Geraint Thomas has been a vital clog of Team Sky for a number of years now and as Chris Froome cemented his third consecutive Tour de France victory yesterday the Welshman admitted that winning feeling never ‘grows old’.
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Sky, managed by former British Cycling mastermind David Brailsford, have now produced four of the last five Tour de France winners, starting with Bradley Wiggins in 2012, a run broken only by Vincenzo Nibali’s 2014 victory, Froome having been forced to withdraw from that race due to injury following a crash.
“We used a far more aggressive set of tactics and it was fun, it was racing”.
“I think I’ve put that to rest now”, he said. The team was flawless, it was the best team performance we’ve put together.
Froome has now won three Tours, one of only eight riders to ever do so. “Thank you to all my teammates, they’ve really been there for me every step of the way and I couldn’t ask for more”. Sky (with its super budget) has been splashing out on new, talented riders and this means that they have a very strong team overall. With his own bike unusable and a replacement on his team vehicle several minutes away, the race leader began running up the mountain before taking a bike from a neutral support auto. The services of Wout Poels, Mikel Nieve, Sergio Henao and the host of other superb support riders this year was not lost on the yellow jersey, or his rivals. The team kept believing in me.
Andre Greipel won the final stage on the Champs Elysees in Paris for the second year in a row, saving what had until then been a disappointing Tour for the German.
“I can’t describe it”. If I just do that again, I’ll be alright.
“Look, all I had to do was keep my head on for 10 days and do the same performance”.
It was Greipel’s first stage win in this Tour.
“We all love the Tour because it is unpredictable but we love the Tour more for what stays the same – the passion from fans, the French countryside and the bond created by sport”.
Another Briton Mark Cavendish came out the most profiled rider with four stages victories, while the 23-year-old Adam Yates finished the fourth and won the young rider’s white jersey competition.
“Let’s say you have ups and downs during a Grand Tour”, he said.
“I’ve won three and the novelty isn’t wearing off”, said Froome, as he celebrated this momentous success.
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“As this race has gone on people have got to know me a little bit better. The course suits me well, it has 1,000 metres of climbing, and is 60 kilometres”, he said. “Sometimes it rains and sometimes it rains longer, but the sun always comes out and this is what we believed in”.
