Paris: Geraint Thomas became only the third Briton to win the Tour de France title when he crossed the finishing line here, Sunday. He thus followed Sir Bradley Wiggins and four-time Tour champion and Team Sky teammate Chris Froome as Britain celebrated its sixth win in last seven years.
Alexander Kristoff of Norway won the final sprint finish on the Champs-Elysees as Thomas crossed the line arm-in-arm with Froome after three weeks of grueling racing. He defeated Dutchman Tom Dumoulin by one minute 51 seconds, with Froome finishing third.
The 32-year-old Welshman, who rode in support of Froome in each of his four wins, had built up that lead over the previous 20 stages and Tour convention dictates that the yellow jersey is not challenged on the final stage.
“It’s going to take a while to sink in,” Thomas said before draping the Wales flag over his shoulders during the podium ceremony. “Normally that stage is really hard but today (Sunday) I just seemed to float around it. I had goose bumps going around there. The support from the Welsh, British flags…. To ride around wearing this (yellow jersey) is a dream.”
However, Thomas remembered the first time he took part in Tour de France in 2007 calling it insane and to be just part of the race that time. “When I rode on the Champs-Elysees for the first time in 2007, that was insane – just to finish the race and just to be a part of it,” Thomas added.
“To now be riding round winning it is just incredible. It’s just a whirlwind. I seem to be floating around on cloud nine”.
Froome who came into the race as a defending champion and holder of all three Grand Tour titles, having won the Vuelta a Espana last September and the Giro d’Italia in May was touted to be the favorite to win the title.
However, the 33-year-old’s hopes of winning the title were dashed when he crashed twice in nine stages – the latest being in the 17th Stage in Col du Portet while he was riding down to his team bus. Froome was stopped by the police who thought him to be a fan and that cost his a lot of time while Thomas went ahead.
However, Froome who was only cleared to race the week before the Tour started, after his anti-doping case was dropped by cycling’s world governing body, the UCI earlier admitted to support Thomas to win the title after struggling and losing time because of the crash.
And yes, he was true to his words – a man with a great heart.