Thomas wins in yellow on Alpe d’Huez, distances Froome
ALPE D’HUEZ, FRANCE — Geraint Thomas sprinted away from Sky teammate Chris Froome to win the legendary climb up Alpe d’Huez while wearing the yellow jersey in the Tour de France on Thursday.
With questions over which rider Sky is backing for victory, it was a bold demonstration of strength by Thomas, who has been Froome’s loyal lieutenant for years.
“In my eyes Froomey is still our leader,” Thomas said. “I’m just going to enjoy it now.”
Thomas took yellow with a victory a day earlier. Now he has become the first British rider to win atop Huez and the first of any nationality to win here in the yellow jersey.
Lance Armstrong won an individual time trial up Huez in 2004 while wearing yellow, but that victory was later stripped for doping.
“Unbelievable. Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would win up here,” Thomas said.
“It’s one of those things that’s going to stay with me for the rest of my life.”
Tom Dumoulin crossed second, two seconds behind, and Romain Bardet was third, three seconds back.
Froome finished fourth, four seconds behind Thomas, as the 12th stage concluded with the famed 21 serpentine bends to the Huez ski resort.
Thomas extended his lead over Froome in the overall standings to one minute, 39 seconds.
He’ll likely hold on to the yellow jersey for at least several more days as the Tour returns to flatter roads for Stages 12 and 13 before the climbs resume in the Massif Central and the Pyrenees.
Dumoulin was third overall, 1:50 behind.
Vincenzo Nibali recovered from a crash in the final kilometres to finish seventh in the stage.
The Italian was fourth overall, 2:37 back.
The last and most feared of the three stages in the Alps this year, the 175.5-kilometre leg began in Bourg-Saint-Maurice and took the peloton over three gruelling, beyond-category climbs.
Fans lined every corner of the climb to Huez, many of them amateur cyclists who tested their legs on the ascent a few hours before the professionals while others had camped out for days.
The rowdiest fans, as usual, were on the “Dutch corner” located two-thirds of the way up.