Media playback is not supported on this device 'It's just insane really' - Thomas reacts to Tour de France win

Geraint Thomas became the third Briton to win the Tour de France when he crossed the finish line in Paris.

The Team Sky rider, 32, follows Sir Bradley Wiggins in 2012 and four-time Tour champion Chris Froome as Britain celebrates a sixth win in seven years.

Alexander Kristoff won the final sprint finish on the Champs-Elysees as Thomas crossed the line arm-in-arm with Froome after three weeks of racing.

He beat Dutchman Tom Dumoulin by one minute 51 seconds, with Froome third.

The 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.

"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 told ITV.

"To now be riding round winning it is just incredible. It's just a whirlwind. I seem to be floating around on cloud nine.

"Maybe when I'm 70, sat in a corner of a pub telling some 18-year-old what I used to be, it will sink in. It's incredible, the stuff of dreams."

Froome was heavy favourite to become the fifth rider to win a record-equalling fifth Tour de France title. He came into the race as 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.

However, he 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.

The 33-year-old was under investigation after more than the permitted level of legal asthma drug salbutamol was found in his urine during his Vuelta victory.

But his hopes of matching Eddy Merckx's record of four consecutive Grand Tour victories were ended in the Pyrenees mountains in the final week as Thomas proved the strongest rider.

A procession into Paris

The moment Thomas crossed the finish line in Paris - with four-time champion Froome

The final 116km stage began in Houilles, to the north-west of Paris, and the riders took a leisurely pace into the capital before embarking on eight laps of the city centre.

Team Sky led the peloton into Paris, having allowed France's Sylvain Chavanel to ride clear for one lap in his final Tour in recognition of his achievement of completing a record 18th race.

Six riders attacked off the front of the peloton and built an advantage of about 45 seconds, but they were eventually reeled in on the final lap, with 6km remaining.

World champion Peter Sagan's Bora-Hansgrohe team-mates did the bulk of the chasing, hoping to help the winner of the green points classification jersey to a first win in Paris, but Norwegian Kristoff outsprinted Frenchman Arnaud Demare and Germany's John Degenkolb after Yves Lampaert's late attack failed.

Thomas rode over the line a few seconds later, alongside Froome, the man he dethrones as champion.

Geraint Thomas was keen to show off the Welsh flag on the run-in to Paris

Thomas' Tour pedigree

Thomas' victory comes in his ninth Tour, one fewer than the record for most appearances before winning, held by 1980 winner Joop Zoetemelk of the Netherlands.

Thomas first rode in the Tour in 2007, when he finished 140th of the 141 finishers.

Like many British riders, he raced on both the track and the road in the early part of his career, winning two Olympic and three world team pursuit titles on the track between 2007 and 2012.

His sacrifice in helping Froome win four Tours has meant Thomas' best finish before this year was 15th.

He has also been dogged by bad luck. He fractured his pelvis on stage one in 2013 but rode the remaining 20 stages to help Froome win; in 2015 he crashed head first into a telegraph pole; and in 2017 broke a collarbone on stage nine.

This year, he has ridden a near faultless race to cement his place among Britain's greatest cyclists.

Cavendish leads praise for 'G'

Mark Cavendish, a former Team Sky and Great Britain team-mate of Thomas, said he was "so, so proud" of his achievement.

Asked if he ever thought Thomas could win a Grand Tour, Cavendish, who has won 30 Tour de France stages, told BBC Sport: "Recently, yes. But there is a definite hierarchy in Team Sky so I didn't know if he'd get the opportunity.

"If they (Team Sky) had said to Geraint 'right, now you've got to work for Froome' he'd have done it. That's the kind of guy he is. That's what is special about him and why he deserves the win.

"He's the most loyal guy you'll ever meet. He's incredible. I love him. I'm so, so proud of him."

Peter Kennaugh, another former Team Sky and GB team-mate, added: "It's incomprehensible. It's 'G' and he's won the Tour de France. I can't imagine how he feels. I'm just so proud of him."

Ex-Team Sky team-mate Ben Swift, who shared a house with Thomas in Manchester, said: "It's amazing to see. We've grown up together, been at the British Academy together, lived together, so to see him do this is incredible."

Three-time world team pursuit world champion Dani Rowe said: "I did see him as a Tour winner. He's one of the most hard-working riders I've ever come across, so I think he deserves this more than anyone."

Former British cyclist Chris Boardman, who won three Tour stages and wore the yellow jersey, said: "He's the most popular winner for years. No disrespect to those who have gone before him but he's always laid it down for someone else and sacrificed himself for someone else."

The stages that defined Thomas' victory

Thomas went in to this year's race saying he was hoping to challenge team leader Froome.

He told BBC Sport: "The team have said with the way I've been riding they're confident to give me that role of a back-up guy and to race at least until the first rest day (after stage nine)."

He was second after stage nine and took hold of the race leader's yellow jersey on stage 11.

