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Paris (dpa) – After the start of the stage, a glbad of champagne, under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, then begins the great British holiday: First professional cyclist of the Pays de Wales, Geraint Thomas wins the Tour de France.
The 32-year-old has crowned his triumph in the France yellow jersey on the Champs-Élysées, where Alexander Kristoff of Norway sprinted to Thuringian John Degenkolb for the final victory of the 105th round lap . After 3,551 kilometers, Thomas was 1:51 minutes ahead of Dutchman Tom Dumoulin, who had won the time trial on Saturday at Espelette.
"Everything feels surreal," said Thomas, who was overwhelmed with congratulations after the biggest stroke of his career and mastered it. The British success finished in third place of the detained series winner Chris Froome (+2: 24 minutes). He was acquitted after four wins on the circuit shortly before the start of the year 2018 due to a hint of doping. Superteam Sky has been the Tour Champion for the sixth time in the last seven years.
After more than three weeks of fighting in the plains and on the mountain, on the cobblestones and against the clock, Thomas was the deserved winner. Opponents and observers agree on this point. The long-time help of Froome has avoided major accidents, set the tone in the Alps and the Pyrenees and dispelled the last doubts with the third place of the time trial behind Dumoulin and Froome. "It was absolutely unbelievable in recent weeks," said Dumoulin.
After Bradley Wiggins and Froome, the double winner of the Olympic gold medal on the track was the third Briton to win the Sky Tour – and was the first Welsh to do so. In his honor, many buildings of Wales were illuminated in yellow. Thomas has many years as a helper and was attracted by Spech's fall behind him. Already in Espelette, the British so controlled and so cool shed tears when his wife surprised him on arrival. "The last time I cried at my wedding," said an overwhelmed global winner, who unlike his predecessor still exposed to doping allegations ah.
Two stage victories in the Alps, plus two second and two third places: Thomas showed no weakness on 21 days of racing. Above all, he will never forget the victory at L'Alpe d'Huez. "To win the yellow jersey, it was incredible, I did not expect it, it was incredible," said the cyclist, who received 500,000 euros in prizes for his yellow jersey and who will be distributed to the team.
For Kristoff, victory over the Champs-Elysees was worth more than money. The former world champion won the final sprint ahead of John Degenkolb and Arnaud Demare. "It was a good sprint for me and the whole team," Degenkolb said. "There was not a lot missing."
Degenkolb has almost written the history of German success in Paris. German riders have almost always encouraged such mbad attacks, but Marcel Kittel (2013, 2014) and André Greipel (2015, 2016), who have already been successful in Paris, dropped the heavy alpine stages in the second week . Degenkolb thus won the only German victory in 2018, when he dominated the pavement of the heavy 9th stage in Roubaix. The other Germans were destined to help their respective captains.
Marcus Burghardt of the Bora-Hansgrohe team accompanied Peter Sagan after his fall on the last mountains of the tour, so that the Slovak could clinch his sixth green jersey in Paris as the best sprinter. The triple world champion has attracted the record holder Erik Zabel.
For the majority of the peloton, the finish line was a success, 145 of the 176 beginner riders arrived in Paris. The greatest suffering survived Lawson Craddock, who, despite a fractured shoulder during the first run, crossed France and was the last in the standings. He can be as happy as Geraint Thomas.
Itinerary Tour de France 2018
Etappenwertung and appreciation
starting field
List of early failures
Tour de France home with news
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