As cycling legend Geraint Thomas retired from the sport on the final day of the competition, France’s Romain Gregoire won the Tour of Britain for Groupama-Fdj.
Remco Evenepoel, the reigning champion of the road race, and Gregoire, 22, won stage four on Friday and had a two-second lead into the final day.
The riders made the fastest leg of the race by tackling Caerphilly mountain before sprinting through Wales’ capital on Stage six, which included the 112.2 km that the riders traveled between Newport and Cardiff.
In a sprint to the finish line, Dutchman Olav Kooij defeated British hopefuls Sam Watson and Fred Wright.
Evenepoel was able to maintain his two-second lead with Evenepoel back in 24th place, but Gregoire was only able to finish in 13th place on the final day.
After securing the green jersey, Gregoire declared, “It’s crazy and I’m really happy.”
“I was nervous because I knew it would be very difficult,” I said honestly as it came very close this morning. It’s unusual for you to win a stage race like this.
Gregoire placed ahead of two podium winners, his compatriot Julian Alaphilippe, who finished third overall.
Thomas bids cycling adieu.
The race marked Thomas’ remarkable career’s conclusion.
As he rode what became a lap of honor through his hometown, the 2018 Tour de France champion finished the stage in 62nd place.
The final stage moved past his childhood cycling club, Maindy Flyers, before ending in Cardiff at the Newport velodrome named for the 39-year-old.
Thomas is widely regarded as one of the greatest Welsh sportsmen ever, having won road race gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and track gold at two other Olympics.
Thomas said, “I was emotionally crossing the line, almost like I was choking up on my bike.”
“It’s definitely emotional to end this,” he said, “and it’s just unbelievable really. It’s a full circle.”
Thomas previously claimed that after the race, he and others discussed staying on at Team Ineos. However, that was his last thought.
When asked what would be the next step, Thomas joked, “I have to take the little one to school on Tuesday and then I have my brother’s stag do in Portugal.”
Results from Stage Six
1. Olav Kooij (Ned/Team Visma | Lease a Bike) 2hrs 28 minutes 19 seconds
2. Same time as Samuel Watson (GB/INEOS Grenadiers).
3. – Victorious by Fred Wright (GB/Bahrain)
4. Victorious, Edoardo Zambanini (Ita/Bahrain)
5. Noa Isidore, Team for Fra/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
6. The French/Tudor Pro Cycling Team, Julian Alaphilippe
7. French/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team’s Bastien Tronchon
8. Tom Crabbe (Bel/Team Flanders-Baloise)
9. Antonio Morgado (Por/UAE Team Emirates – XRG)
After stage six, classification generally.
1. 19hrs 31mins 23secs by Roumain Gregoire (Fra/Groupama-Fdj).
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) + 2secs
3. Brazilian Alaphilippe (Fra/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) + 4 seconds
4. 8 seconds for Oscar Onley (GB/Team Picnic PostNL) + 8 seconds
5. Aurélien Paret-Peintere (Fra/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) + 12 seconds
6. At the same time, Afonso Eulalio (Por/Bahrain-Victorious)
7. (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) Ilan van Wilder
8. (Ned/Lidl – Trek) Mauke Mollema
9. Poulo Bilabo (Esp/Bahrain-Victory) + 17 secs
related subjects
- Cycling
Source: BBC
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