Geraint Thomas kept his grip on the Tour de France yellow jersey after another solid display on stage 15.
The Welshman crossed the line in the peloton, which also contained Thomas’ Team Sky teammate Chris Froome, as his position atop the General Classification remained largely untroubled – and his lead still at 1 minute 39 seconds.
Denmark’s Magnus Cort Nielsen secured a maiden stage victory as he took the spoils of the 181.5km 15th outing, sprinting clear of Jon Izaguirre and Bauke Mollema to seal the win.
And with the riders going into a rest day ahead of Tuesday’s stage 16, 32-year-old Thomas admitted the effort of the team ensured a controlled stage that kept him at the summit of the standings.
“It was a tough day to try and really do too much. Dan [Martin] went, it was a bold move but he wasn’t really going anywhere on his own at the top,” he said.
“On the descent, [Romain] Bardet tried to do something but it was the same situation – we had it under control really and with 15km to go there was a bit of wind which caused a little bit of stress, but not too much.
“The guys have been riding really well so far, hopefully we can keep that going for one more week.”
Team Sunweb’s Tom Dumoulin sits in third behind Froome in the overall standings, 11 seconds adrift of the four-time winner. Czech rider Primoz Roglic of Team Lotto NL-Jumbo is fourth.
And while attention has focused on a potential showdown between Thomas and Froome further along the line, the two-time Olympic champion refuses to dismiss the threats of the other riders jostling for position to be in the mix.
“We take each day as it comes,” he added. “Dumoulin is the biggest threat because he’s the closest in the GC, but Roglic is also riding really well and I think we might see a few more long-range attacks as well.
“Everyone in the top ten is still a threat.
“Racing against Chris in the time trial would be a dream scenario, but I’m trying not to think about that.”
Sportsbeat 2018