Geraint Thomas' Tour de France triumph shows he can no longer be shackled

Matt Jones - Editor 20:36 29/07/2018
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  • Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. But Geraint ThomasTour de France triumph saw the Welsh wonder finally ride down the aisle and throw away his days as a domestique.

    Sunday was his day to dazzle in white – or, rather, yellow, glowing as he glided along the Champs Elysees to a maiden Grand Tour title.

    His journey is a heartwarming one, but also rare. In almost all individual sports, success is both an athlete’s drive and prerogative. Tennis, golf, boxing – to get to the top in any of them requires a steely resolve and iron will to win.

    Although in all three there exists talent in abundance – with some destined for the top and others plodding though their profession, content with earning an above average living and providing for their families – any shred of success is there’s and there’s alone.

    For cyclists, however, the joy and silverware is spread between a very select few. Behind every Chris Froome or Mark Cavendish, Miguel Indurain or Eddy Merckx, there is a spare wheel who spends an entire career devoted to being a cog in the machine.

    Dimension Data’s Mark Renshaw or Quick-Step Floors’ Fabio Sabatini, for example, are considered two of the best leadout men in the business. They are the grafters who often dictate the pace of sprints and regularly lead races in the latter stages.

    Ultimately, however, they are there to manoeuvre their teams’ star men into position. Their hard work is inevitably outstripped by the glory afforded Cavendish or Elia Viviani.

    A ‘domestique’ is a cycling term that describes a rider who works for the benefit of his or her team and leader, rather than trying to win the race themselves. In French, the word translates as ‘servant’. Domestiques are expected to uniformly fall into line.

    But Thomas has refused to accept his fate. He hasn’t done it out of disobedience or dissatisfaction borne out of being a supporting act. He has forced Team Sky to take him seriously as a leading man with his dedication and fine progress.

    At last year’s Tour he won the opening stage time trial and wore yellow for the first four days, relinquishing it to teammate Chris Froome on Stage 5 before being forced to abandon his bid while second overall following a horror crash on Stage 9 that saw him break his collarbone.

    Ahead of this year’s Tour, he served notice of his ambition and form by winning the Criterium du Dauphine – won by Sky riders Sir Bradley Wiggins (2012) and Froome (2013, 2015 and 2016) on their way to Tour triumph in those years.

    Instead of settling for being a servant, he has instead served up proof during this Tour of his ability and emergence as a truly complete rider.

    So much of cycling is specialised but Thomas is a genuine all-rounder – a prevalent climber, sprinter and time trialist.

    Evidence was littered throughout that he was the best rider. In the mountains, he won twice in the Alps during week two to snatch the yellow jersey from Greg Van Avermaet.

    With the legs becoming heavier as the Tour moved up into the Pyrenees for the third and final week, knees weakened. Froome faded. But while those around him, like Nairo Quintana, buckled, Thomas seemed to just get stronger.

    There was more than 5,000m of climbing on Stage 19, the final day in the Pyrenees, with Thomas’ credentials tested by Tom Dumoulin, who twice tried attacking out of the yellow jersey group, but Thomas stuck to his wheel.

    While the Welshman responded, Froome dropped 30 seconds back. Thomas even had enough gas left at the end to out-sprint Dumoulin on the run-in to Laruns to finish second behind stage winner Primoz Roglic, picking up six bonus seconds and extending his overall lead.

    Even as he pedaled closer to the General Classifcation title, caution was preached about the potential for Team Sunweb’s Dumoulin to tangle Thomas up as he weaved his way towards the penultimate stage time trial, his specialty.

    The Dutchman is the reigning world champion, yet Thomas’ doubters overlook the fact he became British champion earlier this year and roared to gold in the red dragon jersey of Wales at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

    He had a healthy lead but had to be wary of the dangerous Dumoulin. In the end the 2017 Giro d’Italia champion – also an adept all-rounder – took only 14 seconds out of Thomas’ 2′ 05″ lead.

    Thomas could even have won the stage but visibly eased off towards the end of the route to settle for third, safe in the knowledge the ultimate prize was his.

    He has transformed himself from dependable domestique to top dog, which is no mean feat.

    Thomas, the adept climber, has leaped above formidable obstacles in the form of both opponents and the fearsome French mountains this month.

    The fabled Alpe d’Huez and Col de Tourmalet are not for the faint of heart.

    But they might feel like a rolling and relaxing ride along the river compared to some of the mental heights Thomas has had to conquer to get to this point.

    He is only Britain’s third winner of the Tour de France. And he has dedicated much of his professional career to building those of compatriots and teammates. Froome won Le Tour four times and three times in a row between 2015-17. Much of his epic hat-trick is down to Thomas’ tireless teamwork.

    Even before that, as he established himself in his formative Sky years, he was contributing to the success of Wiggins – who made history as the first Briton to win the hallowed race.

    As bigger names tracked success, Thomas toiled. But now he has toppled them. It is now Thomas’ time.

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