Geraint no stopping Thomas now
GERAINT THOMAS rode through 200km of the most stunning countryside yesterday looking at nothing but Tom Dumoulin’s backside. And it was a beautiful sight.
The Tour de France championelect – yes, we can whisper that now – moved on to Dumoulin’s back wheel when the peloton nudged its way out of Lourdes yesterday morning to the ominous peel of church bells. Somebody’s funeral perhaps?
He was still stuck there like a Welsh clam five and a half hours later just 200 metres from the finish in Lauruns.
At which point Thomas moved out of Dumoulin’s slipstream and hit the turbo to take second place behind stage winner Primoz Roglic and grab another six bonus seconds that will have put an extra spring in those tired legs last night.
It probably broke Dumoulin’s heart too, with only two stages left.
As expected, yesterday’s epic Pyrenean stage, taking in three huge climbs totalling 5,000m and animated by brave attacks from Mikel Landa and Romain Bardet, proved a savage test for the contenders of the General Classification. But there was no doubting Thomas.
He chose wisely not to risk all and chase the excellent Roglic for line honours – the former world junior ski-jump champion descends like a man who enjoys going downhill quickly. Very quickly. Dumoulin complained afterwards that Roglic used the TV motorbike to draft on occasions but for most of the time the motorbike struggled to stay ahead of the flying Slovenian.
Thomas stayed composed and safe. He has never been a stress bunny on or off the bike and he was not going to start panicking now.
It was misty – it is always misty on the Aubisque – and sections of the road were damp and dangerous. The mountain is infamous for the wild horses that occasionally wander on to the tarmac and collide with cars or send cyclists sprawling into ditches and deep ravines.
Thomas’s sole objective was not losing time on Dumoulin and now, with an increased overall lead of 2mins 5secs going into today’s individual time trial, he has exactly the kind of buffer he dreamed of. “I’m really happy to get through that,” said Thomas. “We expected a hard day but the racing was really on.
“It was quite stressful when Mikel Landa went so early and took a lot of time with Bardet. LottoNLJumbo rode hard and it was on all day. It was quite a fast descent, so it was nice to get through that in one piece.
“I knew all I had to do was follow Tom Dumoulin because I knew he’d be chasing Roglic. It was all under control and the guys rode really well. Our sport director Nico Portal was really good on the radio and kept us calm. I’m really happy to tick that off.”
Sky colleague Chris Foome endured a tougher day, slipping to fourth overall as Roglic moved above him and he must now produce the best time trial of his career to get back on the podium.
The four-time Tour champion, who won the Giro just two months ago, has been a notch below his best but again rode a battling race, both trying to protect Thomas and fight for his own GC place. It was Froome who chased down Roglic when he first tried to attack on the final climb, the Col D’Aspin, and then, when he was dropped after Dumoulin raised the pace, he somehow regained contact, helped by a massive turn by Sky’s brilliant young Colombian Egan Bernal.
Bernal had himself been dropped but refused to sit up and chased hard to make contact with the fading Froome and then pace him back up to the leaders.
Just for good measure, he took over at the very front for a few more kilometres to bring back the remnants of the break.
A stage of gathering excitement had been animated by a ‘Hail Mary’ effort from former Team Sky rider Landa.
Landa set off on a spectacular break, aided by Rafal Majka and Julian Alaphilippe.
At one stage he moved to within 30 seconds of the virtual Yellow Jersey, at which point Roglic and his team started riding hard at the front of the peloton to close the gap.
From that moment on, Sky knew Roglic would be the main danger and they watched him like a hawk across the mountains.
Thomas gave a grunt of satisfaction as he crossed the line to claim the extra seconds. Even the French applauded.
I knew all I had to do was follow Dumoulin