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news
Geraint Thomas in 2016 Team Sky jersey (picture credit Team Sky).jpgGeraint Thomas wins Paris-Nice - but Alberto Contador pushes him all the way
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.
Reaction to follow.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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15 comments
Fantastic stage. Anyone who doesn't understand why we watch bike racing should be sat down and shown it - even the limited coverage available (starting 35km from the end, when Contador attacked 50km out) was gripping.
"Het" to big G, takes some proper big swingers to haul back a gap on a downhill having cracked on the way up.
Yepp, two days in a row of fantastic racing. Just why we watch the sport! The main players were good but the support guys were crucial in helping the drama...Majka climbing aggressively, Nico Roache doing some huge turns when needed and Henao refusing to let Thomas slip too far.
I do still hold some reservations about G's credentials for a true GC rider but sometimes winning is a combination of more than one factor (e.g., Nibali in the 2014 Tour) and you have to be in it to win it... although that might be a bit ironic given G's ability to pull defeat from the jaws of victory and he did come very close to stacking it on one innocuous corner this week.
That was as exciting as it gets.
I wonder if "steak-era" Contador might have had the legs to attack earlier and get a bigger lead, and keep going on the descent. The frailty of both of the competitors, as well as their grit, made that a brilliant stage.
Also worth noting that if G is going to crack in a 7 day race, he isn't ever likely to avoid cracking at some point in a 3 week one.
A mention for Simon Yates, who had a brilliant day (5th on the stage, same times as Thomas) and race (7th, +44s).
That stage might be hard to beat this year. I can't imagine who else other than Contador would have and could have shaken it up like that. Watching the pursuit of Gallopin, Henao, and G (who on Sky's site, said he put a 54 on incase he need to cane it on the descents, and boy did he!). Yates showing good form. Ahhh life is good lol.
Awesome win for G. Very pleased for him!
Godd weekend for GB cycling
Good Man!
Tidy.
I think that ws the first time in my life I was cheering for Contador. Fantastic ride from him to push for the win and drop G on the final climb, G had enough heart to fight back on the desent and final sprint though.
Who would have got the win had Bertie won the final stage? That would have put them both on the same time with the extra 4 bonus seconds.
One of my favourite riders, big year coming up for him I hope.
Nice one G!
Heart in mouth as Mr T had to dig deep to capture the lost time on the last climb. Thank goodness for his team mate who deserves a lot of credit
Absolutely fantastic news. Good man G!
G!