Geraint Thomas has said he was "cracking" at the pace being set by UAE Team Emirates early on yesterday's stage 17, especially as the man who did most of the damage was Mikkel Bjerg, the 23-year-old Dane who is regarded as a TT rider rather than a climber.
When he was done on the front, the remains of the peloton was cut back to a small select group and the gap to the escapees up front was cut so much it gave them no chance of making it all the way to the the finish.
When Bjerg's incredible work was done, Brandon McNulty took over and was the only rider in the race to climb with his team leader Tadej Pogačar and race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) all the way to the finish atop the Peyragudes.
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Thomas was the next best; finishing behind the top three on the day, losing time to stage 1-2 Pogačar and Vingegaard but cementing his 3rd placed position overall.
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Asked if he expected such a performance from Bjerg and McNulty, Thomas said: “Not at all, no. Fair play, both of them, and whatever they had for breakfast, because they were going.”
He added he wasn't quite as happy with his own performance on the stage compared to recent days. “I didn’t feel quite as light on the pedals as I had done earlier in the race, I wasn’t feeling tip-top today, but I was there.
“I made the call to wait for the group behind, rather than try and battle, go into the red to get back to that group, but maybe risk blowing up and losing even more time. I saved the legs a bit and then was able to just ride a solid pace all the way to the line.”
He then turned his attention to the sheer scale of the effort put in by Bjerg and McNulty, saying it was so impressive so early that it damaged him a little mentally.
“I didn’t really expect that, especially from Berg. He put in a hell of a shift for the rider he is. It’s cracking me actually, that he was hurting me so much on a climb. But fair play: they really took it on,” he said.
