THOMAS TRIUMPHS IN FRANCE
GERAINT Thomas survived a late scare to win the Criterium du Dauphine yesterday as Adam Yates won the final stage to consolidate second place.
Team Sky’s Thomas suffered two punctures during the 136-kilometre stage from Moutiers to St Gervais Mont Blanc, but took a wheel from a team-mate on the second occasion and was paced back to the peloton by Michal Kwiatkowski and Dylan van Baarle.
The 32-year-old Welshman eventually finished fifth, 19 seconds behind Yates (Mitchelton Scott) whose 10-second time bonus for winning the stage reduced his overall deficit to Thomas to one minute exactly.
“It’s amazing to win such a prestigious race,” Thomas said in quotes reported on the race’s official website.
“It’s incredible. I didn’t let myself think so far ahead. I was always thinking of the next day or the next day. Now I realise I’ve won a massive race.
“Punctures today didn’t really help. I had to chase back on. The guys rode really well for me. On the last climb, I just knew I had about 1.20 to lose on Yatesy.
“Each kilometre I was more confident and happier. Finally, at 200 (metres) to go, when they started sprinting for the win, I was relieved. I can rest a little bit and wait for July. This is a confidence booster for the Tour (de France).”
Spain’s Daniel Navarro (Cofidis) had looked set to win the stage until Yates launched a late attack from the chasing group and caught Navarro on the final bend.
France’s Romain Bardet finished third on the stage and in the general classification, with Ireland’s Dan Martin 48 seconds behind in fourth.
TOP 20 FINISHERS, CRITERIUM DU DAUPHINE (STAGE 7) MOUTIERS - SAINT-GERVAIS
MONT-BLANC, 129KM: 1 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 3hrs 51mins 34secs, 2 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits at 04secs, 3 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale at 09secs, 4 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) BoraHansgrohe at 14secs, 5 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky at 19secs, 6 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates at 24secs, 7 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team at same time, 8 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert at 28secs, 9 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale at 35secs, 10 Pierre Rolland (Fra) EF Education FirstDrapac p/b Cannondale at 41secs, 11 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) LottoNLJumbo at 50secs, 12 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits at 01min 17secs, 13 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin at 01min 35secs, 14 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky at 02mins 03secs, 15 David Gaudu (Fra) GroupamaFDJ at 02mins 50secs, 16 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates at 03mins 07secs, 17 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates at 03mins 20secs, 18 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert at 03mins 31secs, 19 Warren Barguil (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic at 03mins 34secs, 20 Toms Skujins (Lat) TrekSegafredo at 03mins 54secs.