Stage 3: Team Sky finish second in the team trial to propel Thomas up the standings to third, three seconds adrift of race leader Greg van Avermaet.

Team Sky finish second in the team trial to propel Thomas up the standings to third, three seconds adrift of race leader Greg van Avermaet. Stage 6: A tactically aware Thomas picks up two bonus seconds near the finish to move himself up to second overall.

A tactically aware Thomas picks up two bonus seconds near the finish to move himself up to second overall. Stage 11: Thomas attacks with 6km remaining on the final ascent to the summit finish at La Rosiere in the Alps to finish 20 seconds ahead of Dumoulin and Froome and take the race leader's yellow jersey.

Thomas attacks with 6km remaining on the final ascent to the summit finish at La Rosiere in the Alps to finish 20 seconds ahead of Dumoulin and Froome and take the race leader's yellow jersey. Stage 12: Another late surge sees Thomas become the first British rider to win on the fabled Alpe d'Huez as he again leaves Dumoulin and Froome in his wake to cement his position as a real threat in the race. "There wasn't a chance in hell I was going to win," Thomas said. "I just kept following Dumoulin and Froome. Can we just go to Paris now?"

Another late surge sees Thomas become the first British rider to win on the fabled Alpe d'Huez as he again leaves Dumoulin and Froome in his wake to cement his position as a real threat in the race. "There wasn't a chance in hell I was going to win," Thomas said. "I just kept following Dumoulin and Froome. Can we just go to Paris now?" Stage 17: Into the Pyrenees and an attack in the closing few hundred metres helps Thomas finish third to put another nine seconds into Dumoulin as Froome falters on the final climb, finishing 48 seconds behind his team-mate.

Into the Pyrenees and an attack in the closing few hundred metres helps Thomas finish third to put another nine seconds into Dumoulin as Froome falters on the final climb, finishing 48 seconds behind his team-mate. Stage 19: The final stage in the mountains and Thomas follows the attacks of all his rivals before sprinting to second on the stage to pick up more bonus seconds and move two minutes five seconds clear. He has accrued 33 bonus seconds, 21 more than Dumoulin.

The final stage in the mountains and Thomas follows the attacks of all his rivals before sprinting to second on the stage to pick up more bonus seconds and move two minutes five seconds clear. He has accrued 33 bonus seconds, 21 more than Dumoulin. Stage 20: Dumoulin wins the time trial, beating Froome by one second, but Thomas finishes third on the stage to maintain a lead of one minute 51 seconds.

How did the other Britons fare?

Mark Cavendish set out looking to make further inroads in Eddy Merckx's record of 34 Tour stage wins, but the Dimension Data rider was unable to add to his tally of 30. He missed out on the early sprint stages and was eliminated when he missed the time cut on the mountainous 11th stage.

Mitchelton-Scott rider Adam Yates won the young rider classification in 2016 and was tipped to go well this year, but dehydration in the Alps - he was dropped on the way to La Rosiere on stage 11 and again on the next stage to Alpe d'Huez - cost him dearly. To end a miserable Tour, he crashed while leading on stage 16 and finished third.

The third British rider in Team Sky's squad, Luke Rowe, finished 130th - almost four hours behind the winner - but his sacrifices to help compatriot Thomas win will live long in both their memories.

Who won green, polka dot and white jerseys?

Three-time world champion Sagan romped away with the green points jersey, which rewards consistently high finishes on each stage. It is a joint record sixth victory in the classification for the Slovak, matching Germany's Erik Zabel.

Sagan won three stages and finished in the top 10 on nine others to amass 477 points, more than double Kristoff in second.

The polka dot 'king of the mountains' jersey was claimed by Julian Alaphilippe, who comfortably beat fellow Frenchman Warren Barguil.

Another home rider, Pierre Latour, won the white jersey awarded to the best young rider (under the age of 26).

Final standings:

1. Geraint Thomas (GB/Team Sky) 83hrs 17mins 13secs

2. Tom Dumoulin (Ned/Team Sunweb) +1min 51secs

3. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) +2mins 24secs

4. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Team LottoNL-Jumbo) +3mins 22secs

5. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned/Lotto NL-Jumbo) +6mins 8secs

6. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R La Mondiale) +6mins 57secs

7. Mikel Landa (Spa/Movistar) +7mins 37secs

8. Daniel Martin (Ire/UAE Team Emirates) +9mins 5secs

9. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus/Katusha-Alpecin) +12mins 37secs

10. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar Team) +14mins 18secs

Stage 21 result:

1. Alexander Kristoff (Nor/UAE Team Emirates) 2hrs 46mins 36secs

2. John Degenkolb (Ger/Trek-Segafredo) same time

3. Arnaud Demare (Fra/Groupama-FDJ)

4. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/Team Dimension Data)

5. Christophe Laporte (Fra/Cofidis)

6. Maximiliano Richeze (Arg/Quick-Step Floors)

7. Sonny Colbrelli (Ita/Bahrain-Merida)

8. Peter Sagan (Svk/Bora-Hansgrohe)

9. Andrea Pasqualon (Ita/Wanty-Groupe Gobert)

10. Jasper de Buyst (Bel/Lotto-Soudal)</s>Geraint Thomas did not start the Tour de France either as the favourite or even as the leader of his own team.

