THOMAS CLOSES IN ON HISTORIC TOUR WIN
GERAINT Thomas is closing in on Tour de France glory after increasing his lead during a gruelling 17th stage to 1min 59sec in the overall standings yesterday.
Cardiff ace Thomas looked in complete control of his destiny as he negotiated the 65km stage, in stark contrast to his team mate and senior Team Sky partner Chris Froome, who was struggled badly over the final few kilometres.
Thomas finished third with Nairo Quintana powering to victory in the stage, and now one of sport’s greatest titles looks like his to lose.
ANDY Howell charts what’s happened so far and could occur during the run-in to what would arguably be the greatest achievement in the history of Welsh sport.
What’s the race situation in the general classification?
THOMAS is 1min 59s ahead of Sunweb leader Dumoulin with Chris Froome having slipped a place to third.
Froome is 32 seconds behind Dumoulin after cracking in the final kilometre of stage 17 to the top of the Col du Portet.
His day got worse when a police officer failed to recognise him and appeared to knock him off his bike as he coasted down from the summit following the stage. Sky said Froome was unhurt in the collision.
Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic, who twice went on the offensive today, has closed the gap to Froome to just 16 seconds while Nairo Quintana’s stage victory has seen him climb to fifth in the overall standings at 3min 30sec behind Thomas.
What obstacles do the remaining stages present?
STAGE 18 from Trie-sur-Baise to Pau is 171km but doesn’t have any major difficulties and there’s every likelihood it will end in a sprint finish.
The general classification (overall contenders) can be expected to take it easy ahead of Friday’s final mountain stage and Saturday’s individual time trial.
Stage 19 is 200.5km and takes in the four mountain giants of the Pyrenees – Aspin, Tourmalet, Soulor and Aubisque – so Thomas will still have to be in tip-top form.
Who can stop Thomas making history?
AN accident, illness or loss of form. He still looks the strongest rider in the race but so did fellow Briton Simon Yates at this year’s Giro d’Italia.
Yates seemed a surefire winner only to crack and plummet down the rankings with just two stages remaining.
Froome doesn’t seem to have the legs and, now he’s so far behind, has pledged to ride in support of Thomas.
Dumoulin and Roglic are the biggest dangers but need to claw back time on Thomas before a hilly and demanding 31km time trial to Espelette on Saturday. They finished first and second ahead of Froome at last year’s world time trial championship.
But Thomas is also accomplished against the clock and would need a real off-day for Dumoulin to have a real chance of overhauling him.
However, time trials at the end of a three-week race are far different to a one-off event and it’s impossible to predict how a rider is going to perform as their energy levels begin to run low.
Who has the strongest team?
TEAM Sky, with Thomas’ fellow Welshman Luke Rowe their on the road captain, have been the best in the race.
Wout Poels stepped up to the plate today, Michal Kwiatkowski has been a calm head while Colombian whizz kid Egan Bernal is one of the strongest riders in the race. Bernal has only recently turned 21 and cycling experts are predicting he will become the dominant force in Grand Tours.
He did the pacing during the closing kilometres of stage 17 and was so strong a tiring Froome asked him to drop the speed a notch.
And he can now rely on the support of Froome.
Is there any possibility the crowd could play a part?
FOUR-TIME Tour winner Froome is an unpopular figure in France and Team Sky have been booed throughout the race.
Thomas has also been subjected to jeers but things on the road seemed to have quietened down following appeals for calm from race organisers and France’s top riders.
Friday’s stage will be cheered on by thousands of Basque cycling fans and they don’t have the seem hangup as their French counterparts about the exploits of Team Sky.
But there’s still dangers on the road with 2014 winner Vincenzo Nibali’s challenge being ended when he was brought down after the strap of a spectator’s camera got caught on his handlebars on Alpe d’Huez.
So it’s Thomas’ race to lose?
THAT’S the nub of the matter. Provided he stays upright on his bicycle, something he hasn’t always managed in the past, and stays out of trouble glory surely beckons.
For at this juncture he is a shortpriced favourite to be drinking champagne in Paris on Sunday.