Thomas takes surprise yellow
Welshman wins opening time trial
After a season hampered by misfortune and crashes, Geraint Thomas finally had luck on his side as he won his maiden Tour de France stage and with it pulled on the first maillot jaune of the race.
In doing so the 31-yearold became the eighth British cyclist to wear the Tour’s coveted yellow jersey as he secured the biggest road victory of his career. His win in the pouring rain on a wet and slippery 14km time trial course in Düsseldorf in part made up for the disappointment Thomas endured earlier this season when he crashed out of the Giro d’italia where he was targeting the overall race win.
He switched his focus back to the Tour after leaving Italy, and was selected to support Sky team-mate Chris Froome but admitted he was in “disbelief” after winning stage one.
“I grew up watching the Tour, watching it on television after school with my dad. It’s amazing to be in it now and on the other side of the cameras,” Thomas said, before he secured the jersey for another day after stage two into Liège.
“It was a pretty special day to walk off the bus in yellow. It was just a massive buzz all day, an awesome feeling.”
Thomas’s maillot jaune comes 10 years since he made his debut in the race in 2007; then aged just 21, he rolled off the start ramp in a 7.9km time trial in London.
He spent four days wearing the white jersey for best young rider in 2010 and another seven days in 2011, but has endured mixed fortunes in La Grande Boucle since then. He suffered all the way to Paris in 2013 with a fractured pelvis after crashing, while he dropped out of the overall top five on stage 19 in 2015 after a bad day in the Alps — although the Giro this year was the first time Thomas had to abandon a Grand Tour early.
“He’s someone who never gives up and always fights back,” Sky sports director Servais Knaven said. “He’s had a lot of bad luck in the Tour over the years and now this thing in the Giro where he had to stop.
“He wins a stage and wears yellow. For him that’s a dream come true.”
Thomas was not among those tipped for the victory in Düsseldorf, yet his second place at the Giro stage 10 time trial showed a glimpse of the form the 2012 Olympic team pursuit gold medallist has been in this year. With the rain pouring heavily many GC riders took it easy on the slippery course on Saturday, while favourite Tony Martin — the time trial world champion racing on home turf — could only finish fourth.
“When you look at his history it’s not really [a surprise he won],” said Dimension Data rider and British time trial champion Steve Cummings, who raced with Thomas at Barloworld in 2008. The duo shared an apartment with Mark Cavendish in Italy during that time. “He’s a team pursuiter. It’s almost a surprise that he’s not closer more often. But it’s no surprise, we know how good he is.”
He added: “He really deserves it because he’s such a hard worker, he’s always a good team-mate, really working hard for the team. After the Giro he was on super form and now he’s got his reward.”
Thomas confirmed before the Tour began that he had taken up the option to extend his contract with Team Sky by one year, keeping him with the squad until 2018.
Rod Ellingworth, Sky performance manager, who has worked with Thomas since he was on the British Cycling Olympic Development Programme in 2005, said: “He commits so well. The way in which he raced, the way he took some risks on the corners, that’s true Geraint.
“I’ve known Geraint a long time and worked with him and been around him a long time now, so has Dave [Brailsford, Team Sky principal]. I feel dead proud of him.”