Thomas poised to win Tour de France as Dumoulin takes stage 20 time trial

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Geraint Thomas tour de france 2018 stage 20

Geraint Thomas effectively sealed his first Tour de France title on Saturday by protecting the yellow jersey in the penultimate stage time trial.

Thomas takes a lead of 1 minute, 51 seconds over Tom Dumoulin into the mostly ceremonial finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Sunday.

Dumoulin won the stage by one second ahead of four-time champion Chris Froome, who leapfrogged Primoz Roglic into third place overall.

”It’s just overwhelming,” Thomas said. ”I didn’t think about it all race, and now suddenly I won the Tour.”

”After a difficult day yesterday I did not think it was possible,” Froome said. ”I’m very, very happy. Being on the podium with Geraint is a dream.”

Thomas finished third in the stage, 14 seconds behind, but that was more than enough to protect his lead. At the start of the day, it was more than two minutes.

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.

In a few drops of rain, Thomas was quick to regain control when his wheel appeared to lock up coming around a tricky, tight corner early on the route. Still, he was first at the two checkpoints before slowing his pace in the final kilometers.

”I felt good. 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. ”Nico (Portal, Sky sports director) told me to relax, take it easy and just make sure I won the Tour. And that’s what I did.”

At the finish, Thomas let out a loud scream 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.

Thomas is poised to become the third British rider – and first Welshman – to win the Tour after Bradley Wiggins and Froome. Also, he will make it Sky’s sixth victory in the last seven years.

Thomas claimed the yellow jersey by winning Stage 11 in the Alps, followed that up with another victory atop Alpe d’Huez a day later, and defended his advantage through the Pyrenees.

Thomas was a support rider during Froome’s title rides but he became Sky’s undisputed leader when Froome cracked in the grueling 17th stage through the Pyrenees.

Tour de France 2018 – stage 20 results ( Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle – Espelette):

1Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb)

40:52

2Chris Froome (Team Sky)

+01”

3Geraint Thomas (Team Sky)

+14”

4Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky)

+50”

5Søren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb)

+51”

6Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors)

+52”

7Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin)

+01’02”

8Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo)

+01’12”

9Marc Soler (Movistar)

+01’22”

10Michael Hepburn (Mitchelton-Scott)

+01’23”

11Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott)

+01’26”

12Stefan Küng (BMC)

,,

13Damiano Caruso (BMC)

+01’31”

14Jonathan Castroviejo (Team Sky)

,,

15Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida)

+01’41”

16Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo)

+01’45”

17Wout Poels (Team Sky)

+01’49”

18Simon Geschke (Team Sunweb)

+01’50”

19Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)

,,

20Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin)

+01’52”

 

General classification after stage 20:

1Geraint Thomas (Team Sky)

80:30:37

2Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb)

+01’51”

3Chris Froome (Team Sky)

+02’24”

4Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo)

+03’22”

5Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo)

+06’08”

6Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale)

+06’57”

7Mikel Landa (Movistar)

+07’37”

8Daniel Martin (UAE Team Emirates)

+09’05”

9Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin)

+12’37”

10Nairo Quintana (Movistar)

+14’18”

11Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors)

+16’32”

12Jakob Fuglsang (Astana)

+19’16”

13Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale)

+22’13”

14Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)

+27’26”

15Egan Bernal (Team Sky)

+27’52”

16Tanel Kangert (Astana)

+34’28”

17Warren Barguil (Fortuneo-Samsic)

+37’06”

18Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida)

+39’08”

19Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe)

+39’18”

20Damiano Caruso (BMC)

+42’31”

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