Criterium du Dauphine: Thomas secures overall victory

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Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) survived two punctures and several late attacks to win the 2018 Critérium du Dauphiné.

The Welshman struggled in the final kilometre of the last mountain stage to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc as Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) attacked but he was able to make a measured effort and hold onto the victory.

Yates caught and passed Dani Navarro (Cofidis) just 50 metres from the line to win the stage and also gained some time on Thomas. However, Thomas topped the final classification, beating Yates by 1:00.

Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) attacked several times on the final climb and even when Thomas suffered his second puncture the Frenchman was chased down and controlled each time. Bardet finished third overall, 1:47 down on Thomas. Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) cracked on the final climb after the final attacks but finished fourth overall at 2:35. Damiano Caruso (BMC) was fifth at 2:44 after an intense week of racing and four consecutive days in the French Alps.

Thomas and Team Sky set up their overall victory with a dominant performance in the mid-week 35km team time trial. The leader's yellow jersey went from prologue time trial winner Michael Kwiatkowski to Gianni Moscon and then Thomas. The British team was able to count on the minute they gained on their rivals and use their strength as a team, in particular that of last man Tao Geoghegan Hart, to set a painful tempo and control their rivals in the four important mountain stages.
On Saturday and Sunday, Bardet and Dan Martin tried a series of different attacks but Geoghegan Hart and others were there to help Thomas every time and ensure he secured overall success.

Thomas is due to be the joint team leader with Chris Froome at the Tour de France, which begins on July 7 and confirmed his Grand Tour credentials by taking his second WorldTour stage race victory.

"This is my biggest victory on the road. It's kind of surreal, it doesn't really sink in because I never let myself really believe I'd win. I was always thinking of the next stage or the next climb," Thomas explained.

"This is a massive race. I never dreamt of winning this when I turned professional with Barloworld and was racing on the track. It's a different life. But it's an amazing feeling, the guys were incredible. I owe them so much for this victory, especially the way they rode today after I had two punctures. They were calm and kept me calm, so I had confidence in them. Luckily I had the legs to finish it off."

Thomas will now enjoy some easy days in the saddle to recover, spend some time doing reconnaissance and then freshen-up for the Tour de France.

"I can start looking forward to July now," he said.

Adam Yates was also looking forward to July. His stage victory boosted his morale and ensured him second overall behind Thomas.

"The Tour de France has been my goal since the start of the season, but Volta a Catalunya set things back. I made a good recovery though and I'm in good shape, ready for the next training block ahead of Tour," he said.

"It was a hard stage, especially back to back with yesterday's, which was hard too. Recovery went well and I knew in the final I needed to wait a bit, the past few days I went too early and I needed to wait, wait, wait, bide my time and kick for the line," he said.

A final day out in the Alps

The final 136km stage to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc was the fourth and final mountain stage of the race, giving a final chance for a breakaway to take the glory and a final chance for Thomas' rivals to attack him.

The stage distance was relatively short but it included 7 categorised climbs and over 4000 metres of climbing.

Warren Barguil (Fortuneo-Samsic) was the first to attack after just six kilometres but he was caught and a break of six riders eventually formed the move that almost won the day.

Julian Alaphilippe (Quick Step Floors), Dani Navarro (Cofidis), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Edward Ravasi (UAE Team Emirates), Antwan Tolhoek (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Pierre Rolland (EF Education First-Drapac) made up the move.

Team Sky let them hang off the front on the Cormet de Roselend, covering the same climb as Saturday's stage from the opposite direction.

Thomas had his first puncture in the valley after the descent allowing the breakaway to gain a maximum of 3:20. After that Bardet's AG2R La Mondiale teammates took over on the Col des Saisies bringing the gap down to 1:50.

On the descent, Thomas had a second flat, perhaps after hitting a hole in the road. He got a wheel from Moscon but had to chase, with AG2R believing the race was on. Team Sky eventually dragged their leader back on so that he could vent his anger on Bardet but the final two-step climb to the finish was looming.

The break of six managed to stay clear but then fell apart on the climb, with two kilometres at a 13 per cent gradient. Gaudu tried a solo move but was soon caught and passed by Navarro, who had saved his legs for a final blast.

Behind, Bardet attacked Thomas several times but lacked the real power to get away and was brought to heel several times by Geoghegan Hart. The GC group reformed and Martin tried some attacks, perhaps to try to take a podium place but that left him tired when Bardet and then Yates went with him. Thomas, despite what seemed like a gear problem, joined them and the strongest three emerged in the final kilometres of the race.

Navarro was still away and seemingly set for a deserved solo victory. However, Yates and Mitchelton-Scott were ruthless, holding back before launching a final 500-metre sprint attack.

The British rider saw Navarro and managed to pass him with 50 metres to go to snatch the stage victory.

Bardet gapped Thomas but it was not enough to stop the Welshman winning the overall classification.

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