[ad_1]
Published
July 30, 2018 04:47:38
Geraint Thomas won his first Tour de France title, concluding his transformation from a support driver into champion of the greatest cycling race.
The Welsh rider with Team Sky successfully defended Tom Dumoulin, second overall, to finish first in the race with a time of 1 minute and 51 seconds.
Thomas rolled a yellow bicycle to accompany his yellow jersey and shared glbades of champagne with his teammates. "It will take time to sink," said Thomas before waving the flag of Wales on his shoulders during the podium ceremony
"Normally this step is really hard but today I just seemed to float around her … I had the flesh of hen circulating there
"The support of the Welsh, British flags.
"Dreamed of this victory for many years"
The quadruple champion Chris Froome, Thomas's teammate, was third at 2:24, and drove Thomas was a supportive runner in four Froome wins , but he became Sky's best runner in this race when Froome crashed early and could not follow the mountains.
Norwegian rider Alexander Kristoff with the United Arab Emirates Emirates won the final stage in a sprint, just ahead of John Degenkolb and Arnaud Demare
"I've been dreaming about this win for many years," Kristoff said.
"I've been close several times before but I've never managed to beat the fastest guys like (Mark) Cavendish, (Andre) Greipel, or (Marcel) Kittel, but today. They were not there, they left after the mountains, and today I was the fastest, so I am super happy. "
The flatter stage of 116 kilometers started in Houilles just outside Paris and ended with nine laps on the Champs-Elysées.
Many spectators along the Champs-Elysees raised their arms to record runners on their smartphones while they were walking on the cobblestones, and there were more than joy when 11 jets flew over streaks in the blue, white and red colors of the French flag.
Street vendors sold chicken, sausages, waffles, cakes and sweets, while the smell of pancakes filled the air.
Glenn Roberts of Newtown, Central Wales, was present with his wife and children.
The family timed his summer vacation to coincide with the arrival of the Tour
"Thomas was in the yellow when we left Wales, but we did not know it was safe. He was going to keep it. We thought Froome was going to win, if I'm honest, "Mr. Roberts said.
"It's the best thing that a Welsh"
French rider Sylvain Chavanel, riding his 18th Tour, took the lead on the Champs-Elysées.
World champion Peter Sagan tied Erik Zabel's record by He won the green jersey points competition for the sixth time.
The Frenchmen Julian Alaphilippe and Pierre Latour respectively won the polka dot jersey and the best young white jersey.
No Frenchman has won the race since Bernard Hinault's fifth title in 1985.
The three-week race covered 3,351 kilometers.
AP / Reuters
Topics:
cycling,
sport,
la France
Source link
