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Tour de France logo on yellow 3x2Tour de France Stage 12: Geraint Thomas triumphs on Alpe d’Huez
Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) took his second Alpine stage win in a row after the main contenders had duelled – and in some cases cracked – on the slopes of Alpe d’Huez. Thomas’s team-mate Chris Froome remains second overall after finishing in the same small front group that also contained Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), Romain Bardet (AG2R) and Mikel Landa (Movistar).
The 175.5km stage took the riders over the Col de la Madeleine and the Col de la Croix de Fer on the way to Alpe d'Huez with the scenic Lacets de Montvernier thrown in for good measure.
Yet before it even began, last year’s runner-up, Rigoberto Uran abandoned, citing injuries sustained during Sunday’s cobbled stage to Roubaix.
Midway through the day, Andre Greipel and double stage winners Fernando Gaviria and Dylan Groenewegen joined him. With Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittel having failed to make the time cut the day before, the sprint field has thinned considerably.
A large break got away relatively early on, including sixth-placed Steven Kruijswijk, Alejandro Valverde (11th) and Ilnur Zakarin (13th).
Kruijswijk struck out alone with about 70km to go and halfway from there to the finish had a six minute advantage over the favourites group behind – 13.8 of those kilometres did however comprise Alpe d’Huez and the advantage ultimately proved insufficient.
Team Sky’s Egan Bernal led the yellow jersey group up the final climb. He swiftly brought back a Nairo Quintana move before almost immediately dropping his countryman who would go on to lose another 47s.
Dan Martin also lost touch and lost 1m45s.
With just under 4km to go, Vincenzo Nibali appeared to be brought down by either a race motorbike or a fan. The Sicilian’s fall meant the front group was down to four riders: Geraint Thomas, Chris Froome, Tom Dumoulin and Romain Bardet. As race leader Thomas rode conservatively, chasing down moves, the other three traded attacks before Mikel Landa rematerialised with a few hundred metres to go.
Those five riders contested a sprint and the Welshman was quick enough to open up time gaps to his rivals, increasing his advantage in the general classification.
“Not a chance in hell I thought I was going to win today,” he said afterwards. “Can we just go to Paris now?”
After that, he continued to toe the party line, maintaining that Froome is Sky’s team leader on the grounds that “he knows how to ride three-week races.”
Nevertheless, the gap between them is now 1m39s.
Thomas takes his second win in a row !
Thomas s'impose pour la deuxième fois d'affilée !#TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/X8C1DaAKHd— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 19, 2018
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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26 comments
Lets really hope not, but the ASO really does need to get a grip on this. We had a similiar problem last time up the Ventoux.
If only 'The Sun' covered cycling:
Nobhead nobbles Nibbles!
Spotted the push and the soaking of Froome et al. on the highlights. Are ASO & UCI looking the other way and hoping all this will go away ?
Froome's apparent reluctance to speak to the press at the finish was probably for the best, given what he might have said.
Unfortunately it kind of let the thugs, the police and the organisers off the hook.
A real shame that Nibali is out. Let's hope things calm down a bit (but not in the racing).
I suspect the lack of gendarmes on Alpe d'Huez was deliberate as they probably thought they would be there to protect Froome and team Sky. I know it sounds cynical, and I'm not a cynic by nature, but having lived in France for over 20 years I think I know the French mentality well. It was disgraceful what the riders had to put up with and I feel very sorry for Niballi. ASO have to responsability for this sort of thing.
Conspiracy alert...
EDIT: https://as.com/ciclismo/2018/07/19/tour_francia/1532020428_071632.html They seem to have beyond what I have previously seen and arrested a few, so not sitting on their hands in the slightest, but being very active. We can stop the conspiracy theory now,
Well that is good news and reassuring that the Gendarmerie have acted. I'm certainly not a conspiracy theorist but do know how the Gendarmerie tends to opperate. Their general modus operandi, unless under specific orders to the contrary, is to stand around and do nothing and then act after the event. I don't know how many times i've seen the gendarmes out in force just standing watching a group of strikers for example burning tyres in the middle of the road, causing a fire hazard and, obviously, completely blocking the traffic.
My real complaint in this case was that there was no sign, from what I saw, of the gendarmes trying to stop spectators from interfering with the riders, and Niballi suffered the consequences.
We wouldn't accept "shit happens" in response to an RTC involving a person on a bike caused by the actions of others in normal circumstances why should it be any different in a race?