But the Team Sky rider stayed out of trouble in a first week which ruined the races of many others, and then imposed himself in the Alps to take control of the race.

Here Press Association Sport looks at the key stages in the Welshman’s win.

The significance of Chris Froome’s short excursion in to a field less than six kilometres from the finish of the opening stage was not immediately apparent – and certainly did nothing to change Team Sky’s insistence that he remained the team leader. The four-time Tour winner finished 51 seconds back to Thomas, losing time along with Adam Yates and Nairo Quintana.

Thomas was just three seconds off yellow after Team Sky finished the team time trial second to BMC, whose Greg Van Avermaet took the race lead. Tom Dumoulin’s Team Sunweb were fifth on the day, but only gave up seven seconds to Sky and Thomas before some much more significant time gaps further down.

The short, steep climb of the Mur-de-Bretagne was the first real test of form for the general classification riders, and Thomas did not falter as he finished ninth, picking up five seconds on Froome who lost the wheels at the end, and 50 seconds on Dumoulin who faded badly on the climb. It was the most significant single loss of time for Dumoulin versus Thomas in the Tour.

The first week of the Tour left significant gaps in the general classification as much through incident and misfortune as form. Much emphasis was put on the cobbled stage to Roubaix and it certainly delivered incident, with Richie Porte crashing out while Froome and Rigoberto Uran also hit the deck. But Thomas kept doing what he did all week – staying safe and out of trouble as he ended the day 43 seconds off yellow.

Thomas may have taken the yellow jersey off Van Avermaet a day later than expected but he did it in some style on the second Alpine stage of the Tour. The Welshman accelerated away from Froome and Dumoulin to take the stage win – the second of his career in the Tour – and pocket another 20 seconds plus bonuses, while others were even further back.

If La Rosiere seemed significant, Alpe d’Huez provided the defining moment of the Tour. Thomas’ second consecutive win – making him the first man since Toni Rominger in 1993 to win back-to-back mountain stages – was not by a huge margin, just two seconds to Dumoulin with Froome another two seconds back in fourth. But it was a huge statement as Froome tried an attack and failed late in the climb before Thomas, having kept his powder dry, exploded out of the final corner. Immediately after the stage he was still talking about Froome being Sky’s leader, but over the next couple of days Thomas’ achievement began to sink in and he became more assertive in yellow.

Thomas got the honour of lining up in pole position as the Tour experimented with an F1-style grid for this short, sharp mountain stage, but it was a day filled with peril for Team Sky. They fought all day to control attacks before Thomas executed another late dash to extend his lead – avoiding a spectator’s attempts to grab his arm – as he finished third on the stage and extended his lead to one minute and 59 seconds over Dumoulin.

The final mountain stage was littered with traps set for Team Sky. The climbs of the Aspin, Tourmalet and Aubisque provided ample opportunity for rivals to attack, and they surely did try. But Thomas stuck to his task in the sense that he stuck to Dumoulin’s wheel then, in the final few hundred metres, found a turn of pace to snatch second place and six more bonus seconds to further pad his lead.

Thomas was third quickest on the stage, behind Dumoulin and Froome, but did comfortably enough to take the yellow jersey into the celebratory final stage and showed his delight as he crossed the line in Espelette. Team Sky had the added bonus of Froome taking third place from Primoz Roglic.</s>PARIS — Geraint Thomas won his first Tour de France title on Sunday, concluding his transformation from a support rider into a champion of cycling’s biggest race.

The Welsh rider with Team Sky successfully defended his lead of 1 minute, 51 seconds over second-placed Tom Dumoulin in the mostly ceremonial final stage around the Champs-Elysees on Sunday.

Thomas rode a yellow bicycle to match his yellow jersey and shared glasses of champagne with his teammates during the casual ride into Paris, but this was the calm after the storm.

If you didn’t watch the Tour de France, you missed a whirlwind of a race.

This year’s event took one of the sporting world’s most difficult feats and set it on an even more challenging course, one with death-defying cobblestones and vertigo-inducing climbs. Before the race concluded at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Sunday, there were many hard-to-believe highlights for the 3.5 billion people glued to the wild and crazy ride.

1. A new star was minted and almost immediately dethroned

At the race’s start line in the island of Noirmoutier-en-L’ile, the veteran boldface sprinter (and self-dubbed “Tour-minator”) Peter Sagan was pitted against rising star Fernando Gaviria, who was in his first Tour de France. At the end of Day One, it was the baby-faced 23-year-old who came out victorious. Gaviria crossed the finish line in Fontenay-le-Comte with arms wide open to claim the first yellow jersey in 15 years for his home country, Colombia.

