Thomas drops out of top-ten after bad day in Tour de Suisse
Team Sky rider finishes 17th place overall in final Tour tune up
Geraint Thomas was aiming to go 'full gas' to win the Tour de Suisse but the bad weather, which saw a shortened stage 9, ended any aspirations of victory and even the top ten as the Team Sky rider rolled over the line over 11 minutes down on Jarlison Pantano (IAM Cycling) to slip to 17th overall.
"Geraint had a really bad day. He was super cold on the top of that mountain and when he knew he couldn't follow the guys and he didn't have anything to fight for he just got to the finish in his own time," sports director Gabriel Rasch said.
Thomas was sitting third overall at the start of stage six but dropped to eighth overall following the stage to Amden. Ninth in the decisive Davos time trial, Thomas remained in eight with a deficit of 1:30 minutes to race leader Miguel Lopez (Astana) and 1:14 minutes off the podium. A repeat of his 2015 Tour de Suisse podium was still within reach, but with the shortened stage and the 30-year-old suffering in the cold, 91st saw Thomas saw him drop out of the top-ten.
"All of the guys did well this week and tried really hard for G. That was the plan and everyone gave up their own ambitions to do that. G was just lacking that final 10% to be up there," added Rasch.
Thomas' aspirations for the final stage had already taken a hit with climbing domestique Leopold König a non-starter due to illness having placed 16th in the time trial.
"Leo has been better day-by-day. This morning he had a sore throat and he and the doctor decided he wouldn't start to try and stay healthy, but he will be better and better for every race he does now," said Rasch who added young American Ian Boswell further demonstrated his capabilities off the back of his debut Giro d'Italia.
"He was probably a little tired after that, but he did a good job here, had some really strong days, and showed how talented he is once again," he said of the 25-year-old.
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