Thomas in the box seat

Dumoulin down to his last chance as Tour finish line looms

THE Tour de France is Geraint Thomas’s race to lose with only one rider seemingly left with a slim hope of catching the Welshman.

The last stage in the Pyrenees overnight — the Tour’s so-called “queen stage” for its difficulty and drama — offered Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin his final real chance of capitalising on any slip-up from Thomas.

But Thomas hasn’t put a pedal wrong after 2½ weeks of racing, and Dumoulin knows he needs a miracle of sorts to take his yellow jersey on Stage 19 from Lourdes.

“I think the chance of winning the Tour is really, really small. But if I see an opportunity I will take it for sure,” Dumoulin said after Stage 18 ended in Pau.

“I will try to test Thomas. We will see if it’s possible.”

Thomas led the Team Sunweb rider by 1 minute, 59 seconds with three stages of the Tour remaining, including tomorrow night’s mostly ceremonial finish on Champs- Elysees in Paris.

Dumoulin lost nine seconds to Thomas the day before, when defending champion Chris Froome’s hopes of a record-equaling fifth title all but ended for this year. Froome, who had been second, fell 32 seconds behind Dumoulin, whom he had earlier called his Team Sky’s “biggest threat”.

Yesterday’s stage was flat and easy which allowed riders to prepare for the ordeal in the Pyrenees to come. the

Dumoulin has been waiting all week for a chance to attack, but so far he has found his opportunities limited in the mountains.

“At the moment I need to keep my gunpowder dry and wait for the right moment to attack,” the 27-year-old said earlier in the week.

“I would have loved to take some time, but I need to wait.”

Dumoulin would be closer to Thomas had he not been hit with a 20-second penalty in Stage 6 for straying too close to his team car, benefiting from the draft that pulled him along. Dumoulin was trying to catch up after losing time because of a broken wheel.

Dumoulin, a time trial specialist and strong climber racing for Sunweb, was always likely to emerge as Sky’s closest challenger.

Vincenzo Nibali, the 2014 champion, pulled out after crashing on Alpe d’Huez, and a challenge never materialised from Romain Bardet, Mikel Landa or Nairo Quintana.