FRANCE Geraint Thomas is first Welshman to win Tour de France
Pausing at times along the way for a swig of champagne, Geraint Thomas rode triumphantly into Paris on Sunday evening, completing the final stage of the Tour de France and becoming the first Welshman to win the famed race.
Repeatedly using the word “overwhelming,” Thomas had struggled to describe the feeling when it became clear Saturday that he had all but wrapped up a Tour de France victory. “I can’t speak. It’s just incredible,” Thomas told NBC on Saturday. After years of being a supportive teammate to other Team Sky riders, like four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome, Thomas’s turn to win his first Tour de France arrived at the age of 32.
“I believed I could beat the guys here, but still on the biggest stage, over three weeks, it’s insane. The last time I cried was when I got married. I don’t know what’s happened to me,” Thomas said Saturday, struggling for composure before finally breaking down in tears.
Thomas and the peloton completed the arduous, three-week race with a largely ceremonial 72-mile ride on the Champs Élysées.
Thomas beat Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands by 1:51. Thomas’s Team Sky teammate, Froome, was third, 2:24 behind Thomas, who joins Froome (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017) and Bradley Wiggins (2012) as the only British men to win the race. Six of the last seven Tours have been won by British riders (thanks to Froome’s dominance).
Thomas has been known for grit and determination that surpasses what is he norm for cyclists. He rode in the 2013 Tour with a bro-
THOMAS / 14 San Francisco Giants’ Pablo Sandoval high-fives San Francisco Giants’ Alen Hanson as he holds his leg after sliding into home plate and scoring a run off of a sacrifice fly hit by San Francisco Giants’ Steven Dugger against the Milwaukee Brewers in the fifth inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Sunday.
As the Giants await news on the health of co-ace Johnny Cueto, two more players suffered injuries as the team avoided a sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers.
As the Giants await news on the health of co-ace Johnny Cueto, two more players suffered injuries as the team avoided a sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Sandoval strained his righthamstring as he was sliding into home in the fifth, scoring on a sacrifice fly after he brought in two runs with a triple into the right field corner. The infielder will undergo an MRI in San Diego Monday to access the damage. Later in the game, Mccutchen got pulled after he suffered an injury by fouling multiple balls off his foot.
Sandoval said the injury felt similar to the hamstring strain he suffered in 2012 while doing the splits at first base. He’s hoping the injury won’t put him on the disabled list this time around.
“We’re going to do an MRI tomorrow, so we’ll see what’s going on,” he said.
GIANTS / 14