
But the Sky Procycling rider is dominating the 2012 Tour de France, picking up the first stage win of his career between Arc et Senans and Besancon with an astonishing display of power to open up a lead of one minute, 53 seconds over second-placed defending champion Cadel Evans.
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"It is Bradley Wiggins' Tour de France to lose," according to former British cyclist and now commentator Paul Sherwen, who made his debut in the race in 1978.
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"He could have been on the podium last year and he crashed out on stage seven. This year he got the yellow jersey on stage seven."
Wiggins finished the 2009 race in fourth position, equaling the best finish by a British rider -- first achieved by Scotland's Robert Millar in 1984.
His preparation for the 99th edition of the Tour has been both impressive and meticulous, and has left nothing to chance.
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Earlier this year, the Belgium-born rider became the first man to win the Paris-Nice, Tour de Romandie and Criterium du Dauphine stage races in the same season, while also embarking on a number of high-altitude training camps to prepare his body stands for the rigors of the French cols in the Alps and the Pyrenees.
"There's a long way to go," Sherwen told CNN ahead of Thursday's 10th stage. "We've seen 20 riders leave the Tour through injury, I have never seen that before.
"Hopefully all the bad luck and bad crashes are behind the Tour, and hopefully Bradley won't have any."
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Pre-race favorite Bradley Wiggins has been training in Mallorca ahead of his bid to win the Tour de France for the first time.
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If Wiggins wanted an example of just how quickly a challenge in the prestigious race can unravel, he need look no further than the first Briton to wear the "maillot jaune," Tommy Simpson.
The charismatic Simpson, who raced for Peugeot and could on occasion be seen carrying a cane umbrella when he wasn't on a bike, was sixth after the first week of the 1967 race but a stomach bug hindered his challenge.
Simpson, the victim of heat exhaustion and amphetamines taken to enhance performance, died on the slopes of Mount Ventoux in southern France, during the 12th stage of the 1967 race.
Half a century later British cycling is in a very different place, with its riders no longer having to go abroad in search of a professional racing career.
And the team that Wiggins cycles for -- The Sky Procycling team -- is now the dominant force at the Tour, having been established in the wake of Team GB's success at the 2008 Olympics. Sky's lineup includes the sport's top sprinter Mark Cavendish as well as Wiggins' heir apparent Chris Froome, who is third on the Tour.
Gold medals from Wiggins in the 4km individual pursuit and the team pursuit on the track in Beijing propelled Britain to the top of the cycling medal table four years ago.
British Cycling performance director Dave Brailsford formed the country's first professional team in 2009 and Sky Procycling made its Tour de France debut in 2010.
"Up until recently, we had to expatriate ourselves to race professionally," explained Sherwen. "Live on our own, survive on our own and ride as part of a French, Italian or Belgian team.
"Nowadays, the Americans have professional teams, we've now a got a British team on the international circuit and the Australians have got their own professional team.
"It gives youngsters something more to aim at. I'm not saying it's easier, but, in English soccer, you've got Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool and you can dream of playing for one of those teams as a kid.
"Now kids riding their bikes in England can dream of getting into a professional team and getting into the Tour de France. It's an attainable dream."
Brailsford's plan was to produce a British Tour winner within five years, though. Wiggins could be set to deliver ahead of schedule.
"The perception of Team Sky is very good," said Sherwen. "They are already comparing it to Lance Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service Team (with which he won five of his seven Tour de France wins between 1999 and 2004.)
"Sky made mistakes originally, but they have learned from those mistakes and corrected them."
After the culmination of the Tour on Paris' Champs Elysees on July 22, Wiggins will turn his attention to a home Olympic Games in London where he will compete in the time trial event.
A historic win in France could provide Wiggins, British cycling and the nation's sports fans with a timely boost ahead of London's third Olympic Games.
"If Bradley could win the Tour de France this year it would be absolutely huge," said Sherwen.
"If he could win the Tour in an Olympic year, with the Games being in London, it would double or even treble cycling's exposure."
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Wiggins picked up two gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This medal was for his involvement in Britain's 4km pursuit team, which broke the world record twice during the Games, while he also won gold in the solo pursuit.
Wiggins' biggest threat to becoming the first Briton to win the Tour is likely to come from BMC Racing Team's Cadel Evans. The Australian won last year's Tour at the age of 34, when he became the fourth oldest man in history to win the race.
Team Sky general manager Dave Brailsford (foreground, ahead of Christopher Hoy) has been instrumental in the meteoric rise of British cycling. After witnessing Wiggins' performances at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he played a key role in the formation of Team Sky.
Paul Sherwen, now a commentator, competed on the Tour seven times, with a best final placing of 70th. In the 1985 Tour he crashed, recovering to finish an hour after the stage winner. However, his courage was rewarded with reinstatement, after his gruelling six-hour solo ride.
Tom Simpson was Britain's most successful post-war cyclist. He was the first Briton to ever wear the yellow jersey after winning stage 12 in 1962, and his final placing of 6th would remain the best a British cyclist could manage for 22 years. He died of a heart attack in 1967 on Mont Ventoux, after consuming a deadly combination of alcohol and amphetamines. His last words, as recorded by his mechanic, were "Go on, go on!".
