Inspired Geraint Thomas powers to stage win and yellow jersey

LA ROSIERE, France — Thomas claimed the stage win and the race leader's yellow jersey on the Tour de France on Wednesday, with a powerful ride up the final climb of a gruelling 108km run from Albertville to La Rosière.

Team Sky's Thomas, who won the Criterium du Dauphine last month, attacked near the end of the 11th stage. The 2017 Giro champion Tom Dumoulin took second place, 20 seconds behind Thomas and just ahead of his Team Sky colleague and defending champion Chris Froome.

Among the race's other top contenders, France's Romain Bardet, Italian Vincenzo Nibali and Colombian Nairo Quintana crossed the line 59 seconds behind Thomas.

The Welshman attacked from the group of favourites with nine kilometres left of the 17.6-km ascent at an average gradient of 5.8 per cent to La Rosiere, and caught Dumoulin, who had attacked earlier.

The Dutchman could not sustain the pace of Thomas, who also caught and then left in his wake the Spaniard Mikel Nieve, the last survivor of the day's breakaway.

"I just felt good today, I followed my instincts," said Thomas, who now leads Froome by one minute 25 seconds and third-placed Dumoulin by 1:44.

Several top contenders sustained heavy losses. Spain's Alejandro Valverde, who was on the attack in the final climb, finished 3:30 off the pace, and Britain's Adam Yates crossed the line 4:42 behind.

Last year's runner-up Rigoberto Uran finished 26:07 down, killing off any hopes he may have had of a podium finish.

Thursday's 12th stage is likely to see the favourites battle it out for yellow again with a summit finish on the iconic Alpe d'Huez.

After the first mountain stage on Tuesday, Froome welcomed his rivals' lack of aggression, as he stayed firmly on course for a record-equalling fifth Tour de France title .

The 10th stage followed Sunday's punishing cobbled ride to Roubaix and Monday's rest day and, with a long descent to the finish, none of the top guns were in the mood to risk a long-range attack.

For Froome, the 158.5-km trek from Annecy was one day ticked off his to-do list as the Briton remained in a perfect position to become the first rider in 20 years to achieve a Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double.

"We couldn't have asked for much more, really. It was pretty steady," said Froome, whose climbing abilities should do the talking in the coming days.

A final time trial on the eve of the Champs Elysees parade should also help him gain time on his rivals, with the exception of Dutchman Tom Dumoulin, who is 3:42 off the pace in 11th.

"We were pretty happy to have the numbers up front. For the first big mountain day I think the guys really showed exactly what we've been training for," Froome added.

"I'm feeling pretty good."

Among Froome's rivals, the Movistar team — with three potential winners in Valverde, Nairo Quintana and Mikel Landa — did not even try to unsettle the four-time champion in yet another demonstration of their conservative tactics.

"Everyone's got their own gameplan. Other people are probably also thinking about these next hard days coming up," said Froome.

"No one really showed all their cards today. Everyone I think played it a little conservatively maybe thinking about the next two days to come, which are going to be hard as well."

Dumoulin, the 2017 Giro champion, refused to see the day as a lost opportunity to shake Team Sky, the dominant force in the peloton. "It's only the first mountain stage," he told Reuters.

That stage, however, was fatal to last year's runner-up Colombian Rigoberto Uran, who lost over two minutes just two days after losing ground following a crash on the cobbles.

"He's pretty sore after crashing two times on the cobbles," his EF Education First-Drapac sports director Charly Wegelius said. "He did what he could to limit the damage but unfortunately it's the way sport goes. It's a brutal sport."