On the same day, four top riders crashed or had mechanical problems. Sagan offered no such excuse, simply saying: “He is faster than me.” The Slovakian legend, who counts 109 career wins, also voiced a few words of caution. “We will see,” he told the press. “Maybe I will wait for some mistake [so that I can overtake him]. We will see the next days on the climbs.”

Turns out, Sagan was correct: Though Gaviria would win a sprint stage three days later, the young rider eventually abandoned the race during stage 12, a 175-kilometre trek through the Alps, where the sheer verticality was ill-suited to the sprinter’s skill set.

2. The predicted winner was banned, allowed back in, kicked, booed, and then demoted

Four-time TDF champion Chris Froome may be the biggest name in cycling in 2018 — but his celebrity isn’t without controversy. At the start of the month, the star of Team Sky was undergoing a doping investigation following a medical test that showed excessive use of a legally prescribed asthma medication. The sport’s leading agencies, the International Cycling Union and the World Anti-Doping Agency, dropped the case and cleared Froome’s name just in time for the race to begin.

But spectators had already made up their mind. As the athlete went through the race’s 23-day, 3,329-kilometre course, he was booed, spit on, kicked, and pummelled with questionable bottles of yellow fluid.

In an unlikely twist, Froome’s Team Sky colleague Geraint Thomas — whose job in the race, initially, was to support Froome toward victory — took the yellow jersey in stage 11 and never let go. After Froome lost ground to Thomas during stage 17 from Bagnères‑de‑Luchon to Saint-Lary-Soulan, the senior rider seemed to concede. “‘G’ has ridden such an amazing race he deserves to be in yellow and fingers crossed he holds it until Paris,” he said of Thomas.

“I’ll still fight for the podium and obviously we want to see ‘G’ up there in yellow,” he added, demoting himself from star to supporting teammate.

3. Everyone got maced by accident

On a partly cloudy day in the Pyrenees city of Carcassonne, just 25 kilometres into a gruelling 217-kilometre stage 16, the race came to a sudden halt. First it was a literal road block — bales of hay — that stopped the front riders, including Froome and Thomas. Then it was tear gas. The cause? French police were responding to a farmer’s protest in one of the villages alongside the race route. The gas took out at least a half-dozen marquee riders and caused officials to pause the race for 15 minutes.

“The Tour de France lost one of its best riders because of stupid fans on Alpe d’Huez,” read the headline from sports news site SBNation, and it couldn’t have been better put. Though the estimated 12 million spectators that line the Tour de France route are one of the aspects that make the race so fun to watch —with their inane costumes and antics — the narrative took a different turn on July 19.

Four kilometres from the stage 12 finish line, a collision between a fan and Italian rider Vincenzo Nibali sent the yellow jacket contender to the hospital with a fractured vertebra. Why not protect riders from this so-called stranger danger? The sport’s insiders say it’s nearly impossible to secure and police a 3,380-kilometre route.

5. One big record was clinched — but not the one people expected

Froome’s quest to join the innermost circle of all-time greats may have been cast aside, but another record was reached on Sunday under the Arc de Triomph. Remember Peter Sagan, the veteran who was initially outdone by the novice? In a high-speed version of the turtle and the hare, Sagan claimed his sixth green jersey — the prize for the best sprinter — tying an all-time record set by German racer Erik Zabel in 2001. Sagan had been so dominant, he reached a mathematically insurmountable lead in the green jersey competition midway through stage 16. That made his victory the only sure bet when the racers crossed the finish line in Paris.

— With files from the Associated Press</s>Who is the Tour’s latest winner, Geraint Thomas?</s>ESPELETTE, France>> No longer merely a support rider for Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas is going to Paris in the yellow jersey.

ESPELETTE, France>> No longer merely a support rider for Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas is going to Paris in the yellow jersey.

The Welshman with Team Sky effectively sealed his first Tour de France title by protecting his lead in the penultimate stage time trial on Saturday.

Thomas takes a lead of 1 minute, 51 seconds over Tom Dumoulin into the mostly ceremonial finish on the Champs-Elysees on Sunday.

“It’s just overwhelming,” Thomas said. “I didn’t think about it all race, and now suddenly I won the Tour.”

Dumoulin won the 20th stage by one second ahead of four-time champion Froome, who leapfrogged Primoz Roglic into third place overall.

“After a difficult day yesterday I did not think it was possible,” Froome said. “I’m very, very happy. Being on the podium with Geraint is a dream.”

Thomas finished third in the stage, 14 seconds behind, but that was more than enough with an advantage of more than two minutes at the start of the day.

Thomas was a support rider during Froome’s title rides but he became Sky’s undisputed leader when Froome cracked in the grueling 17th stage through the Pyrenees.

Wearing an all-yellow skin suit on a bike in the red, white and blue colors of the British flag, Thomas was the last rider to start.

In a few drops of rain, Thomas was quick to regain control when his wheel appeared to lock up coming around a tricky, tight corner early on the route. Still, he was first at the two checkpoints before slowing his pace in the final kilometers.