Intrigued by the G vs Froome dynamics, is Thomas going to go for the GC win or ride for CF as he said in the interview? I have first dibs on the book title "Slaying the Froome-Dog".
Tom D still looking strong too, the race is by no means a Sky certainty.
Shit happens is Nibali crashing because of something he did. Yesterday's behaviour wasn't shit happens.
Riders need to start taking civil action against these people if identified and maybe a few holes in the pocket will put off the idiots.
Nibali abandons with fractured vertebra following crash with fan. Mobile phone footage available on the web.
ASO need to up their game - losing one of the biggest contenders in this way diminishes the race.
Maybe Alp d'Huez needs to be dropped for the next 15 years???
Shit happens.
bullshit happens.
Or perhaps just extend the barriers to the bottom of the climb? I'm sure it wasn't a coincidence that none of the big attacks came until came to the barrier section of road where there was less fan interference.
10 km of barriers? Blimey!
The attacks don't happen lower down because it's too far from the finish, not because there are no barriers.
It was a prick in green shorts and a white t-shirt who gave Froome the most pathetic little push on the shoulder as he rode past. Obviously, it's not something that the riders should have to put up with - and I'm amazed the allegedly numerous gendarmes did nothing - but luckily, the bloke was an utter, utter coward, so it was just a little tap rather than a proper shove.
There was a football match a few years ago when some 5'5" fat nobhead thought he'd go and give Didier Drogba a piece of his mind. Ran (or wobbled) onto the pitch and started going towards Drogba who was in the middle of the pitch, the fan pointing and shouting.
It was hilarious that the nearer he got to the 6'3" athlete, probably 13-14 stone of pure muscle his bravery seemed to diminish. His speed dropped and he was looking around desperate for some stewards to come and stop him, they were too busy laughing!
A Welsh guy winning on Alpe D'Huez whilst wearing the yellow jersey.
I am loving this.
You are not alone.
And there are 44,181 likes on his instagram post after Alpe d'Huez.
The one thing that would top that is G wearing yellow in Paris.
Yep, a real bummer for Nibali. It could have been only just bruising but he was unlucky. These things happen to everyone now and then (including Armstrong in 2003), whether it's overlapping wheels, fumbling with a musette, street furniture, race vehicles or spectators. Unfortunate but comes with the territory, I'm afraid.
It's a pity for the race too, there was a good chance he'd animate the race in the third week.
Definitely. And I've edited my post in that previous discussion withdrawing the insulting term I used. Sorry.
Not sure which post this refers to but unless it was criminally unforgivable then anyone admitting error and apologies on the internet deserves a kudos.
Quite a remarkable two days.
I would post a comment about how Team Sky are taking the piss – meaning they're performing so well, for whatever reason, that they appear to be toying with their competitors – but some humourless fanboy who thinks I'm a hater, or some humourless hater who thinks I'm a fanboy, would read partisan sentiment into my words, and call me a woman's genitals, wish physical injury on me, or both.
So I'll just say this: that KP nuts guy in every ITV4 ad break is a dick. Oh no, I've expressed an opinion, someone who is a loyal customer of aforesaid nut purveyor will say I'm a dumbass!
As for puns, don't even try it. Far too subtle for an online forum these days.
'That's just trailer talk, or were talking phalanges. [4] '
Not sure which anymore, I'm a-frayed.
I'm getting almost as confused as a Road CC subeditor!
Suspected vertebrae fracture for Nibali. Hope he can carry on.
Well done spectators, even if he did hit a moto it's because of the crowd by the sound of things.
There was the big fat bloke who went for Froome and some unknown liquid thrown over him and G on Alpe D'Huez, not to mention the boos. Completely disgusting behaviour but there's silence from the UCI and ASO, which is no surprise there.
Spectators were a disgrace today. French boo boys need to shut up and respect the race a bit more. Dressing a giant ventolin was quite funny and clearly the Italians are bit more inventive than the French.
What next? Burning things like they did after they won the World Cup?
I'm surprised he gets anywhere fast, always towing that party line!
I think The Guardian had him towing the same line yesterday, but managed to correct itself.
That is quite a funny post, especially because the phrase is Toe the line (not tow the line).
Glad you liked it Welsh boy.
Don't usually post on TdF threads, but I thought I'd dip my tow in the water.
That's just trailer talk, or were talking phalanges.