Thomas conquers Alpe d'Huez

Thomas conquers Alpe d'Huez

Geraint Thomas claimed victory atop Alpe d’Huez to extend his Tour de France race lead in style after 12 stages.

The Welshman finished off an incredible performance from Team Sky to become the first British winner on the famous mountain at the Tour, extending his yellow jersey advantage to one minute and 39 seconds in the process.

Thomas and teammate Chris Froome combined superbly in the final kilometres to attack and cover moves as they were joined by Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb), Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Mikel Landa (Movistar) for the final run-in.

Thomas jumped on a late move from Landa and drove to the line, edging out the victory by two seconds, with Froome crossing the line a further two seconds further back in fourth.

Team Sky put everything into the 175.5km test, with Egan Bernal playing a starring role as he took up the pace setting on the final climb, shutting down dangerous moves from Landa, Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida), before pegging the gap to Bardet.

The stage win had looked in the balance, with the team working hard to haul back a long-range solo attack from Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo), with the Dutchman holding a six-minute advantage following the Col de la Croix de Fer.

After crossing the line Thomas attempted to put his success into words after conquering the 21 hairpin turns.

“I can’t believe it - I’m speechless,” he said. “I don’t know what to say – not a chance in hell did I think I would win today.

“It was unbelievable - can we go to Paris now?!

“Maybe I can keep this yellow jersey for the next few days, but this race is so hard, and you never know how the body is going to react.

“I’m still riding for Froomey – he’s the man, probably the best ever, a legend of this sport. I’m just going to enjoy this whilst I can.”

Froome lauded praise on teammate Thomas, and explained how the two are working together tactically at the sharp end of the race.

He told TeamSky.com: "He's ridden the race of his life so far at this Tour. It's been faultless and he fully deserves to be in yellow, having won two stages and the most iconic stage of the race Alpe d'Huez. It's a massive, massive feather in his cap. 

"I think it's a dream position for us to be in - first and second on GC. It allows us to play both our cards like we did today. Yesterday G went up the road and left other riders scrambling to try and chase. Today I went up the road and G sat on Dumoulin which worked out really well in the final. It meant G had a good punch at the finish. It's just a dream scenario for us right now.

"I definitely feel as if I'm building into this race. I'm really happy with how I'm feeling since we've hit the mountains. It was always a bit of an unknown after the Giro but I'm really happy with the first sensations and looking forward to the Pyrenees next week."

Bernal put in a superb performance on the fan-lined climb and after the stage he confirmed: "We did a good effort on the last climb and it was a great feeling for me. It was a great experience to work for the team.

"I’m in one of the best teams in the world. I knew I had to control things. I like to work for this team and I’m proud of myself.

"(Sport Director) Nico (Portal) was speaking to me and told me I needed to keep the gap, which I felt I did well."

Movistar set out to attack the stage early, with Alejandro Valverde forming part of a 30-rider group up the road. Gianni Moscon and Wout Poels combined on the front, before Luke Rowe paced the peloton up Lacets de Montvernier.

Jonathan Castroviejo held on gamely over the Croix de Fer before pacing the descent and taking key time out of Kruijswijk on the valley road. Then it was over to Michal Kwiatkowski on Alpe d’Huez, before Bernal put in a storming ride.

Stage 12 result:

  1. Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) 5:18:37
  2. Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) +2"
  3. Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) +3"
  4. Chris Froome (Team Sky) +4"
  5. Mikel Landa (Movistar) +7"


Overall standings:

  1. Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) 49:24:43
  2. Chris Froome (Team Sky) +1:39"
  3. Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) +1:50"
  4. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) +2:37"
  5. Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) +2:46"

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