Thomas as yellow while Valverde crashes out in wet Dusseldorf TT
Geraint Thomas after winning stage 1 of the Tour de France (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Geraint Thomas erased his Giro d'Italia disappointment in Dusseldorf with the Sky rider taking a debut Grand Tour stage win at the Tour de France. The time trial victory put Thomas into the first yellow jersey of 2017, becoming the eight Briton and first Welshman to wear the leader's jersey.
With little pre-race press, Thomas was a surprise winner but deserved winner ten years on from making his Tour debut.
BMC Racing's Stefan Kung was second, and will wear the bet young rider jersey, while Sky teammate Vasil Kiryienka in third place. World champion Tony Martin was fourth on home roads.
For the general classification riders, defending champion Chris Froome displayed his July winning form with sixth place to take an early advantage over his rivals. Nairo Quintana did better than expected against the clock but has lost Alejandro Valverde after the Spaniard crashed out the race.
Richie Porte, Romain Bardet, Astana's Fabio Aru and Jakob Fuglsang, and Alberto Contador all find themselves on the backfoot after stage 1 but with 20 stages to make up time on Froome.
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