Cycling: Thomas praises teamwork at Tour de France

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Geraint Thomas secured his maiden Tour de France title on Saturday, taking full advantage of Team Sky’s strength in depth and acknowledging that his imminent victory was the result of collective work.

The 32-year-old Welshman held on to the overall leader's yellow jersey after Saturday’s decisive time trial at Stage 20, a 31-km Individual Time Trial stage from Saint-Pee-sur-Nivelle to Espelette in the Basque country, to lead Dutchman Tom Dumoulin by 1:51 and teammate and defending champion Chris Froome by 2:34.

Geraint Thomas of Great Britain and Team Sky retains the yellow jersey of race's leader following stage 20 of Le Tour de France 2018. /VCG Photo

Barring a crash in Sunday’s procession to the Champs Elysees in Paris, Thomas is expected to become the third Briton to win the Tour after Bradley Wiggins (2012) and Froome (2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017) – both Team Sky riders.

“It has been a great race, if we look at all our individual riders they are amazing,” said Thomas, who won two mountain stages including one up the iconic Alpe d’Huez climb.

Team Sky began the race not only with Thomas and four-time champion Froome, but also 21-year-old Colombian Egan Bernal, who thwarted most of their rivals’ attacks in the mountains, former world champion Michal Kwiatkowski and former Liege-Bastogne-Liege winner Wout Poels.

Geraint Thomas cycles at stage 20 of the Tour de France. /VCG Photo

The team’s dominance in recent years and Froome’s positive test for excessive levels of the asthma drug Salbutamol (before subsequently being cleared of any wrong-doing) fueled the crowds’ anger.

But it brought the team together. “There is always going to be haters or whatever, but we work hard. Our biggest strength is not just in the legs but in the head and how we ride together,” said Thomas, who had warmed up for the race by winning the week-long Criterium du Dauphine last month.

There was a late scare for Thomas, in the time trial, when he appeared to lose control of his bike. He rode cautiously after that to take third place behind Dumoulin and Froome but the title is now virtually in the bag. “So you just block this out and do what you’ve got to do.”

Thomas’s contract with Sky finishes at the end of the year, and the British outfit could find themselves with two grand tour leaders if the new champion-elect extends his contract.

Source(s): Reuters