Thomas completes win with Champagne, smiles
PARIS — The spits and the jeers. The eggs thrown at team cars. The attempts to unbalance riders while riding up the most grueling climbs.
Geraint Thomas did not flinch at whatever fans — or his rivals — threw at him or Team Sky.
The Welshman was the steadiest rider from the start, the strongest in the Alps and the Pyrenees. On Sunday, he concluded his transformation from a support rider into a champion of cycling’s biggest race by claiming his first Tour de France title.
“With the boys, that’s the main thing for the whole three weeks, we stuck together through some tough times, stayed strong,” Thomas said. “Everything just clicked this race.”
Thomas successfully defended his lead of 1 minute, 51 seconds over second-placed Tom Dumoulin in the mostly ceremonial 72-mile final stage won by Norway’s Alexander Kristoff of UAE Team Emirates.
Riding a yellow bicycle to match his yellow jersey, Thomas shared glasses of Champagne with his teammates during the casual ride from Houilles to Paris before buckling down to keep pace with the other leaders on the jarring cobblestones of the Champs-Elysees.
“It’s going to take a while to sink in,” Thomas said. “Normally that stage is really hard, but today I just seemed to float around it. I had goose bumps going around there. The support from the Welsh, British flags . ... To ride around wearing this (yellow jersey) is a dream.”
Four-time champion Chris Froome, Thomas’ teammate, finished third, 2:24 behind. Froome rode next to Thomas as they crossed the line and applauded. Thomas was a support rider during Froome’s four victories but he emerged as Sky’s strongest rider in this race when Froome crashed early in the event and couldn’t keep pace in the mountains.
Sky — and consequently Thomas — became a target for many fans because of an asthma drug case involving Froome, stemming from last year’s Spanish Vuelta. Even though Froome was cleared of doping days before the start of the Tour, that didn’t stop some fans from abusing the British team’s riders throughout the threeweek race.
Thomas stormed into the lead by winning backto-back mountain stages in the Alps, including the iconic climb up Alpe d’Huez, then defended his advantage in the Pyrenees.
During the podium ceremony, Thomas draped the flag of Wales over his shoulders, then ended his victory speech with a mike drop.
“All I can say is that I do it the right way,” Thomas said when asked about concerns of alleged doping within Sky. “We train super hard and there’s nothing I can say that will prove it. I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing. It will stand the test of time.”