Welshman Geraint Thomas became the first British winner of the Tour de Suisse after finishing second in the individual time trial in Vaduz on Sunday.

The 36-year-old Ineos Grenadiers rider finished the final stage of Switzerland’s biggest road race three seconds slower than Remco Evenepoel but it was enough to claim the overall victory.

Thomas began the final stage two seconds behind leader Sergio Higuita, from Colombia, after finishing fifth on the penultimate stage, but the 2018 Tour de France winner scorched around the 25.6km course on Sunday to claim the spoils.

Higuita managed to limit his losses sufficiently to take second overall, 1:12 behind Thomas and four seconds ahead of Jakob Fuglsang.

Neilson Powless withstood a late bike change to secure fourth place in the general classification, while Stefan Kung moved up to fifth overall thanks his third-place finish in the time trial.

The Tour de Suisse, one of the last major warm-up races for the Tour de France, has been hit by Covid withdrawals, including Britain’s Olympic mountain bike champion Tom Pidcock and his Ineos team-mate Adam Yates.

Thomas posted on Twitter after his victory: “Don’t think many were expecting that.

“Delighted to finally win Tour de Suisse. Big thanks to the boys and the team for all of their work this week.”