Thomas edges closer to title

By Luke Maguire

Geraint Thomas ticked off the final mountain test on the Tour de France and snatched six bonus seconds to extend his lead in yellow as Sky team-mate Chris Froome slipped off the podium two days from Paris.

A time trial is now all that stands between Thomas and victory in the Tour de France. At the end of today’s31 kilometres of rolling terrain between Saint-Pee-sur-Nivelle and Espelette, we will know who will wear yellow into Paris tomorrow.

“I hope I’ll be able to sleep tonight,” Thomas said. “It was a big day today and I’m happy to get that ticked off.”

Thomas has never been so close to such a major win in his road career, but the two-time Olympic team pursuit champion is no stranger to pressure.

“I guess it’s a bit like the Olympic final in London,” he said.

“That was big tension the day before but at least with this it’s kind of spread out. Obviously it comes down to tomorrow. I think I can just take confidence with how I’ve been riding, recover as best as possible and what will be will be tomorrow.”

Primoz Roglic took victory yesterday on stage 19 to Laruns by 19 seconds, enough to propel the Slovenian above Froome into third place overall going into the decisive time trial.

“What can I say? It’s crazy - obviously I had legs today” said a stunned Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) after claiming his first Tour de France stage win with a daring downhill attack.

Roglic, a former Junior World Ski Jumping champion, put his skills to good use as he was clocked at speeds touching 90kmph as he sped away from the field on the descent of the Col d’Aubisque. This victory not only gave him the stage win but by gapping the field he managed to move onto the podium with Froome dropping down to fourth.

Thomas was second on the stage. Dan Martin (UAE Emirates) was fourth, sprinting home in a select group of climbers, which included the yellow jersey yellow of Thomas (Sky).

The promise of a second stage victory spurred the Irishman to push on for the final climb, but his efforts proved futile as Roglic disappeared away from the group on the winding descent.

“It’s a pity we couldn’t go for the stage victory,” said Martin. “It was in the back of my mind and that’s why I held on for so long on the climb. It was a bit dodgy going down there in the mist, but that’s what makes it the Tour.

“I didn’t know it was a headwind sprint at the end, maybe I could have got second, but Roglic managed to get away on the straight part of the descent from the Col d’Aubisque and we just couldn’t pull him back.” said Martin, before gulping down a bottle of water in one go, visibly exhausted from his efforts.

It has been an eventful Tour for Martin, who experienced the highs of victory on stage 6 and the cruel crash just two days later which hindered his ambitions of overall victory. With just two stages remaining, he acknowledged that it has been a long, hard-fought three weeks.

“It was a difficult day for everyone. It’s a group of very tired men trying to race their bikes. It’s all part of it with the attacking and aggression there. When we look back on it, it’ll probably look like it was fun, but I’m very, very tired right now.”

The perseverance of the Irishman paid off — with Nairo Quintana (Movistar) losing time due to a crash on stage 17, Martin saw himself jump up one place to 8th overall, 6’39 behind race leader Geraint Thomas.

Thomas came under attack on the final climb, with second place Tom Domoulin and the LottoNL-Jumbo duo of Primoz Roglic and Steven Krujswijk trying on numerous occasions to put distance between themselves and the yellow jersey. These attacks ultimately proved futile with Thomas pulling them back.

If Thomas can hold his nerve and put in a respectable time trial today he will be crowned the first Welsh Tour de France winner tomorrow in Paris.

“It’s obviously getting closer, but we have one more day. I need to do a really good TT now. I have a nice advantage, but I still have to be on the ball and do a good time trial, and we’ll see.” said the Cardiff-born rider.

Today sees the riders tackle a lumpy 31 kilometre time-trial, which will prove the final chance for riders to move up in the general classification before the ceremonial final stage to Paris on Sunday.