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Welshman Geraint Thomas completes his rise from support rider to Tour de France champion

Paris • The spits and the jeers. The eggs thrown at team cars. The attempts to unbalance riders while riding up the most grueling climbs.

The Welsh rider was the steadiest rider from the start, the strongest in the Alps and the Pyrenees. On Sunday he concluded his transformation from a support rider into a champion of cycling’s biggest race by claiming his first Tour de France title.

“With the boys, that’s the main thing for the whole three weeks, we stuck together through some tough times, stayed strong,” Thomas said. “Everything just clicked this race.