It’s Tour & simple for GT
THOMAS TIES UP 1ST TITLE
AFTER pepper spray in the land of riled farmers, cycling’s coming home – to the Land Of My Fathers.
And as Geraint Thomas effectively sealed the Tour de France title, Wales celebrated one of its greatest sporting moments.
From John Charles to Gareth Edwards, a proud nation’s hall of fame is already well stocked.
There is already a cyclist in the greatest hits compilation – Nicole Cooke after her charge to Olympic gold in Beijing 10 years ago.
But when Thomas, 32, rolls up the Champs Elysees today his triumph will arguably be the most momentous of them all. Nobody saw this coming. Most people thought Chris Froome would churn out a record-equalling fifth title and Thomas the flank engine would dutifully take his place among the supporting cast.
But when Froome crashed on the Grand Depart, losing a minute to Thomas after picking himself out of a shallow ditch, it changed the whole dynamic of Team Sky’s leadership.
From that moment, Thomas (right) was never behind Froome in the general classification.
And when he took over the leader’s jersey at the ski resort of La Rosiere, his claims that “Froomey is our leader” sounded as if the double Olympic track gold medallist might be bluffing for the first time.
He became the first rider in 25 years to win back-to-back mountain stages – and Sky’s main man in the process.
They said a dual leadership axis would end in tears but the only weeping eyes over the last 2,000 miles have been from the gendarmes’ use of pepper spray to remove a group of agitated farmers last Tuesday.
In the Basque village of Espelette, a ride of 41min 06secs was enough for cycling’s
Prince of Wales to move almost two minutes clear of nearest challenger Tom Dumoulin.
“To be compared with other Welsh legends is crazy – I guess it might register in a couple of years and I will try to stay as I am now,” he said.
“But by the sound of it it’s gone pretty crazy back home and I’m looking forward to going back and celebrating with everyone.
“At one point, my front wheel slipped on a corner today and it was like, ‘Woah, steady on’ – and by the end every corner seemed like 180 degrees.
“I won’t go too crazy tonight because the Champs Elysees is harder than it looks. But I will probably have a couple of beers and a burger.”
After Bradley Wiggins (born in Belgium) and Froome (born in Kenya), Thomas is the third Brit to win the Yellow Jersey but the first born in the UK.
In a brave ride of his own, Froome was pipped by one second to the stage win by Dumoulin but reclaimed third place on the podium from Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic. Froome said: “To win all three Grand Tours back-to-back is something that I will be proud of for the rest of my life but this time Geraint was clearly the strongest rider in the race.”
STAGE ONE Defending champion Chris Froome loses a minute in a crash and hands team-mate Geraint Thomas a lead he will never concede.
STAGE 11
STAGE 12
Amid the chaos of Alpe d’Huez, Thomas strengthens his hand with back-to-back mountain stage wins.
STAGE 17
STAGE 19 Thomas claims second on the feared climbs of Tourmalet and Aubisque in the Pyrenees to top 850 miles in the leader’s Yellow Jersey. PRINCE OF WALES: Geraint Thomas roars with delight