Bradley Wiggins given third place in 2009 Tour de France after Lance Armstrong DQ

Bradley Wiggins: Finished one place behind Lance Armstrong in 2009 Tour de France

Wiggins, who became the first British rider to win the Tour in 2012, placed a then British record-equalling fourth three years' ago behind Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck and Armstrong.

But after the International Cycling Union (UCI) stripped Armstrong of all results from August 1, 1998, ratifying a ruling by the United States Anti-doping Agency, Wiggins has becaome a two-time Tour podium rider.

The UCI ruled that Armstrong's sequence of seven successive Tour wins would not be reallocated, but those from his comeback years in 2009 and 2010 will be.

"In 2009 the placing of Mr Armstrong will be reallocated. Bradley Wiggins is the third-placed rider for the Tour de France, 2009," a UCI spokesperson said.

Less than a year after winning individual and team pursuit gold on the track in Beijing, Wiggins produced his breakthrough performance on the road in that year's Tour, equalling Robert Millar's 1984 British best placing of fourth.

It was that performance and result which paved the way for his move to Team Sky and led to him focusing on the Tour in subsequent years, ultimately leading to overall victory in July of this year.