Bradley Wiggins became the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France by protecting the yellow jersey during Sunday's final processional ride into Paris. He also helped Sky teammate Mark Cavendish earn his fourth straight sprint victory on the Champs-Elysees.

Wiggins secured his win with a dominating performance in Saturday's final time trial to extend his already commanding lead. Fellow Briton and Sky teammate Christopher Froome finished second, 3 minutes, 21 seconds behind overall. Vincenzo Nibali of Italy finished third, 6:19 off the pace.

"It's hard to take in as it happens. Every lap of the Champs-Elysees today was goose-pimple stuff. It's been a magical couple of weeks for the team and for British cycling," Wiggins told Roadcycling.com and added "Some dreams come true. My mother over there, she's now - her son has won the Tour de France."

"I've had 24 hours for this to soak in and today we were just on a mission to finish the job off with Cavendish. So job done and what a way for him to finish it off. I'm still buzzing."

"I've got to get used to going into the history books now, but I'm just trying to take everything in today first. It's very surreal at the moment because this type of thing happens to other people. You never imagine it happening to yourself," Wiggins concluded.

The last time two riders from the same nation finished first and second in the Tour de France was in 1984, when Frenchman Laurent Fignon defeated Bernard Hinault in a legendary battle.

Wiggins congratulated his teammates after crossing the line, gave a big hug to his wife and clutched the hands of their children.

The 32-year-old lanky Londoner blew kisses and bowed to a sea of union jacks along the Champs-Elysees and on the Place de la Concorde.

After a soprano sang "God Save The Queen", Wiggins thanked the crowd with a touch of British humor.

"Cheers, have a safe journey home, don't get too drunk," said Wiggins, who wrote in his autobiography about overcoming drinking problems after his early successes in the Velodrome.

Cavendish claimed his 23rd Tour stage win and third this year. He also became the first reigning world champion to win on the Champs-Elysees.

As expected, Wiggins repaid Cavendish for his efforts earlier in the race and led the Sky train in the final mile of the 74-mile stage before leaving his place to Edvald Boasson Hagen, who delivered a perfect lead-out for Cavendish.

Cavendish accelerated coming out of the final corner, never looked back and raised four fingers as he crossed the finish line.

The seven stage wins was a record haul for British riders in the Tour, beating the previous record of six stage wins in 2009 - when all were won by Cavendish.

This time the victories were divided up between Cavendish (3), Wiggins (2), David Millar (1) and Froome (1).

Commenting on his own as well as Wiggins' success in the 2012 Tour de France, Cavendish told Roadcycling.com "It's incredible what we've achieved today - what a team. We got a one and two on GC but still we were riding to control things on the Champs-Elysees."

"It was an honor to have the yellow jersey leading me out in the sprint. Bradley (Wiggins) told me he'd go full gas to the last kilometer and then Edvald (Boasson Hagen) led me into the last corner. The finish couldn't have been more perfect - no better end to this Tour," Cavendish added.

While 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans of Team BMC Racing didn't manage to defend his Tour de France champion title this year his team was one of only two teams with two riders in the top 10 at the end of the three-week, 3,496.9-kilometer race. Team BMC Racing's Tejay van Garderen became only the third American to win the best young rider classification at the Tour and finished 5th overall, while Evans completed the Tour in 7th position.

Van Garderen follows in the footsteps of previous American white jersey wearers Greg LeMond (1984) and Andy Hampsten (1986). The 23-year-old Colorado native spent all but two days of this year's Tour in the white jersey.

"I think it's another few years before I can think about switching this color (to yellow)," van Garderen told Roadcycling.com and continued "Luckily I'm still eligible for this color next year so maybe I'll try to win this again before I think of the big prize. Being able to learn from veterans like George (Hincapie) and Cadel (Evans) and that I can actually hold up to a three-week race has been wild."

Wiggins and his teammates were at the font of the pack as it arrived on the streets of Paris for eight laps of a 4-mile circuit on the Champs-Elysees.

Veteran rider George Hincapie, competing in his 17th consecutive and final Tour de France, led the peloton onto the prestigious avenue alongside fellow American Chris Horner.

"I'm actually really good friends with a lot of the Sky guys and I would have liked to have been a little bit more low key about it," Hincapie explained. "But they were asking me to do it. So I went ahead and did it and it was a real honor for me to lead them into Paris."

With Sky determined to help Cavendish secure a fourth consecutive win in Paris, Horner and Hincapie were immediately reeled in. Several other riders tried to break away but the peloton was not ready to give them any slack as the race passed some of the capital's most iconic monuments such as the Louvre museum, the Eiffel tower and the Place de la Concorde.

Six riders including Jens Voigt of Germany finally escaped from the back with 18 miles to go. They had a maximum lead of 30 seconds but were progressively reeled in as Liquigas and Sky organized the chase.

According to Team Sky director Dave Brailsford the team's next big ambition is to win all three Grand Tours - the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana - in the same season. The 2012 Vuelta a Espana starts on August 18 - just one week after the London Olympics - and Roadcycling.com offers complete coverage of the event - including video highlights from all stages.

While it is too late for the team to win all three Grand Tours this season, Team Sky's Chris Froome remains one of the favorites to take the overall victory in this year's Vuelta a Espana.

Click here to view more photos and the final rankings of the 2012 Tour de France.

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