Thomas finished saf🔯ely in the bunch on the stage, six seconds behind solo stage winner Luis Leon Sanchez, and moved up five spots to eighth overall, 18 seconds behind new race leader Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep).
. "It was a steep climb with 20km or so to go, but I felt fine. The legs felt good."
Thomas admitted that he fe♉lt a bit tired during Saturday's openꦐing 9.5km time trial, which world champion Rohan Dennis (Bahrain-Merida) won in 10:50. Thomas covered the course 17 seconds slower.
"🍃Aft𝔉er yesterday, this was just what I needed - a long, attritional stage," Thomas said. "We’ve got three days before we hit the mountains, which will be the GC days, so hopefully we’ll be all good for that."
Tour de Suisse will be the final test for Thomas ahead of the Tour de France, where hopes to defend his 2018 title. Teammate and four-time Tour winner Chris Froome's crash earlier this week at the Criterium du Dauphine, where he suffered severe injuries that will rule out his participation at the Tour this year, clears the way for Thomas to take the Team Ineos reigns in France this July. He'll also have the services of young Col🔯ombian Egan Bernal in France, and the pair are getting reacquainted this week at Tour de Suisse.
"It’s nice to be riding with Egan again," Thomas said. "It’s good to getꦫ that bond and that understanding again. The main goal is the Tour, and there’s probably half theಞ team here.
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"But we also want to get a good result here," Thomas said. "Whenever you’ve got a nu🌌mber on your back, you want to be winning races. It’s not the be all and end all, though, as th༺e main goal is the Tour in a few weeks time."
