(AP) – The Tour de France is Geraint Thomas’ race to lose with only one rider seemingly left with a slim hope of catching the Welshman.
The last stage in the Pyrenees on Friday – the Tour’s so-called ”queen stage” for its difficulty and drama – offers Tom Dumoulin his final real chance of capitalizing on any slip-up from Thomas.
But Thomas hasn’t put a pedal wrong after 2 + weeks of racing, and Dumoulin knows he needs a miracle of sorts to take his yellow jersey on Stage 19 from Lourdes.
”I think the chance of winning the Tour is really, really small. But if I see an opportunity I will take it for sure,” Dumoulin said. ”I will try to test Thomas. We will see if it’s possible.”
Thomas leads the Team Sunweb rider by 1 minute, 59 seconds with three stages of the Tour remaining, including Sunday’s mostly ceremonial finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
Dumoulin lost nine seconds to Thomas the day before, when defending champion Chris Froome’s hopes of a record-equaling fifth title all but ended for this year. Froome, who had been second, fell 32 seconds behind Dumoulin, whom he had earlier called his Team Sky’s ”biggest threat.”
”At the moment I need to keep my gunpowder dry and wait for the right moment to attack,” Dumoulin said. ”I would have loved to take some time, but I need to wait.”
Dumoulin would be closer to Thomas had he not been hit with a 20-second penalty in Stage 6 for straying too close to his team car, benefiting from the draft that pulled him along.
The Dutchman, who won the Giro d’Italia last year, has been staying close to and testing the leading Sky riders, while Froome and Thomas have been working together to keep him in check.
Dumoulin had been hoping to get within striking distance – ahead of Saturday’s time trial in the penultimate stage from Saint-Pee-Sur-Nivelle to Espelette. As the time trial world champion, he might have had an advantage.
But Thomas’ lead is so comfortable, Dumoulin will have to launch a successful attack on Friday, or hope for an unlikely collapse from Thomas.
Dumoulin played down his chances of getting close enough to Thomas to maintain any realistic hope of overtaking him in the time trial.
”At this moment, in this condition, Thomas can even beat me in a time trial. To feel safe, I would need to be two minutes in front of him, but that’s not going to happen,” Dumoulin said.
”So we’ll just see how the standings are after tomorrow and I will just go full gas and not be (thinking of) any time differences.”
