Thomas Takes Confidence From Alps Domination

Welshman grows into role of Tour leader

- Vern Pitt

Conquering the Alps boosted the confidence of Sky’s Tour de France yellow jersey wearer Geraint Thomas as the Welshman prepared to lead the race into the pressure cooker of the Pyrenees.

Thomas celebrated back-to-back stage victories last week at the ski resort of La Rosière and then became the first British man to win on Alpe d’Huez the next day. He also claimed the honour of being the first person to win atop the Alpe in the yellow jersey — as a result of Lance Armstrong’s disqualification following his 2004 victory on the mythical summit.

The manner of Thomas’s win on Alpe d’Huez spoke volumes. Like the true track rider he is, he swung wide on the final corner, carried his speed through it and used that momentum to start a sprint that no one could match. The moment demonstrated not only that there was plenty in Thomas’s legs at the end of the Tour’s queen stage, but also showed a growing confidence.

After his win at the La Rosière summit finish, Thomas had emphasised: “Obviously Froomey is the leader, he’s won six Grand Tours.” He pointed to his own patchy record over three weeks, where he has shown signs of brilliance but often suffered a bad day, resulting in his best Grand Tour result of 15th.