“I felt good. I felt strong. I felt really good, actually. I heard I was up and maybe I was pushing it a bit hard on some of those corners,” Thomas said. “Nico (Portal, Sky sports director) told me to relax, take it easy and just make sure I won the Tour. And that’s what I did.”

At the finish, Thomas let out a loud scream and held his arms out wide in celebration. He embraced his wife, Sara Elen, as soon as he got off his bike.

“The last time I cried was when I got married,” Thomas said as he teared up.

Thomas is poised to become the third British rider — and first Welshman — to win the Tour after Bradley Wiggins and Froome. Also, he will make it Sky’s sixth victory in the last seven years.

Thomas claimed the yellow jersey by winning Stage 11 in the Alps, followed that up with another victory atop Alpe d’Huez a day later, and defended his advantage through the Pyrenees.

“He was in the shape of his life,” Dumoulin said. “He didn’t make any mistakes. He was never put into trouble by anyone, in the mountains or anywhere — including by myself.”

An all-around rider who began his career on the track, Thomas helped Britain to gold medals in team pursuit at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics before turning his full attention to road racing.

Dumoulin clocked 40 minutes, 52 seconds over the hilly and technical 31-kilometer (19-mile) route.

It marked the first time in 12 years the Tour passed through the Basque Country, and fans waving the region’s red, green and white flags lined the entire route in front of the area’s traditional half-timbered houses.

It was Dumoulin’s second career stage win in the Tour, having also won a time trial in 2016. The Dutchman has won six TTs overall at the three Grand Tours — the Tour, the Giro d’Italia and the Spanish Vuelta.

Dumoulin misplaced his rainbow time trial world champion jersey, and his team had to scramble to make a new kit in the morning.

“It was a crazy morning,” Dumoulin said. “It’s amazing to finish second in the Tour de France. I’m 27 years old and hopefully I’ll get stronger, especially in the mountains, and hopefully one day I will be able to win.”

American rider Lawson Craddock, who broke his shoulder in the opening stage and sits last overall, also broke down into tears upon reaching the finish.

“It’s been an incredibly testing Tour de France for me,” Craddock said. “I wasn’t sure I could make it this far, and I just enjoyed crossing the finish line today. It was the final test to make it to Paris.”</s>Tour de France: Geraint Thomas all but seals the yellow jersey as Dumoulin wins time trial

Geraint Thomas effectively sealed his first Tour de France title on Saturday by protecting the yellow jersey in the penultimate stage time trial.

Thomas, a Welsh rider with Team Sky, takes a lead of one minute, 51 seconds over Tom Dumoulin into the mostly ceremonial finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Sunday.

"It's just overwhelming," Thomas said. "I didn't think about it all race, and now suddenly I won the Tour."

Dumoulin won the stage by one second ahead of four-time champion Chris Froome, who leap-frogged Primoz Roglic into third place overall.

At the finish there was some confusion as to whether Froome or Dumoulin had won the stage due to a timing error but it was soon confirmed that the Dutchman came out on top, clocking 40 minutes, 52 seconds over the hilly and technical 31-kilometre route.

"After a difficult day yesterday I did not think it was possible," Froome said. "I'm very, very happy. Being on the podium with Geraint is a dream."

Thomas finished third in the 20th stage, 14 seconds behind, but that was more than enough to protect the lead of more than two minutes he had at the start of the day.

Wearing an all-yellow skin suit while riding a bike in the red, white and blue colours of the British flag, the 32-year-old Thomas was the last rider to start.

With a few drops of rain falling, Thomas was quick to regain control when his wheel appeared to lock up coming around a tricky, tight corner early in the route.

"I felt good. I felt strong. I felt really good, actually. I heard I was up and maybe I was pushing it a bit hard on some of those corners," Thomas said.

"Nico [Portal, Team Sky sports director] told me to relax, take it easy and just make sure I won the Tour. And that's what I did."

At the finish, Thomas let out a loud scream and held his arms out wide in celebration. He embraced his wife, Sara Elen, as soon as he got off his bike.

"The last time I cried was when I got married," Thomas said as he teared up.

Thomas is poised to become the third British rider — and first Welshman — to win the Tour after Bradley Wiggins and Froome. He can also make it Sky's sixth victory in the last seven years.

He claimed the yellow jersey by winning Stage 11 in the Alps, followed that up with another victory atop Alpe d'Huez a day later and then defended his advantage through the Pyrenees.

Thomas was a support rider during Froome's title rides but he became Sky's undisputed leader when Froome cracked in the gruelling 17th stage through the Pyrenees.

An all-around rider who began his career on the track, Thomas helped Britain to gold medals in team pursuit at both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics before turning his full attention to road racing.

It marked the first time in 12 years that the Tour passed through the Basque Country and fans waving the region's red, green and white flags lined the entire route in front of the area's traditional half-timbered houses.

