Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
LEWIS LOVING HIS FERRARI MIND GAMES
Thomas increases his lead to climb towards greatness
Le Tour and the meter is still running. If Thomas, who has led the race for 850 miles since he stormed into yellow in the Alps, finishes the job, it will be one of the greatest sporting achievements in Welsh history.
On the sixth anniversary of the London 2012 opening ceremony, Thomas said he had not felt such a sense of anticipation since the night before his second Olympic time trial gold six years ago.
He said: “It’s a bit like the night before the Olympic Final in
2012, with all the tension of what’s to come tomorrow, but
I can take confidence from the way I’ve been riding.
“Nothing is ever guaranteed in this sport, especially with me, and what will be, will be. But this was a big day, I needed to get it ticked off, and at least there’s no pressure on me to take too many risks in the time trial.”
In a gruelling five-and-a-halfhour shift in the saddle, which included the feared Tourmalet and Aubisque slopes, for once Team Sky’s powerhouse train disintegrated and Thomas had to tackle part of the final climb with no domestiques to help.
Heroics from Colombian Egan Bernal, 21, (below) rescued struggling four-time champ Chris Froome and gave Thomas some company on the home stretch after 125 miles of torture from Lourdes to Laruns. Thomas coolly followed Dumoulin’s wheel and said: “It was squeaky bum time, but all I had to do was follow Tom.
“Now I just have to treat it as any other race and not think too much about the end-game.” Inevitably, should Thomas enjoy the view from the top of the podium in Paris, the 1st Battalion Dirt Diggers will start looking for evidence that his tour de force was powered by something shifty. In fact, the digging has already started.
Thomas was asked if he could reassure the cynics who trash cycling as a dopers’ convention, and he replied: “I don’t know what to say. I do it the right way, the team do it the right way and we train super-hard.
“There’s nothing I can say to prove it, but it will stand the test of time. The team is just phenomenally strong – it’s not just about having good legs but good heads. I know I work super-hard and I’ve had some bad luck, but it’s nice to know it is paying off now.”
French snipers will take some comfort that their public enemy No.1 in the peloton is not going to win, as if it vindicates the appalling hostility he has endured at the roadside, but the last word belongs to Froome.
Champions get carried out on their shield, and the honesty with which Froome (now fourth) deferred his leadership to
Thomas has been as exemplary as his dignity in the face of placards, punches, spitting and smoke bombs. LEWIS HAMILTON insists he is relishing the psychological warfare of his championship battle with Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton is 17 points clear of his rival ahead of the final round in
Hungary tomorrow before the summer break.
So far the Englishman holds the mental edge over Vettel following the Ferrari driver’s fourth, and biggest mistake of the year, when he crashed out from the lead in Germany last Sunday.
Hamilton’s remarkable victory in Vettel’s back yard moved him to the top of the standings with the fifth change of championship leader this season.
For the first time in the hybrid era, Ferrari, whose cars carry a black stripe this weekend in memory of chairman Sergio Marchionne who died on Wednesday, boast the strongest package.
It was again on show in practice as Vettel (inset) topped the time sheets with Hamilton only fifth.
By his own admission, the Briton has not been at his very best this year, but it is his lack of mistakes, and flashes of once-in-ageneration brilliance, that keep him favourite to clinch a fifth world crown.
“The psychological game in sport is the hardest thing,” Hamilton said. “You don’t see me away from the track – I wake up with insecurities.
“The most demanding thing is keeping your mind in the game from the first race in March right through to the November, and arriving at every race 100 per cent. “I haven’t hit the nail on the head every weekend, but the pressures are huge, and the demand on myself and Sebastian is higher than ever. “It has swung more in Ferrari’s direction so I am having to over-deliver.
“The pressure to extract every ounce is greater than ever if I want to be No.1. That is not something I am fazed by, but something that excites me. I welcome it.”
But there have been signs of the intensity getting to Hamilton. He accused Ferrari of playing dirty at Silverstone when Kimi Raikkonen collided with him on the first lap.
And, in a deleted Instagram post, he said he did not get the credit he deserved from Sky Sports for his comeback fight from 14th to first last Sunday.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said: “We will look back and say we were part of an amazing driver’s journey. He wears his heart on his sleeve and polarises opinion, but for me that is fine.”