La Rosiere: Welshman Geraint Thomas soared to victory in the 11th stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday to take the leader’s yellow jersey.
Thomas, of Team Sky, completed an impressive ride on the 108.5km stage from Albertville to the summit of La Rosiere by overtaking Spaniard Mikel Nieve (Mitchelton) in the closing metres.
Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) finished second at 20 secs, just ahead of Sky leader and four-time champion Chris Froome.
Defending champion Froome had earlier welcomed his rivals’ lack of aggression as he still stayed on course for a record-equalling fifth title.
The 158.5-km Stage 10 trek from Annecy on Tuesday was one day ticked off his to-do list as the Briton remained in a perfect position to become the first rider in 20 years to achieve a Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double.
“We couldn’t have asked for much more, really. It was pretty steady,” said Froome.
A final time trial on the eve of the Champs Elysees parade should also help him gain time on his rivals, with the exception of Dutchman Tom Dumoulin, who is 3:42 off the pace in 11th.
“We were pretty happy to have the numbers up front. I think the guys really showed exactly what we’ve been training for,” Froome added.
“I’m feeling pretty good.”
Among Froome’s rivals, the Movistar team — with three potential winners in Valverde, Nairo Quintana and Mikel Landa — did not even try to unsettle the four-time champion on stage 10 in yet another demonstration of their conservative tactics.
“Everyone’s got their own game plan. Other people are probably also thinking about these next hard days coming up,” said Froome.
“No one really showed all their cards.”
Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford is confident that Thursday’s stage — the little matter of Alpe d’Huez, the race’s queen stage — is where the competition for the general classification heats up.
“Alpe d’Huez (on Thursday) is where it’s going to happen,” he said.
“Psychologically, the first week was pretty tense. But a lot of the guys, on the first rest day (Monday), were saying it was one of the ‘easier’ first week’s of a Grand Tour. That certainly plays into our favour.”
— Reuters