It was Dumoulin's second career stage win in the Tour, having also won a time trial in 2016. The Dutchman has now won six TT's overall at the three Grand Tours — the Tour, the Giro d'Italia and the Spanish Vuelta — and he is also the time trial world champion.

He is also the first Dutchman in 30 years to finish second at the Tour.

"It's amazing to finish second in the Tour de France," Dumoulin said. "I'm 27 years old and hopefully I'll get stronger, especially in the mountains, and hopefully one day I will be able to win."

American rider Lawson Craddock, who broke his shoulder in the opening stage and sits last overall, also broke down into tears upon reaching the finish.

"It's been an incredibly testing Tour de France for me," Craddock said. "I wasn't sure I could make it this far, and I just enjoyed crossing the finish line today. It was the final test to make it to Paris."

Craddock has personally donated US$100 per stage since fracturing his scapula on stage one to the Greater Houston Cycling Foundation — and encouraged others to match his donations.

The campaign has currently raised over US$150,000 to help restore the Alkek Velodrome in Houston that was damaged by Hurricane Harvey in 2017.</s>ESPELETTE, France (AP) — No longer merely a support rider for Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas is going to Paris in the yellow jersey.

The Welshman with Team Sky effectively sealed his first Tour de France title by protecting his lead in the time trial on the penultimate stage on Saturday.

Thomas takes an advantage of 1 minute, 51 seconds over Tom Dumoulin into the mostly ceremonial finish on the Champs-Elysees on Sunday.

"It's just overwhelming," Thomas said. "I didn't think about it all race, and now suddenly I won the Tour."

Dumoulin won the 20th stage by one second ahead of four-time champion Froome, who leapfrogged Primoz Roglic into third place overall.

Thomas finished third in the stage, 14 seconds behind. But that was more than enough with an advantage of more than two minutes at the start of the day.

"The strongest guy has won this Tour de France," Froome said. "Tomorrow, to stand up on the podium with G, it's going to be a really proud moment for me."

Thomas, known as "G," was a support rider during Froome's title rides but he became Sky's undisputed leader when Froome cracked in the grueling 17th stage through the Pyrenees.

Thomas and Froome have been together since their days on the small Barloworld team a decade ago.

"Because we've been teammates and friends for so long, it made it easier to communicate honestly," Froome said. "It was clear as soon as we hit the Alps that Geraint was in better physical condition than me. It was pretty simple, really."

Wearing an all-yellow skin suit on a bike in the red, white and blue colors of the British flag, Thomas was the last rider to start.

In a few drops of rain, Thomas was quick to regain control when his wheel appeared to lock up coming around a tricky, tight corner early on. Still, he was first at the two checkpoints before slowing in the final kilometers.

"I felt strong. I felt really good, actually. I heard I was up and maybe I was pushing it a bit hard on some of those corners," Thomas said. "Nico (Portal, Sky sports director) told me to relax, take it easy and just make sure I won the Tour. And that's what I did."

At the finish, Thomas let out a loud scream and held his arms out wide in celebration. He embraced his wife, Sara Elen, as soon as he got off his bike.

"The last time I cried was when I got married," Thomas said as he teared up.

Thomas is poised to become the third British rider — and first Welshman — to win the Tour after Bradley Wiggins and Froome. He will make it Sky's sixth victory in the last seven years.

"It's insane really — just all the interest in Cardiff," Thomas said. "Great to put it on the map. We're a small nation and we really get behind anyone that's successful. By the sounds of it, it's gone pretty crazy back home, so looking forward to going back to celebrate."

An all-around rider who began his career on the track, Thomas helped Britain to gold medals in team pursuit at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics before turning his full attention to road racing.

Thomas claimed the yellow jersey by winning Stage 11 in the Alps, followed that up with another victory atop Alpe d'Huez a day later, and defended his advantage through the Pyrenees.

"He was in the shape of his life," Dumoulin said. "He didn't make any mistakes. He was never put into trouble by anyone, in the mountains or anywhere — including by myself."

The time trial world champion, Dumoulin clocked under 41 minutes over the hilly and technical 31-kilometer (19-mile) route.

It marked the first time in 12 years the Tour passed through the Basque Country, and fans waving the region's red, green and white flags lined the entire route in front of the area's traditional half-timbered houses.

It was Dumoulin's second career stage win in the Tour, having also won a time trial in 2016. The Dutchman has won six TTs overall at the three Grand Tours — the Tour, the Giro d'Italia and the Spanish Vuelta.</s>With a first Tour de France win out of the way, Geraint Thomas will show us in the next few months whether he is a ticker or an accumulator. Some athletes tend to achieve a single goal – ticking a particular box – then move on to something else, the best recent example at the Tour being Sir Bradley Wiggins who won the yellow jersey, then added a world time trial title, an Hour Record, an attempt at a one-day Classic, and finally one last Olympic gold medal. Accumulators have an appetite for repeating their feats, troubling the record books as they do so, the obvious current model being Chris Froome.

