“Sometimes I ask why it’s an individual award. If I could take these bands and give the other lads one each I would. It’s how it is. But for a British rider, after 46 years, it is an incredible thing. My job in the Tour is to get the sponsor’s logo in the most prominent place. All the lads are working for that. For the world champs it was about getting GB up front. We showed the world we can control the championships; not just win, but control how the whole race panned out. That’s quite a dominating thing to have. Psychologically, the other teams now know who rules.”