Thomas triumphs in L'Alpe d'Huez and defends yellow

One day after his stage win in La Rosiere, the British overall leader from Team Sky also won the 175,5 km long 12th section to the famous ski station in the Alps. "I'm speechless. I don't know what to say, really. “I would never have thought in my life that I would have the chance to win today,” said Thomas at Eurosport: “As far as I’m concerned, we can get to Paris now. But this race is so hard - you never know how your body will react."

The 32-year-old relegated challengers Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands/Sunweb) and Romain Bardet (France/AG2R) to their places. Chris Froome (Great Britain), defending champion and nominal number one in Team Sky, came fourth. In the overall ranking, Thomas is 1:39 minutes ahead of Froome after the last Alpine stage, Dumoulin (+1:50) is third. “I still drive for Froome,” emphasized Thomas: “He’s my man. He is a legend, we must not forget that. He may be the best of all time."

The Italian co-favorite Vincenzo Nibali fell about four kilometers from the finish, just before the barriers began, but still reached the finish, only 13 seconds behind the stage winner.

The Alps continued to take their toll on the sprinters. One day after Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittel missed the time limit, two-time stage winners Fernando Gaviria and Dylan Groenewegen as well as Andre Greipel, among others, threw in the towel during the section on Thursday. Rigoberto Uran, who came second last year, gave up due to injury and did not compete again on Thursday.

On Friday, after three strenuous days in the high mountains, a flat stage is on the agenda again. The 13th section leads over 169,5 kilometers from Bourg d'Oisans to Valence and, apart from one mountain classification in the third and fourth category, does not present any major difficulties.

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Thomas triumphs in L'Alpe d'Huez and defends yellow

Professional cyclist Geraint Thomas celebrated the prestigious victory in L'Alpe d'Huez at the 105th Tour de France.

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