Wiggins sporting the yellow jersey after winning the Criterium du Dauphine earlier this year. Sky teammate Michael Rogers finished second with reigning Tour de France champion Cadel Evans in third.
World champion Mark Cavendish warmed up for the Tour by winning three stages of the Giro D'Italia. The Sky rider will be defending his sprinters' Green Jersey in France.
Last year's winner Cadel Evans stands next to a map showing the 3,479 km route of the 2012 Tour de France.
BMC rider Evans became the first Australian to win the Tour de France last year and celebrated in front of the Arc de Triomphe.
Luxembourg's Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador of Spain battle it out on the famous Col du Tourmalet in the 2010 Tour de France. Schleck (in white) was awarded the race after Contador tested positive for a banned drug. Schleck is injured for this year's Tour while Contador is suspended.
Thomas Voeckler made a heroic effort to win the Tour de France for the home nation last year -- eventually finishing fourth -- and will look to spring a further surprise in 2012.
Dutchman Laurens ten Dam shows the typical courage of a Tour de France competitor. The Rabobank rider crashed on a mountain stage last year and carried on despite facial injuries.
Thor Hushovd, the 2010 world road champion, rides up a mountain and into a phalanx of supporters during last year's Tour.
The Tour would not be the Tour without the appearance of an eccentric German fan nicknamed "The Devil" who crops up on many stages.
Ryder Hesjedal became the first Canadian to win a major cycling tour when he took this year's Giro D'Italia, and the Garmin star will be aiming for a double in the Tour de France.
Tom Simpson became the first British rider to don the yellow jersey of the Tour de France back in 1962, but he died during the race five years later, the victim of drugs and heat exhaustion.
Cyclist Lance Armstrong has been stripped of his seven Tour de France wins and banned from the tournament for life, the International Cycling Union announced Monday, October 22. Pictured, Armstrong addresses participants at The Livestrong Challenge Ride on Sunday. He stepped down as chairman of his Livestrong cancer charity on Wednesday, October 17.
Armstrong leads his teammates during the final stage of the 1999 Tour de France.
Armstrong, 17, competes in the Jeep Triathlon Grand Prix in 1988. He became a professional triathlete at age 16 and joined the U.S. National Cycling Team two years later.
In 1995, Armstrong wins the 18th stage of the Tour de France. He finished 36th overall and finished the race for the first time that year.
Armstrong rides for charity in May 1998 at the Ikon Ride for the Roses to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation. He established the foundation to benefit cancer research after being diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996. After treatment, he was declared cancer-free in February 1997.
Armstrong takes his honor lap on the Champs-Élysées in Paris after winning the Tour de France for the first time in 1999.
After winning the 2000 Tour de France, Armstrong holds his son Luke on his shoulders.
Armstrong rides during the 18th stage of the 2001 Tour de France. He won the tour that year for the third consecutive time.
Armstrong celebrates winning the 10th stage of the Tour de France in 2001.
After winning the 2001 Tour de France, Armstrong presents President George W. Bush with a U.S. Postal Service yellow jersey and a replica of the bike he used to win the race.
Armstrong celebrates on the podium after winning the Tour de France by 61 seconds in 2003. It was his fifth consecutive win.
Jay Leno interviews Armstrong on "The Tonight Show" in 2003.
After his six consecutive Tour de France win in 2004, Armstrong attends a celebration in his honor in front of the Texas State Capitol in Austin.
Armstrong arrives at the 2005 American Music Awards in Los Angeles with his then-fiancee Sheryl Crow. The couple never made it down the aisle, splitting up the following year.
Armstrong holds up a paper displaying the number seven at the start of the Tour de France in 2005. He went on to win his seventh consecutive victory.
As a cancer survivor, Armstrong testifies during a Senate hearing in 2008 on Capitol Hill. The hearing focused on finding a cure for cancer in the 21st century.
In 2009, Armstrong suffers a broken collarbone after falling during a race in Spain along with more than a dozen other riders.
Young Armstrong fans write messages on the ground using yellow chalk ahead of the 2009 Tour de France. He came in third place that year.
Armstrong launches the three-day Livestrong Global Cancer Summit in 2009 in Dublin, Ireland. The event was organized by his foundation.
In May 2010, Armstrong crashes during the Amgen Tour of California and is taken to the hospital. That same day, he denied allegations of doping made by former teammate Floyd Landis.
Ahead of what he said would be his last Tour de France, Armstrong gears up for the start of the race in 2010.
Lance Armstrong looks back as he rides in a breakaway during the 2010 Tour de France.
Armstrong finishes 23rd in the 2010 Tour de France. He announced his retirement from the world of professional cycling in February 2011. He said he wants to devote more time to his family and the fight against cancer.
Armstrong's son Luke; twin daughters, Isabelle and Grace; and 1-year-old son, Max, stand outside the Radioshack team bus on a rest day during the 2010 Tour de France.
The frame of Armstrong's bike is engraved with the names of his four children at the time and the Spanish word for five, "cinco." His fifth child, Olivia, was born in October 2010.
In February 2012, Armstrong competes in the 70.3 Ironman Triathlon in Panama City. He went on to claim two Half Ironman triathlon titles by June. He got back into the sport after retiring from professional cycling.
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