Thomas has until around Christmas to decide whether to target a second Tour, or direct his talent and drive elsewhere - the Giro d’Italia, or the one-day Classics. That will firstly hinge on whether he signs for a further stint at Team Sky, which is probable given that he has grown up at the team, and that there is no obviously enticing squad which will be able to afford him. Secondly, it will depend on whether he or Froome pulls rank, or whether Sky opt for repeating this year’s two-pronged leadership strategy, which will carry obvious benefits but obvious risks: Thomas will be more ambitious, Froome well aware that time is not on his side.

In the short term, there is the hangover. Thomas’s teammate and fellow Welshman Luke Rowe informed social media that he had a sore head on Monday morning, which was understandable given their legendary and well documented joint capacity for celebration. There are other riders with bigger headaches, however. The 2018 Tour left a larger than usual number of team leaders scarred mentally or physically or both, which will lend more piquancy than usual to the Vuelta a España, which comes around with disturbing speed, starting on 25 August in Málaga.

Neither Thomas nor Froome are likely to be there. Froome started his season early to target the Giro d’Italia while Thomas will digest his Tour win rather than tackle a race which will suit him less than la Grande Boucle. On which note, the Tour of Britain starts in Wales on 2 September, and it is safe to assume that the organisers have - not unreasonably - already begun to badger Sky to field the Principality’s star. At the Vuelta, however, Sky are expected to blood their young Scot Tao Geoghegan Hart, who performed so strongly in support of Thomas at the Criterium du Dauphiné.

The Vuelta will at least see the Movistar “trident” of Nairo Quintana, Mikel Landa and Alejandro Valverde attempt to pull off the victory that eluded them at the Tour, while others who need redemption after an unsatisfactory season include Rigoberto Uran, Richie Porte and the Italian Fabio Aru, who flopped in his home Tour. It is unclear whether Adam Yates will target the Spanish Tour, but his brother Simon, star of the Giro until his epic collapse shortly before the finish, is certainly on the list at present.

The Spanish Tour also remains a target for the Tour’s biggest casualty, Vincenzo Nibali, who left the race due to a fractured vertebrae, but has the Vuelta pencilled in as preparation for the world championships in Innsbruck in late September. The Frenchman Thibaut Pinot missed his home Tour due to the illness he picked up late in the Giro, but is another who will attempt to salvage something from his season in late August and September.

The Tour also saw a large number of sprinters head for home early on, but the extremely hilly world championship and the relatively small number of flat stages in the Vuelta offer limited opportunities to salvage their seasons. The problem for the likes of Mark Cavendish, André Greipel and Marcel Kittel is that even the Tour of Britain isn’t particularly flat, while the Vuelta offers the prospect of repeated mountainous slogs leavened by only the occasional opportunity for a win.

The three senior sprint stars of the peloton face an uncomfortable reality: their fast-moving world is moving on fast, and this season they have been left behind. The sprints at the Tour this year were dominated by the Colombian Fernando Gaviria, tipped as the coming man of the final kilometre for several years, and now in pole position to dominate next year. At the Vuelta, should any of the trio opt to travel there, they will face another fast man of the future, the Australian Caleb Ewan, who has a major point to prove after being left out of the Tour when his Mitchelton-Scott team opted to put all their eggs in the Adam Yates basket.

Behind the main battle for the yellow jersey, the 2018 Tour offered its usual pointers to the future. The emergence of another French star in the form of Julian Alaphilippe was welcome, but a more interesting prospect went relatively unnoticed. The Frenchman David Gaudu, who is only 21, showed flickers of talent in the mountains in spite of a troubled build-up to finish just outside the top 30, in between pulling stints on the flat for the Groupama sprinter Arnaud Demare. Alongside Lotto NL-Jumbo’s dynamic duo of Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruiswijk, the 24-year-old Dutchman Antwan Tolhoek also showed promise.

However, most speculation focused on another 21-year-old, Team Sky’s Colombian Egan Bernal, who managed 15th overall on his debut while remaining comfortably among the lead group on most of the major mountain stages. If he continues to improve at a similar rate, the question of whether Thomas or Froome is the British team’s anointed leader could become irrelevant in a couple of years.</s>PARIS (AP) The spits and the jeers. The eggs thrown at team cars. The attempts to unbalance riders while riding up the most grueling climbs.

Geraint Thomas never flinched at whatever fans – or his rivals – threw at him or Team Sky.

The Welsh rider was the steadiest rider from the start, the strongest in the Alps and the Pyrenees. On Sunday he concluded his transformation from a support rider into a champion of cycling’s biggest race by claiming his first Tour de France title.

”With the boys, that’s the main thing for the whole three weeks, we stuck together through some tough times, stayed strong,” Thomas said. ”Everything just clicked this race.”

Thomas successfully defended his lead of 1 minute, 51 seconds over second-placed Tom Dumoulin in the mostly ceremonial final stage.

Four-time champion Chris Froome, Thomas’s teammate, finished third, 2:24 behind. Froome rode next to Thomas as they crossed the line and applauded.

