Geraint Thomas has taken the biggest road win of his career today, sealing the overall victory at Paris-Nice after taking the race lead yesterday, but Tinkoff’s Alberto Contador pushed him all the way on a thrilling final stage.

The Spaniard, 15 seconds behind Thomas this morning,  attacked 50km from the end of the stage  and for a while was virtual leader on the 134km stage that started and ended in Nice.

With Nicolas Roche putting in a big turn, he was pulled back ahead of the day’s final climb, the Col d’Eze, then attacked again.

Contador crested the climb half a minute ahead of Thomas, who by now had just Sergio Henao for support, but the Colombian rider did a terrific job of helping his team leader close the gap on the descent into Nice.

Contador, at the front of the race with BMC Racing’s Richie Porte – who won in Sky’s colours in 2013 and 2014 – and Lotto Fix All’s Tim Wellens still had the prospect of 10 bonus seconds if he crossed the line first.

But Wellens took the stage, and with Thomas closing the 6 bonus seconds Contador took weren’t enough to overhaul the Welshman.

It’s fourth victory by a Team Sky rider in five years, following successes by Sir Bradley Wiggins in 2012 and Porte’s two wins.

It’s also the third overall victory by a British rider, with Tom Simpson triumphing in 1967, just four months before his death on Mont Ventoux.

It’s the second time Thomas, aged 29, has led Team Sky at the Race to the Sun, the first being in 2014 when he crashed on the penultimate stage while lying second overall, but thankfully there was no such mishap today.

He adds the victory to his increasingly impressive palmares which besides two Olympic gold medals and three world titles in the team pursuit include two editions apiece of the Bayern Rundfahrt and Volta Ao Algarve, the 2014 Commonwealth Games road race, and last year’s edition of the Belgian Classic, the E3 Harelbeke.  

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