THOMAS STRETCHES HIGUITA TO CLAIM TOUR DE SUISSE AS EVENEPOEL TAKES STAGE.

Richard BoadiJune 19, 2022

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Welsh veteran Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) secured the overall victory of the Tour de Suisse ahead of this year’s Tour de France. The 36-year-old trailed Colombian Bora-Hansgrohe rider Sergio Higuita going into the final day’s time trial, but a second-placed finish in the stage moved him to the top of the general classification. First place on the day went to Remco Evenepoel.

Ineos Grenadiers’ Geraint Thomas won the Tour de Suisse on Sunday after moving ahead of previous race leader, Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe).

The 36-year-old Welshman trailed the Colombian going into the final stage, a time trial in Vaduz.

He was expected to push hard on the 25.6km course as he trailed Higuita by just a couple of seconds, and he was the second quickest on the day.

Thomas finished only three seconds behind the stage winner, Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl).

Higuita was able to hold onto second place in the general classification, four seconds ahead of Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech) in third.

The win for Thomas represents the third consecutive victory for Ineos at the tour, with Egan Bernal and Richard Carapaz winning the last two events, used to prepare for the Tour de France.

“I was second back in 2015,” Thomas said. “I was second going into the TT there, but Simon Spilak overtook me and I lost that by about five seconds, so it’s super nice to win here.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, especially after that narrow loss.”

Just 79 riders finished the tour after coronavirus forced the withdrawal of a host of competitors, including Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies).

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