TOUR DE FRANCE:YESTERDAY BRITAIN may have witnessed the coming of age of a new home-grown superstar. The last time Geraint Thomas rode in the Tour, in 2007, he was the youngest rider in the race and finished 140 out of 141 competitors.
Now, after second place in an attritional third stage, the 24-year-old Welshman from Team Sky finds himself second in the general classification and will today wear the white jersey, for best young rider. Not bad for someone who went into the race saying he was Bradley Wiggins’s “bodyguard”.
The courage and maturity of his performance yesterday, in a 213km stage that included six sections of brutal cobblestones, cannot be overstated. He finished in an elite group of six riders, just behind the winner Thor Hushovd, but considerably ahead of almost all the favourites for the Tour de France.
Even more remarkable was how composed he was after a day where he came in almost a minute ahead of reigning champion Alberto Contador and more than two minutes in front of Lance Armstrong.
“The white jersey’s a nice bonus, and I’m going to enjoy that tomorrow, but I’m here for Brad,” said Thomas. “We have had a few spills, but confidence and morale in the team has been good, so hopefully we can keep that going.”
It may seem Thomas has come from nowhere, but that might be because we had so many gold medallists from the 2008 Olympics it was hard to keep track of them all. In Beijing he was a member of the team pursuit squad, which also included Wiggins, and was awarded an MBE.
He had form coming into the Tour, having won Britain’s national road racing championships last month, but still he surprised everyone, including himself, by placing third in Saturday’s prologue time trial.
Perhaps the most remarkable feature of stage three was it lived up to the breathless billing. Everyone was saying one of the main contenders would lose the Tour on the day; sadly for Frank Schleck, who has twice finished fifth, that prediction came true.
The older of the Schleck brothers was a victim in the Sars-et-Rosieres sector 25km from the finish and is now going home with a broken shoulder. There will be mixed feelings in the family, as it was younger brother Andy, bandaged heavily from his falls on Monday, who rode the best race of the main contenders to finish in the lead group.
There has been considerable controversy over whether the race should even come across yesterday’s cobblestoned minefield.
Of the 193 riders left in the 2010 Tour, only 104 (54 per cent) had experience of riding Paris-Roubaix – Contador notable among the newbies. Armstrong had been the rider most expected to profit from going off-road and he promised before the stage to take “measured risks” to distance his rivals.
In the event, Armstrong had a long day at the office. Choosing to ride in the gutters rather than the high part of the cobbles, to minimise vibrations, he punctured and it was only an obdurate display of solo riding that has kept him in contention. But, he now has mountains to climb, in every sense, if he is going to win his final Tour.
Finally, some housekeeping. Fabian Cancellara is back in yellow after Sylvain Chavanel punctured twice and then threw his bike in the ditch. Christian Vande Velde is up to five broken ribs, adding two on Monday to the three he had coming in to the race, and did not start the stage.
Guardian Service
STAGE THREE DETAILS
(Wanze to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, 213km)
1 T Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo 4:49.38secs
2 G Thomas (Brit) Sky “
3 C Evans (Aus) BMC “
4 R Hesjedal (Can) Garmin “
5 A Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank “
6 F Cancellara (Swi) Saxo Bank “
7 J Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin at 00.53
8 B Wiggins (Brit) Sky “
9 J Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega “
10 A Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana “
11 D Menchov (Rus) Rabobank “
12 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R “
13 A Contador (Spn) Astana at 01.13
14 R McEwen (Aus) Katusha at 1.46
15 M Aerts (Bel) Omega “
16 A Duran Daroca (Spn) Footon-Servetto “
17 JJ Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne “
18 LL Sanchez Gil (Spn) Caisse d’Epargne “
19 R Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas “
20 T Lofkvist (Swe) Sky “
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1 F Cancellara (Swi) Saxo Bank 14:54.00secs
2 G Thomas (Brit) Sky at 00.23
3 C Evans (Aus) BMC at 00.39
4 R Hesjedal (Can) Garmin at 00.46
5 S Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step at 1.01
6 A Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank at 1.09
7 T Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo at 1.19
8 A Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana at 1.31
9 A Contador (Spn) Astana at 1.40
10 J Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega at 1.42
11 Nicolas Roche (Ire) AG2R “
12 J Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin at 1.47
13 D Menchov (Rus) Rabobank at 1.49
14 B Wiggins (Brit) Sky “
15 D Millar (Brit) Garmin at 2.06
POINTS
1 T Hushovd 63pts
2 G Thomas 49
3 S Chavanel 44
4 R McEwen 38
5 F Cancellara37
MOUNTAINS
1 J Pineau 13pts
2 S Chavanel 8
3 R Taaramae 8
4 M Monfort 5
5 M Lloyd 4
TEAM
1 Saxo Bank 44h 45 55
2 Garmin - Transitions at 11sec
3 Sky Pro Cycling at 25
4 Astana 2.21
YOUTH
1 G Thomas 23sec
2 A Schleck at 46
3 R Kreuziger at 2.01
4 J Rojas at 2.12
5 T Martin at 2.12
