Geraint Thomas couldn’t have imagined a more perfect finale to his professional cycling career if he’d planned it himself. The Lloyds Tour of Britain will mark the conclusion of a remarkable journey that started with Olympic track gold and reached its pinnacle with his triumphant 2018 Tour de France victory.
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Adding an extra layer of sentiment to proceedings, this week’s competition will culminate with Sunday’s final stage rolling into the 39-year-old’s beloved home city of Cardiff. Relive Geraint’s triumphant 2018 homecoming to Cardiff after he won the Tour de France.
“It’s just crazy, really,” Geraint said. “I’m lucky the Lloyds Tour of Britain comes at the end of the season almost, so I can finish my career on home roads.” Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here
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The last stage of the route goes past Maindy, the outdoor velodrome where Geraint learned his craft, and goes within 100 metres of his parents’ house.
“It also heads past the pub where I had my first pint. Well, my first legal pint,” he laughed. “It will be an amazing way to finish, and it certainly feels like the right time.”
Geraint Thomas holds a signed Welsh flag during the homecoming event in Cardiff in 2018 -Credit:PA
He told of how he’d never fancied being a “40-year-old in a peloton full of 20-year-olds” and will receive another stark reminder of his advancing years during this week’s event, with Ben Wiggins – the 20-year-old son of his former teammate Sir Bradley – among the field.
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“I remember when Brad came to some criterium in, I think it was Otley, just after Ben was born and he was just a tiny baby in his arms,” he recalled.
“I was still on the academy. It’s nuts really. When you start racing with guys’ kids it’s definitely time to hang it up.”
Geraint has been bidding farewell at competitions throughout the year, particularly at the Tour de France where numerous tributes highlighted his overall triumph in 2018, a memorable summer that witnessed him claiming consecutive mountain stage victories at La Rosiere and Alpe d’Huez.
“It changed my life,” he said. “It’s a funny one. I kind of felt like the time I was most confident and felt no pressure, which is kind of the opposite to what you might think.
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“You’re in that yellow jersey, one or two stages, you think as the race goes on you’d be feeling more pressure, but if anything I just felt more relaxed. Mentally I was in such a good place.
“It might have been different if it was four or five years earlier, but it almost felt like everything that had happened before was setting me up for that.”
Geraint Thomas greets fans at his homecoming parade in Cardiff following his Tour de France victory seven years ago -Credit:Ben Evans/Huw Evans Agency
Thomas, who is collaborating with the Tour of Britain’s principal partner Lloyds to encourage greater cycling participation, is poised to transition into management next year, though his fresh role with the Ineos Grenadiers – a squad he has represented since its establishment as Team Sky in 2010 – is still to be formally confirmed.
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A squad that secured seven out of eight tour editions between 2012 and 2019 have failed to triumph since, presently a shadow of their former dominance as UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Tadej Pogacar and Visma-Lease A Bike’s Jonas Vingegaard currently reign supreme.
“For us the main thing is finding that winning mentality again,” Thomas added. “Having that real core to the team, the real identity in the team.
“It’s key we make sure we rebuild that and continue that. That was the main success for us, we had that real core strong group that went on the journey together.”