Geraint Thomas stunned by Julian Alaphilippe in stage 13 time trial — and then brands Frenchman Tour de France favourite

JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE stunned Geraint Thomas in a thrilling time trial and showed the Welshman he faces an almighty Yellow Jersey battle. The livewire French rider, 27, has battled relentlessly to hold on to yellow and he outgunned stage favourite Thomas by 14sec in Pau. The home crowds went berserk for Deceuninck-QuickStep man Alaphilippe as he […]

JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE stunned Geraint Thomas in a thrilling time trial and showed the Welshman he faces an almighty Yellow Jersey battle.

The livewire French rider, 27, has battled relentlessly to hold on to yellow and he outgunned stage favourite Thomas by 14sec in Pau.

The home crowds went berserk for Deceuninck-QuickStep man Alaphilippe as he powered through the final stages in the prestigious jersey and clinched stage victory over 17 miles.

Thomas now goes into Saturday’s massive mountain stage to Tourmalet 1min 26sec behind his rival, but there are still plenty of huge climbs to turn it around.

Alaphilippe would be the first French rider since Bernard Hinault in 1985 to win the race if he does see it through and the local crowds will be out in force on Saturday.

And Sir Dave Brailsford’s Team Ineos will hope it does not see a reprisal of hostilities aimed at Chris Froome in recent years — which has included being spat at and having urine thrown on him.

Thomas said: “I didn’t really expect that.

He’s certainly favourite and the one to watch at the minute

Geraint Thomas on rival Julian Alaphilippe

“He’s obviously going incredibly well, so he’s certainly favourite and the one to watch at the minute.

“For sure the way he’s riding, if he can keep that up, he’ll win.

“There’s a long way to go and there’s a lot of hard stages to come now.”

The race was rocked earlier in the day as Belgian rider Wout van Aert crashed heavily after clipping a roadside barrier.

Van Aert, 24, was flung off his bike and hit the tarmac knees first and was taken to hospital after abandoning the race.

Although early assessments showed he had a laceration to his right upper leg that pierced through his quad muscle and down to the bone.