{"id":1312458,"date":"2019-07-15T23:24:01","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T05:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/thomas-blowing-in-the-wind-at-tour-de-france\/"},"modified":"2019-07-15T23:24:01","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T05:24:01","slug":"wind-helps-thomas-at-tour-de-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/wind-helps-thomas-at-tour-de-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Wind helps Thomas at Tour de France"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.8522727272727\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-984030-171\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"AP | AP | Belgium's Wout Van Aert celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 217 kilometers (135 miles) with start in Saint-Flour and finish in Albi, France, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo\/ Thibault Camus)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><strong>Belgium&#8217;s Wout Van Aert celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 217 kilometers (135 miles) with start in Saint-Flour and finish in Albi, France, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo\/ Thibault Camus)<\/strong><br \/>AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f.jpg\" alt=\"Belgium's Wout Van Aert celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 217 kilometers (135 miles) with start in Saint-Flour and finish in Albi, France, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo\/ Thibault Camus)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"AP | AP | Christophe Ena | AP\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>Christophe Ena | AP<\/strong><br \/>AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f-1.jpg\" alt=\"Christophe Ena | AP\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"AP | AP | Belgium's Wout Van Aert celebrates Monday as he crosses the finish line in Albi to win the tenth stage of the Tour de France.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Belgium&#8217;s Wout Van Aert celebrates Monday as he crosses the finish line in Albi to win the tenth stage of the Tour de France.<\/strong><br \/>AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f-2.jpg\" alt=\"Belgium's Wout Van Aert celebrates Monday as he crosses the finish line in Albi to win the tenth stage of the Tour de France.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"AP | AP | Belgium's Wout Van Aert, center, sprints to win the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 217 kilometers (135 miles) with start in Saint-Flour and finish in Albi, France, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo\/ Thibault Camus)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"15\">\n<p><strong>Belgium&#8217;s Wout Van Aert, center, sprints to win the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 217 kilometers (135 miles) with start in Saint-Flour and finish in Albi, France, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo\/ Thibault Camus)<\/strong><br \/>AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f-3.jpg\" alt=\"Belgium's Wout Van Aert, center, sprints to win the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 217 kilometers (135 miles) with start in Saint-Flour and finish in Albi, France, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo\/ Thibault Camus)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f-4.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"AP | AP | France's Julian Alaphilippe wears the overall leader's yellow jersey on the podium after the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 217 kilometers (135 miles) with start in Saint-Flour and finish in Albi, France, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo\/ Christophe Ena)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><strong>France&#8217;s Julian Alaphilippe wears the overall leader&#8217;s yellow jersey on the podium after the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 217 kilometers (135 miles) with start in Saint-Flour and finish in Albi, France, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo\/ Christophe Ena)<\/strong><br \/>AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f-4.jpg\" alt=\"France's Julian Alaphilippe wears the overall leader's yellow jersey on the podium after the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 217 kilometers (135 miles) with start in Saint-Flour and finish in Albi, France, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo\/ Christophe Ena)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f-5-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f-5.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"AP | AP | A spectator takes a snapshot of the pack riding during the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 217 kilometers (135 miles) with start in Saint-Flour and finish in Albi, France, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo\/ Christophe Ena)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><strong>A spectator takes a snapshot of the pack riding during the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 217 kilometers (135 miles) with start in Saint-Flour and finish in Albi, France, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo\/ Christophe Ena)<\/strong><br \/>AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/07\/France_Cycling_Tour_de_France_71081-29f6f-5.jpg\" alt=\"A spectator takes a snapshot of the pack riding during the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 217 kilometers (135 miles) with start in Saint-Flour and finish in Albi, France, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo\/ Christophe Ena)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/sports\/thomas-blowing-in-the-wind-at-tour-de-france\/?#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/sports\/thomas-blowing-in-the-wind-at-tour-de-france\/?#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">ALBI, France \u2014 Geraint Thomas and his teammates don\u2019t need a mountain to deliver a hammer blow on their rivals at the Tour de France.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">They can do it on the flat, too. With a little help from the wind.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The defending champion was the big winner of a chaotic Stage 10 in southern France on Monday when French rival Thibaut Pinot and other title contenders were caught napping by a treacherous combination of winds and narrow roads.