Geraint Thomas is set to win his first Tour de France after he held on to the yellow jersey in the penultimate stage of the cycle race on Saturday.
Barring an accident in the procession to the Champs-Elysees on Sunday, the 32-year-old Welshman will give Team Sky their sixth title in seven years after Bradley Wiggins in 2012 and Chris Froome in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Meanwhile, UAE Team Emirates leader Dan Martin cemented his place in the overall top 10 standings after the Irishman's solo effort kept him in eighth position ahead of Sunday’s procession through Paris.
In addition to his stage win and top-10 position in the general classification, Martin rounded off his Tour by being awarded the Super Combativity prize for his aggressive, attacking style over three weeks of punishing racing. He was among eight riders shortlisted for the award, which was then decided by a public vote and jury deliberations.
The title is a prestigious one and will be rewarded by a trip to the podium on Sunday – the first ever for a UAE rider on the Champs-Elysees.
“I honestly can’t believe I’ve been given the Super Combativity prize," Martin said. "I really wanted to be on the podium in Paris but I didn’t think I’d do it this way – especially as I haven’t taken the prize on any of the stages. But it’s an honour and I’m speechless.”
As for Froome, he had been the favourite to retain his title. But he paid the price for the efforts he made to win the Giro d’Italia in May as he just failed to become the first man in 20 years to achieve the Giro-Tour double.
💬💛 @GeraintThomas86
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 28, 2018
"... I’ve won the Tour, man!"
"... T'as gagné le Tour, mec !"#TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/1pwHD4P6IQ
Froome took second place in the 31-kilometre time trial, against the clock, from Saint-Pee-sur-Nivelle, won by a single second by time-trial world champion Tom Dumoulin, with Thomas coming home third, 14 seconds off the pace.
Overall, Thomas leads Dumoulin by 1:51 and Froome by 2:24 after the lanky Briton leapfrogged Slovenian Primoz Roglic, who cracked in the last competitive stage.
"I don’t know what to say. It’s just overwhelming," Thomas said. "I didn’t think about winning the Tour de France for the whole race and suddenly... I've won the Tour, man!
"I can’t speak. It’s just incredible.
"It was stressful. I believed I could beat the guys here," he added. "It was the biggest stage of all over three weeks. It’s wonderful!"
Thomas topped the provisional rankings at the first checkpoint but the Briton rode cautiously to the line, taking no risk on sometimes slippery roads to secure his first grand tour title.
He posed for cameras with his national flag and Dave Brailsford, the man behind all of Team Sky’s Tour de France victories, who was brought up in Wales.
Froome, who started the race as team leader, came close to another stage win but eventually had to concede defeat to Dumoulin. But he at least salvaged a podium finish after dropping to fourth overall following Friday’s last mountain stage.
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Geraint Thomas stays in charge at Tour de France as Primoz Roglic wins Stage 19
Arnaud Demare fires back at critics to win Stage 18 at Tour de France
[ Dan Martin misses out on Tour de France Stage 17 win to 'better guy on the day' ]
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“It’s an amazing day," stage winner Dumoulin said. "It was stressful, though, because this morning I could not find my [world champion] rainbow jersey suit and I had to ask my sponsor to give me a new one at the last minute.
“What a crazy day.”
A gracious Froome said: "It’s a dream to finish on the podium with Geraint. It’s incredible after a very hard day yesterday.
“I wouldn’t have thought it was possible after yesterday. I’m really happy.”
France’s Julian Alaphilippe and world champion Peter Sagan, of Slovakia, both finished within the time cut and are set to claim the polka dot jersey for the mountain classification and the green jersey for the points classification, respectively.
“Yesterday was so hard. I’m happy I survived it,” said Sagan, who crashed heavily in a descent on Wednesday. “Today was OK and tomorrow is the end of the Tour.”
Frenchman Pierre Latour will finish 13th overall and will clinch the white jersey for the best Under 25 rider.
