Thomas On The Rise In Switzerland

Geraint Thomas jumped up into the top 10 On the Tour de Suisse after a wet and wild stage three.

The Cardiff-born crossed the line at Rheinfelden in 13th spot three seconds after stage winner Peter Sagan to take ninth spot.

Thomas is now 19 seconds down on new leader Sagan in the nine-day event which will be his last outing before the Tour de France.

A combination of a lumpy finishing circuit and soaking wet roads made for a thrilling Classics-style finish which the Slovakian took after a daring attack.

With the key objective not to lose time on a tricky day over wet roads, Thomas was backed by his Team Sky rdiers on the 192.6km test.

Sky’s Sport Director Gabriel Rasch said: “It was a tough day for everyone and I think the weather played a big part.

“It was just starting to get dry and when the riders were part-way round the first finishing circuit it began to rain really hard.

“We knew those climbs at the end were hard and on narrow roads, so we were prepared for that.

“G rode well and the plan was just to come through without any issues or time-loss.

“Tuesday is another sprint stage. It’s a pretty hard first 45-50 kilometres so we need to be really focused for those.

“Then after that it flattens out. It’s all about being around G and trying to make the day as easy as possible for him.”