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Unable to all ride at the front, Pinot and other riders got left behind when the winds first stretched and then shattered the peloton into groups over 35 frantic final kilometers (20 miles) of a 217.5-kilometer (135-mile) trek from Saint-Flour to Albi in south-central France.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Perfectly positioned at the front when the pack took different routes around a traffic circle, triggering the first split, Thomas and his Ineos teammates put pedal to the metal to make the gap on Pinot and other contenders caught behind as big as possible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The bill for the French podium finisher in 2104, as well as Rigoberto Uran, Jakob Fuglsang, and Richie Porte was costly. They rode in a whopping 1 minute, 40 seconds behind Thomas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cAt the start we said at some point this race is going to split,\u201d explained Luke Rowe, one of Thomas\u2019 teammates. \u201cWe were all over it with numbers at the front.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Once opened, the gap increased speedily, with yellow jersey-holder Julian Alaphilippe and Ineos riders setting a frenetic tempo until the end.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe were straight on the front foot, we knew it was on us to drive it to the line,\u201d Rowe said. \u201cI was saying to the guys, \u2018This is a TTT (team time trial) all the way to the finish line.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Tour de France rookie Wout Van Aert won the stage with a sprint to the line. But Thomas was the headline act.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI couldn\u2019t think of anything better,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cIt\u2019s especially good on a day like today when you never expect it. It was just a positioning error from them and they lose a minute and a half. That\u2019s how it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Ahead of big Pyrenean stages this week, Thomas vaulted to second place overall, 1:12 behind Alaphilippe, with teammate Egan Bernal in third place, four seconds further back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">After a flawless start to the race, it was Pinot\u2019s first mistake, and a big one. Looking to become the first Frenchman to win the race since Bernard Hinault in 1985, he dropped from third to 11th overall, 2:33 behind Alaphilipple and 1:21 behind Thomas, perhaps not fatal to his Tour but a huge setback.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Pinot used an expletive to describe his day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWhat do you want me to say? There\u2019s nothing to say,\u201d he said, looking absolutely disgusted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme was almost as disappointed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cHe was ideally placed in the Tour and to be trapped like that in the last 35 kilometers of the stage before the rest day is sad for him,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of time lost.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The peloton split into three groups on a long but narrow section of road opened to the wind when Alaphilippe\u2019s Deceuninck Quick Step teammates sped up the pace at the front to close the gap to six breakaway riders. The fugitives were reeled in with 25 kilometers (15 miles) left before Thomas and Co., working well with Alaphilippe\u2019s team, pushed harder in an impressive display of collective strength.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s not only in the mountains where you can gain time, we have a strong team for days like today, too, and that\u2019s what we showed,\u201d Thomas\u2019 teammate Dylan van Baarle, said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Enjoying another day in yellow, Alaphilippe said he and his teammates were thinking about placing Elia Viviani for the finish-line sprint when they accelerated, not deliberately trying to hurt Pinot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe didn\u2019t plan to split the bunch. We only expected the stage to be nervous and tricky. Our intention was only to protect my yellow jersey and to focus on a sprint,\u201d he said. \u201cWe knew precisely at which kilometer there was a risk of crosswinds. All teams gave the same instructions. There was a lot of stress and pressure in the peloton and when it split, everyone expected it, then we did the maximum.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A three-time cyclo-cross world champion starting to live up to his billing as a future star, Van Aert is riding his first Grand Tour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe last 70 kilometers were very nervous,\u201d he said after edging Viviani by just a few inches. Australian Caleb Ewan placed third.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Van Aert surged from the left in the last stretch and resisted Viviani\u2019s comeback by throwing his bike at the line.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The up and coming Belgian said he got the OK from his team bosses to race for the win because his team leaders were trapped in the group behind. But even then he didn\u2019t expect to beat recognized sprinters such as Viviani and Peter Sagan in a photo finish.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s crazy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">More Tour de France coverage: <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/TourdeFrance\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/apnews.com\/TourdeFrance<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/sports\/thomas-blowing-in-the-wind-at-tour-de-france\/?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Belgium&#8217;s Wout Van Aert celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 217 kilometers (135 miles) with start in Saint-Flour and finish in Albi, France, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo\/ Thibault Camus)AP | AP Christophe Ena | APAP | AP Belgium&#8217;s Wout [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1312458","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-20 20:04:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1312458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312458\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1312458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1312458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1312458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}