Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
STAGE 17: WON
Brutal ‘grand prix’ stage leaves champ in pits and Thomas within sight of Paris and the chequered flag
CHRIS FROOME handed Geraint Thomas the keys to Paris as the Tour de France leader strengthened his grip on pole position.
After a brutal stage when the peloton started in a Formula One-style grid, four-times champion Froome settled any lingering doubts about the leadership pecking order at Team Sky by admitting Thomas deserves to win Le Tour. This was the day Thomas the flank engine became the chief locomotive. He finished third behind Nairo Quintana and Dan Martin at 7,267ft in the Pyrenees – the highest point of this year’s race – but extended his overall lead to 1min 59sec as Froome slipped back to third in the general classification.
Thomas (left) has only to protect his advantage in today’s benign stage, a one-day tour of monster climbs, and Saturday’s time trial for cycling’s Prince of Wales to be crowned king of the road. Froome, who shipped almost a minute to his fellow Brit, admitted: “It was a tough day, an intense day, but I’ve no regrets. ‘G’ has ridden such an amazing race he deserves to be in the Yellow Jersey – and fingers crossed, he holds it now until Paris.
“I’m just happy to be in the position I’m in. I’ve won the last three Grand Tours I’ve done and it was certainly a tough build-up for me, but I’ll still fight for the podium and obviously I want to see Geraint up there in yellow.
“He looks pretty strong and I imagine he’ll be able to finish it off.”
It was not Froome’s favourite day in France. Riding back down the Col du Portet to the Team Sky bus with his minder, he was knocked off his bike by a policemen who mistook them for fans.
He was not hurt, and is understood to be satisfied the incident was a “misunderstanding”.
And Thomas made neither mention nor complaint about the spectator who leaned over the barriers near the finish and appeared to try to grab his arm.
But he recognised the huge significance of the moment when, three miles from the summit, Froome (right) told him over the team radio he “wasn’t feeling super” – and effectively handed him the baton to go for glory.
Thomas said: “That’s the measure of the man – it shows we’re honest and open with each other. But in a way, it gave me confidence.
“I was feeling strong and
I’m in a good position now.”
Thomas enjoyed his Lewis Hamilton moment on pole, even if the F1 gimmick did not make a jot of difference to the outcome.
He said: “It certainly felt a bit different, and it was nice for morale, standing there in that jersey.”