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ESPELETTE, France (AP) – Geraint Thomas sealed his first Tour de France title by protecting the yellow jersey during the second-to-last time trial on Saturday
Thomas, a Welsh driver from Team Sky, taking the lead of Tom Dumoulin signed a time of 1 minute and 51 seconds on the finish in the grand finale of the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Sunday.
"It's just awesome," Thomas said. "I did not think about the race, and now I've won the Tour."
Dumoulin won the 20th stage one second ahead of quadruple champion Chris Froome, who beat Primoz Roglic in third place. 19659005] "After a difficult day yesterday, I did not think it was possible," Froome said. "I am very, very happy, being on the podium with Geraint is a dream."
Thomas finished third of the stage, 14 seconds behind, but that was more than enough to protect his lead. At the beginning of the day, it was more than two minutes.
Wearing an all-yellow skin suit on a red, white and blue British flag bike, Thomas was the last rider to leave. [19659002] In a few drops of rain, Thomas quickly regained control as his wheel seemed to crash around a difficult, tight corner at the beginning of the road. Yet he was first at both checkpoints before slowing down in the last few kilometers.
"I felt good, I felt strong, I felt really good, I felt really good and I was maybe pushing hard on some of those corners," said Thomas. "Nico (Portal, Sky's Sports Director) told me to relax, calm down and make sure to win the Tour, and that's what I did. "
Upon arrival, Thomas shouted and held his arms out in celebration, kissing his wife, Sara Elen, as soon as he got off his bicycle. [19659002] "The last time I cried it was when I got married," says Thomas tearing up.
Thomas is about to become the third British and first Welsh to win the Tour after Bradley Wiggins and Froome will also win Sky's sixth victory in the last seven years
Thomas wins the yellow jersey by winning the 11th stage in the Alps, followed by a new victory at the summit of Alpe d'Huez the next day and defends his advantage
Thomas was a supportive runner during the Froome title races but he became the undisputed leader of Sky when Froome has cracked in the grueling 17th stage across the Pyrenees.
A complete rider who began his career on the track, Thomas helped Britain to win gold medals in team pursuit at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics before awarding any his attention to road races.
Dumoulin completed 40 minutes and 52 seconds on the 31-kilometer hilly and technical road. 19659002] It was the first time in 12 years that the Tour was passing through the Basque Country, and fans waving the red, green and white flags of the region lined the entire road in front of the traditional half-timbered houses of the region .
second caree The Dutchman won six TTs overall in the three Grand Tours – the Tour, the Giro d'Italia and the Spanish Vuelta.
Dumoulin lost his rainbow time The reigning world champion, his team, had to scramble to make a new kit in the morning.
"It's amazing to finish second in the Tour de France," Dumoulin said. "I am 27 years old and I hope that I will be stronger, especially in the mountains, and hope to someday win."
The American Lawson Craddock, who fractured his shoulder at the start of last race in general, also burst into tears upon arrival.
"It's been an incredibly trying Tour de France for me," said Craddock. "I was not sure I could go that far, and I just loved crossing the finish line today, it was the last test to get to Paris. "
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Associate Press Ciaran Fahey and Samuel Petrequin
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More coverage of the Tour de France: https://apnews.com/tag/TourdeFrance
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Andrew Dampf on Twitter: www.twitter.com/asdampf
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