Cruising into Paris
Thomas all but wraps up first Tour de France win
ESPELETTE, France — No longer merely a support rider for reigning champion Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas is going to Paris in the yellow jersey.
The 32-year-old Welshman with Team Sky effectively sealed his first Tour de France title by protecting his lead in the time trial during the 20th — and penultimate — stage Saturday.
Thomas takes an advantage of 1 minute, 51 seconds over Tom Dumoulin into today’s mostly ceremonial finish on the Champs-Élysées, the famed avenue in the French capital known for celebrations.
Now it’s Thomas’s time to party.
“It’s just overwhelming,” Thomas said. “I didn’t think about it all race, and now suddenly I won the Tour.”
Dumoulin won the 20th stage by one second ahead of Froome, the four-time Tour winner who leapfrogged Primoz Roglic to move back into third place overall.
Thomas, nicknamed “G,” finished third in the stage, 14 seconds behind. With an advantage of more than two minutes at the start of the day, that was more than enough.
“The strongest guy has won this Tour de France,” said Froome, whose Grand Tour reign will end after he also won the Vuelta a Espana last year and the Giro d’Italia this spring. “Tomorrow, to stand up on the podium with G, it’s going to be a really proud moment for me.”
Thomas was a support rider during Froome’s victories, but he became Sky’s undisputed leader this past week when Froome, 33, cracked in the grueling 17th stage through the Pyrenees. Thomas and Froome have been together since their days on the small Barloworld team a decade ago.
“Because we’ve been teammates and friends for so long, it made it easier to communicate honestly,” Froome said. “It was clear as soon as we hit the Alps that Geraint was in better physical condition than me. It was pretty simple, really.”
Wearing an all-yellow skin suit on a bike in the red, white and blue colors of the British flag, Thomas was the last rider to start Saturday. With a few drops of rain falling, Thomas was quick to regain control when his wheel appeared to lock up coming around a tricky, tight corner early on. His time rated first at the two checkpoints before he slowed down in the final stretch.
“I felt strong. I felt really good, actually. I heard I was up, and maybe I was pushing it a bit hard on some of those corners,” Thomas said, explaining that team director Nico Portal told him “to relax, take it easy and just make sure I won the Tour. And that’s what I did.”
At the finish, Thomas shouted and held his arms out wide in celebration. He embraced his wife, Sara Elen, as soon as he got off his bike.
“The last time I cried was when I got married,” Thomas said as he teared up.
He is poised to become the third British cyclist — and first Welshman — to win the race after Bradley Wiggins (2012) and Froome (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017), who also won for Team Sky.
“It’s insane really — just all the interest in Cardiff,” Thomas said, referring to his hometown. “Great to put it on the map. We’re a small nation, and we really get behind anyone that’s successful. By the sounds of it, it’s gone pretty crazy back home, so looking forward to going back to celebrate.”
An all-around cyclist who began his career on the track, Thomas helped Britain to gold medals in team pursuit at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics before turning his full attention to road racing.
Thomas donned the yellow jersey after winning the 11th stage in the Alps, followed that up with another victory atop Alpe d’Huez a day later, then protected his advantage through the Pyrenees.
“He was in the shape of his life,” Dumoulin said. “He didn’t make any mistakes. He was never put into trouble by anyone, in the mountains or anywhere — including by myself.”
The time trial world champion, Dumoulin clocked less than 41 minutes Saturday over the hilly and technical 19-mile route. It marked the first time in 12 years the Tour passed through the Basque Country, and fans waving the region’s red, green and white flags lined the entire route in front of the area’s traditional half-timbered houses.
It was Dumoulin’s second career stage win in the Tour, having also won a time trial in 2016. The Dutchman has won six time trials overall in Grand Tours.