Thomas was a support rider during Froome’s four victories but he emerged as Sky’s strongest rider in this race when Froome crashed early on and couldn’t keep up in the mountains.

Sky – and consequently Thomas – became a target for many fans due to an asthma drug case involving Froome, stemming from last year’s Spanish Vuelta. Even though Froome was cleared of doping days before the start of the Tour, that didn’t stop some fans from abusing the British team’s riders throughout the three-week race.

”When there is negativity like that, it brings us as a team closer together,” Froome said. ”It feels like it’s us against the rest of the world. … You can choose to let it get to you or you can choose to let it motivate you, and we let it motivate us.”

Thomas stormed into the lead by winning back-to-back mountain stages in the Alps, including the iconic climb up Alpe d’Huez, then defended his advantage in the Pyrenees.

During the podium ceremony, Thomas draped the flag of Wales over his shoulders, then ended his victory speech with a mic drop.

”All I can say is that I do it the right way,” Thomas said when asked about concerns of alleged doping within Sky. ”We train super hard and there’s nothing I can say that will prove it. I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing. It will stand the test of time.”

An all-around rider who began his career on the track, the 32-year-old Thomas helped Britain to gold medals in team pursuit at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics before turning his full attention to road racing.

”I have my own goals and I kept doing what I’m doing and kept focused on that. … Obviously it’s not nice to hear (the jeers) but I do what I do and focus on myself,” Thomas said. ”It’s easy to get wrapped up in or get angry or depressed but I stay in my own world.”

Riding a yellow bicycle to match his yellow jersey, Thomas shared glasses of champagne with his teammates during the casual ride into Paris before buckling down to keep up with the other leaders on the jarring cobblestones of the Champs-Elysees.

”It’s going to take a while to sink in,” Thomas said. ”Normally that stage is really hard but today 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.”

Norwegian rider Alexander Kristoff with UAE Team Emirates won the last stage in a sprint finish, narrowly beating John Degenkolb and Arnaud Demare.

”I’ve dreamed about this victory for many years,” Kristoff said. ”I’ve been close many times before but never managed to beat the faster guys like (Mark) Cavendish, (Andre) Greipel, or (Marcel) Kittel, but today they’re not here, they’re out after the mountains, and today I was the fastest, so I’m super happy.”

The mostly flat 116-kilometer (72-mile) leg began in Houilles just outside Paris and concluded with nine laps up and down the Champs-Elysees.

Many spectators along the Champs-Elysees held their arms high to record the riders on their smart phones as they went past on the cobblestones, and there were more cheers when 11 jets flew overhead leaving trails in the blue, white and red colors of the French flag.

Street vendors sold chicken, sausages, waffles, cake and sweets, while the smell of crepes filled the air.

Glenn Roberts, from Newtown in mid-Wales, was in attendance with his wife and children. The family timed its summer vacation to coincide with the Tour’s finish.

”Thomas was in the yellow when we left Wales but we didn’t know if he was going to keep it. We thought Froome was going to win it, if I’m being honest,” Roberts said. ”It’s the best thing a Welshman has ever done in sport.”</s>U.K. cyclist Geraint Thomas crossed the Tour de France finish line on the Champs-Élysées Sunday to become the first Welshman to take the honor.

Thomas, 32, wearing the yellow jersey of the overall leader crossed the line arm-in-arm with teammate Chris Froome, last year's winner. Sunday's ceremonial final stage came after Thomas's Saturday defense of a 1 minute, 51 seconds lead over second-place finisher Tom Dumoulin. Four-time champion Froome placed third overall.

According to Cycling News, "After the customary champagne and photo opportunities during the first half of the stage, things - as they usually do - got serious once the peloton hit Paris. A six-man break got away early on the Champs-Élysées circuits, but with the sprinter's teams keen to take the glory on the Tour's last day, they were hunted down with 6.5km (4 miles) to go."

"It's going to take a while to sink in," Thomas said before draping the flag of Wales over his shoulders during the podium ceremony, according to The Associated Press. "Normally that stage is really hard but today 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."

According to The Associated Press:

Thomas was a support rider for Froome's four earlier Tour de France victories. As ESPN writes, "This isn't the first time a loyal support rider has emerged from the shadow of his former leader."

ESPN, noting a "lack of tension" between Thomas and Froome over the role reversal, says Thomas "prevailed because Froome wavered, but there's more to it. Sky has the deepest pockets ($40 million, twice that of the next-richest organization) and correspondingly deepest bench in the business. In the highest mountains, incandescent 21-year-old Colombian talent Egan Bernal worked for both men."

As NPR's Bill Chappell wrote last week, for Froome, it had been "a race of misadventures." One incident came on Wednesday when Froome, wearing a dark gray rain jacket over his racing jersey, was yanked off his bike by a police officer who mistook him for a fan riding the course.
Geraint Thomas of the United Kingdom wins the Tour de France.