After two weeks of racing in the Tour de France, Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) remains in command of the overall lead thanks to his devastating display of climbing strength in the Alps. After Fausto Coppi in 1952 and Joop Zoetemelk in 1976, the Welshman became just the third rider in Tour de France history to win two successive mountaintop finishes, first at La Rosière on stage 11, where he took the lead, and then 24 hours later, at what is arguably the Tour’s most emblematic summit finish, on the Alpe d’Huez. Thomas, 32, is the first ever Briton ever to win on the Alpe d’Huez in the Tour de France. He has already won the Critérium du Dauphiné this season, with his best Grand Tour overall finishes 15th in 2015 and 2016. With six stages through the Pyrenees and onto Paris remaining, Thomas currently leads the Tour de France with a 1-39 advantage over his team-mate and four times outright winner Chris Froome. 2017 Giro d’Italia winner Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) lies in third place at 1-50. Meanwhile Peter Sagan (BORA-hansgrohe) retains a solid command of the Tour’s points classification, which the UCI WorldTour leader already won from 2012 through to 2016. Meanwhile Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors), winner of the opening Alps stage at Le Grand Bornand, commands the King of the Mountains ranking.
Tour de France> Saturday July 7th - Sunday July 29th
Born on New Year’s Day in 1988 in Denver, Colorado, and a professional racer since 2012, Alex Howes is one of the USA’s best-known stage racers in the UCI WorldTour. The 30-year-old has spent his entire career at pro level with the Team EF Education First - Drapac p/b Cannondale. Howes fell in love with cycling thanks to his father’s enthusiasm for the sport, and apart from a year racing in France, most of his amateur career was spent in the USA, winning the U-23 National Road Race in 2009 and taking silver a year later. Since 2012 and turning pro, Howes has completed five Grand Tours as well as winning tough stages in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge Tour of Colorado, the Tour of Alberta and the Cascade Cycling Classic.
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