Tour de France 2012: Bradley Wiggins close to tears as he admits for first time he felt like 'he'd won the tour' Nibali, an Italian with the Liquigas team, is 2:41 behind Wiggins in third. There is a 138-mile flat stage today between team-mate and Brive-La-Gaillarde, and a time trial tomorrow before the final ceremonial ride to Paris on July 22. "Wiggins was very strong," Nibali said as he rested his arms on his bike's handlebars after crossing the finishing line yesterday. He will be a deserved winner. After a rolling first half of the ride, cyclists climbed the Port de Bales, a mountain that has an average 7.7 degree gradient, and then scaled the Col de Peyresourde and the final uphill climb to Peyragudes. Europcar's Thomas Voeckler was part of an early breakaway as he sought to defend his polka dot jersey as top climber against closest rival Fredrik Kessiakoff of Astana. Voeckler crossed the first mountain pass, Col de Menthe, first and then the smaller Col des Ares. Valverde and Movistar team-mate Rui Costa led the field over the Port de Bales. Costa misjudged a turn on the descent and went into a run-off zone, leaving Valverde alone. The Spaniard held off Froome and Wiggins to win the stage by 19 seconds. With two miles left, Wiggins accelerated away from Nibali and fourth-place Jurgen van den Broeck of Belgium. The Briton clenched his teeth as he rode up the final incline that was shrouded in mist and crowded with thousands of fans, some of them waving British flags. Froome followed Wiggins and then set the pace himself to gain more time on Nibali. "We said "he's nailed, he's finished,"" Wiggins said. That was an incredible feeling.