Tour de France: Geraint Thomas celebrated his victory in Paris. He is the first Welsh winner of the Great Loop

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plGeraint Thomas (Sky) cried with happiness on Saturday after completing the individual time trial. He knew before the finish line that he did not have to fight for every second, so he raised his hands in sign of victory. Then he fell into the arms of his wife Sarah, who was waiting for the finish line, and then kissed … Jacek Walczak, his masseuse at the Tour de France.

And then during an interview on television, he could not find a word of it. emotion. – Last time, I cried during my wedding – he said and put his face in his hands.

A rugby and beer lover

For him, a boy from Cardiff – certainly a champion Olympic track – it was something unbelievable, something he could not even dream about a few months ago … The leader of Sky on the Great Loop was still Chris Froome, who was trying first to win the fourth big round in a row and the fifth Tour de France your career. In addition, he had to prove that it is possible to win the Giro d'Italia dubliere – Tour de France in one season.

And maybe if this second race had been arranged differently, it would have happened. Froome, however, suffered losses in the early stages, did not shine in the mountains and, as he said, he could not plan an action similar to that he had performed during the Italian tour on Finestre. – I'm proud of Gerainta [Thomasa] – says Froome.

– For the last 10 For years, we were not only teammates, but also friends. Together, we train, we live very close, we spend a lot of time together. For years, he was also a cyclist who contributed to my success – he added. So, if Froome is disappointed, he does not show it in public, as he did in 2011 and 2012, when he had to wait for Bradley Wiggins: It's stupid for a stronger cyclist to wait for the most low.

And Thomas himself, "G" – as they say on the team he repeated: – I did not think I would win the Tour. It's still a surrealistic feeling: Tomas is a Welsh, it's the Welsh and non-British flag that he beat in Paris during the last stage. He loves rugby, from time to time, he does not overflow his collar out of season.

– He likes to have a drink when it's time to leave. It happened that we had to support him when he overdosed him. But overall, Geraint enjoys balance in life – said Velonews his coach, Rod Ellingworth, now executive director at Sky. Thomas and his wife Sarah Elen live in Monaco, near Froome and the Sky base. He trains there. And he does not speak with words. Asked what he felt in the Pyrenees and which he was most afraid of, he replied that Tom Dumoulin. "I followed him as a shoe on a shoe," he said at a press conference.

And it's similar to his biggest rival in this race. Team Sunweb, a Dutchman, can also talk about the fact that the "damn bike" prevented him from successfully pursuing Primože Roglič at stage 19.

doublet? Not in 2019

But Dumoulin can be proud of himself – this season he finished second in the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, raising questions as to whether the doublet is possible. – I think Tom and I [Dumoulin] show that you can drive both races to a very high level. For me, an important factor in the decision-making was that the Great Loop due to the World Cup started a week later – explained the British.

But Dumoulin has already announced that next season he will not decide on a consecutive start in two major tours. "I do not know yet if I will focus on the Giro d 'Italia or the Tour de France," he said. And he announced that this season he will focus on the defense of the rainbow jersey in the individual time trial.

Polish without success?

Michał Kwiatkowski is afraid to put a case in this position. Sky Rider is proud to be a member of the winning team, a runner who, as a midfielder, plays one of the key roles of the race. And by the way, he's looking for experiences, ones that can one day help him achieve such a victory, what happened to his teammate.

And Thomas Himself is for he's the best motivator, because the Welsh started as a classic who has taken good places in races such as Ronde Van Vlaander or even Paris-Roubaix. Michał Kwiatkowski is trying to follow a similar path now.

In turn, Rafał Majka (Bora-hansgrohe) speaks out loud about the profession he's made himself. "It's a shame I do not win this year's Tour, but I know that I did what I could and I certainly did not spare it during the whole year." I know that completing Touru will give me a good shape to fight in the next races, that's why I'm good at it, "he wrote in his social media.

Majka's closest victory was at the last mountain stage where he showed this handicap in the Alps in the second week of the Great Loop was like an accident at work. An accident that will be analyzed by the coach of Patxi Villa. Paradoxically, this performance, not too successful for Majka, ends with the highest place in the overall rankings that he has achieved. It's just that 19th position is not the top of his dreams.

Final race classification:

1 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 83:17:13

2 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 01:51

3 Chris Froome (GBr) Sky Team 2:24

4 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo 3:22

5 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 06:08

6 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 06:57

7 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Movistar 07:37

8 Daniel Martin (Irl) United Arab Emirates 9:05

9 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 12:37

10 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Movistar 14:18

11 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors 16:32

12 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Astana Pro 19:46

13 Pierre Latour (FR) AG2R La Mondiale 22:13

14 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 27:26

15 Egan Bernal (Col) Sky Team 27:52

16 Tanel Kangert (East) Astana Pro Team 34:52

17 Warren Barguil (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 37:06

18 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 39:08

19 Rafał Majka (Poland) Bora-Hansgrohe 39:57

20 Damiano Caruso (Italy) BMC Racing Team 42:31


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