Thomas makes gains on Tour’s second day
BRUSSELS — Just two days into the Tour de France, Geraint Thomas is already putting daylight between himself and some of the riders dreaming of dethroning the reigning champion.
Thomas, who earned his first Tour win last summer, answered questions surrounding his form and fitness in dominant fashion during Sunday’s short team time trial around the streets of Brussels.
His Team Ineos did not win the stage, but the 33-year-old Welshman gained precious seconds on rivals, including French duo Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot, former Tour champion Vincenzo Nibali, climber Nairo Quintana, Adam Yates and Jakob Fuglsang.
Thomas arrived at the Tour on the back of a rather mundane season with no victory to his name in 2019. Even worse, he crashed out of his final preparation race last month, then endured another setback, though minor, when he was caught in a pileup near the finish of Saturday’s opening stage.
He showed no signs of weakness after his spill, though, taking solid turns at the front and leading his teammates across the finish line Sunday.
The only team faster than Ineos was Dutch outfit Jumbo-Visma, which covered the 17.1-mile course in 28 minutes, 58 seconds, keeping the yellow jersey on Mike Teunissen’s shoulders. Jumbo-Visma riders were 20 seconds faster than Thomas and his teammates, with Deceuninck Quick-Step third in the stage, 21 seconds off the pace.
“It’s a good performance,” Thomas said. “It was a positive day, for sure.”
Teunissen’s teammate Steven Kruijswijk is now the best-placed race contender, third overall with a 20-second lead over Thomas and Egan Bernal, the co-leader at Ineos this summer in the absence of four-time champion Chris Froome.
Even without Froome — the dominant Grand Tour rider in recent years and an expert in the race against the clock — Ineos was still able to replicate its result from last year’s team time trial. Dylan van Baarle, who replaced Froome in the team, was up to the task and there was no weak link on the road.
Bernal and Thomas gained 12 seconds on Pinot, 16 seconds on Nibali, and 21 seconds on Yates and Fuglsang. They opened more significant gaps on Quintana (45 seconds) and Bardet, the day’s big loser who conceded 59 seconds.
Teunissen now leads teammate Wout Van Aert by 10 seconds in the general classification. Jumbo-Visma riders monopolize the five top spots, with Kruijswijk in third place.
After two days in Belgium, the peloton will enter France during today’s Stage 3, which leads riders from the Belgian town of Binche to Epernay in the Champagne region.