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Geraint Thomas did win the Tour de France after finishing two minutes behind his nearest competitor Tom Dumoulin in Saturday's individual time trial.
Thomas will take a minute and 51 seconds ahead of the last Sunday stage in Paris, which is traditionally a procession. The Brit will now be allowed to ride at his pace and it is virtually guaranteed to celebrate under the Champs-Elysees Sunday night.
Chris Froome won more than a minute on Primoz Roglic to climb to third overall, Dumoulin recorded the fastest time to clinch second place, as well as the stage win.
The last stage of the Tour de France is the most prestigious cycling showcase for sprinters. We take the course, the strategy and the atmosphere of this last emblematic day into disrepute.
Geraint Thomas took another big step forward to win the 2018 Tour de France, finishing in the last mountain stage while Primoz Roglic won stage 19.
The time trial of Saturday was a 31-kilometer race between St. Pee-sur-Nivelle and the town of Espelette in southwestern France
. He had only to finish within two minutes and four seconds of Dumoulin to win the final victory.
Dumoulin is a time trial world champion and could not afford to be eliminated by Thomas. The Welsh started strong and was fastest at the first and second checkpoints, 15 seconds ahead of the Dutch with 10 km to go.
But rather than try another victory, Thomas slows down and negotiates the last turns. He finally finished with a time of 41 minutes and seven seconds, which was 14 seconds slower than Dumoulin but more than enough to ensure overall victory.
The 2017 Froome champion missed the stage win by one second but finished with a minute and 11 seconds ahead on Roglic to take third place and take a place on the podium on Sunday.
Recipients of the stage
1. Tom Dumoulin (NED) Team Sunweb 40:52
2. Chris Froome (GBR) Team Sky +1
3. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Sky Team +14
4. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL) Team Sky +50
5. Søren Kragh (DEN) Team Sunweb +51
Overall rankings
1. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Sky Team 80:30:37
2. Team Tom Dumoulin (NED) Sunweb +1: 51
3. Chris Froome (GBR) Sky Team +2: 24
4. Primož Roglic (SLO) Team LottoNL – Jumbo +3: 22
5. Steven Kruijswijk (NED) Team LottoNL – Jumbo +6: 08
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