How and where Geraint Thomas made his move at the Tour de France

Geraint Thomas did not start the Tour de France either as the favourite or even as the leader of his own team.

But the Team Sky rider stayed out of trouble in a first week which ruined the races of many others, and then imposed himself in the Alps to take control of the race.

Here Press Association Sport looks at the key stages in the Welshman’s win.

Stage 1 – Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile to Fontenat-le-Comte, 201km

The significance of Chris Froome’s short excursion in to a field less than six kilometres from the finish of the opening stage was not immediately apparent – and certainly did nothing to change Team Sky’s insistence that he remained the team leader. The four-time Tour winner finished 51 seconds back to Thomas, losing time along with Adam Yates and Nairo Quintana.

Stage 3 – Cholet to Cholet, 35.5km (Team time trial)

Thomas was just three seconds off yellow after Team Sky finished the team time trial second to BMC, whose Greg Van Avermaet took the race lead. Tom Dumoulin’s Team Sunweb were fifth on the day, but only gave up seven seconds to Sky and Thomas before some much more significant time gaps further down.

Stage 6 – Brest to Mur-de-Bretagne, 181km

The short, steep climb of the Mur-de-Bretagne was the first real test of form for the general classification riders, and Thomas did not falter as he finished ninth, picking up five seconds on Froome who lost the wheels at the end, and 50 seconds on Dumoulin who faded badly on the climb. It was the most significant single loss of time for Dumoulin versus Thomas in the Tour.

Stage 9 – Arras – Roubaix, 156.5km

Stage 11 – Albertville to La Rosiere, 108.5km

Thomas may have taken the yellow jersey off Van Avermaet a day later than expected but he did it in some style on the second Alpine stage of the Tour. The Welshman accelerated away from Froome and Dumoulin to take the stage win – the second of his career in the Tour – and pocket another 20 seconds plus bonuses, while others were even further back.

Stage 12 – Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Alpe d’Huez, 175.5km

If La Rosiere seemed significant, Alpe d’Huez provided the defining moment of the Tour. Thomas’ second consecutive win – making him the first man since Toni Rominger in 1993 to win back-to-back mountain stages – was not by a huge margin, just two seconds to Dumoulin with Froome another two seconds back in fourth. But it was a huge statement as Froome tried an attack and failed late in the climb before Thomas, having kept his powder dry, exploded out of the final corner. Immediately after the stage he was still talking about Froome being Sky’s leader, but over the next couple of days Thomas’ achievement began to sink in and he became more assertive in yellow.

Stage 17 – Bagneres-de-Luchon to the Col du Portet, 65km

Thomas got the honour of lining up in pole position as the Tour experimented with an F1-style grid for this short, sharp mountain stage, but it was a day filled with peril for Team Sky. They fought all day to control attacks before Thomas executed another late dash to extend his lead – avoiding a spectator’s attempts to grab his arm – as he finished third on the stage and extended his lead to one minute and 59 seconds over Dumoulin.

Stage 19 – Lourdes to Laruns, 200.5km

The final mountain stage was littered with traps set for Team Sky. The climbs of the Aspin, Tourmalet and Aubisque provided ample opportunity for rivals to attack, and they surely did try. But Thomas stuck to his task in the sense that he stuck to Dumoulin’s wheel then, in the final few hundred metres, found a turn of pace to snatch second place and six more bonus seconds to further pad his lead.

Stage 20 – Saint-Pee-sur-Nivelle to Espelette (Individual time trial)

Thomas was third quickest on the stage, behind Dumoulin and Froome, but did comfortably enough to take the yellow jersey into the celebratory final stage and showed his delight as he crossed the line in Espelette. Team Sky had the added bonus of Froome taking third place from Primoz Roglic.