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As Geraint Thomas seals the deal on his maiden Grand Tour victory, the Tour de France no
less, we thought we'd take a look back at his life and career so far, and ask the question,
just who is Geraint Thomas?
Thomas' win has been one built on consistency, he has not finished outside the top 33 on
any stage.
He's one of the only riders in the race who hasn't suffered some bad luck, which
is in complete contrast to the rest of his career.
He picked up bonus seconds in the first week, and far from simply defending or hanging on
in the mountains, he's arguably been the best climber in the race.
Not once has he lost time to any of his closest rivals.
And it's paid off in dividends.
Thomas has given the whole of Wales reason to celebrate.
But let's rewind to the start.
Geraint Howell Thomas was born on 25th May 1986, in Birchgrove, Cardiff, Wales, UK.
He began his cycling life 10 years later with the Maindy Flyers Cycling Club at Maindy Stadium,
where he borrowed a bike and started competing, and it's there that he would eventually
meet current teammate Luke Rowe for the first time.
The club had almost shut down in the early 90's, but was given a new lease of life
by Debbie Wharton…….
With the help of his parents, The Maindy Flyers club, and his own determination, Geraint went
from strength to strength.
In 2003, he won the junior Kuurne Brussels Kuurne in his first year in that category.
A year later, he won the the Junior Paris Roubaix, in part thanks to Ian Stannard taking
a wrong turn coming into the Velodrome.
Thomas then went on to win a silver medal in the points race at the European Track Championships,
and a gold in the scratch race in the World Track Champs.
At that point, his power and versatility was clear, and Thomas decided that he had a future
as a pro rider.
However, before he finished as a junior, he had a final goal - to win his home race, the
Junior Tour of Wales, a prestigious 3 day race often attended by international riders.
Steven Kruijswijk was there, but It turned into a ding dong battle between Geraint and
Dan Martin.
Dan won the prologue, Geraint took time back the following day, but the tables turned again
on stage 3.
Ultimately, despite his best efforts, Thomas would finish runner up, something that Dan
is still gloating about 15 years later…….
Soon after that, Geraint went to Italy to race with the British Academy, a place that
saw the likes of Ben Swift, Mark Cavendish, Alex Dowsett and Pete Kennaugh ply their trade,
all flung in at the deep end to the notoriously tough Italian amateur racing, under the guidance
of their coach Rod Ellingworth.
Thomas' talent became even more evident as a senior rider, so much so that by 2006,
aged just 20, he was given a tryout with the Saunier Duval team, although it would be with
Barloworld that he would sign his first pro contract the following year, in 2007.
Having just turned 21, he was the youngest rider in that year's Tour de France.
A race he almost killed himself to finish, in 139th place, with just one rider behind
him on the GC - although I think it's fair to say that a few excess kilograms didn't
help him in the mountains..
His focus back then though was on the track, and it was there that he would pick up his
first major success.
At the Beijing Olympics, he joined Bradley Wiggins, Ed Clancy and Paul Manning in the
Team Pursuit to pick up a gold medal, and world record in the process.
From that point, he split his attentions between the road and track.
In 2009, he finished in 6th place at the Tour of Britain, but it wasn't until 2010 that
he would pick up his first pro win - the British National Elite title.
One week later, he would finish 5th at the prologue of the Tour de France, and then came
close to taking his first yellow jersey, finishing runner up to Thor Hushovd on the Roubaix stage
two days later.
His first stage race victory came in 2011, at the Bayern Rundfahrt, but a year later
his focus returned to the track - a win on the short prologue of the Tour de Romandie
an indication of his power over short distances, and so it wasn't a surprise that he was
a key part of Team GB's Team Pursuit squad that won another gold medal in London, that
summer.
That spelt the end of his time on the track, and once he concentrated fully on the road,
the results came quickly.
3rd overall at the Tour down Under in 2013, 2nd at the Bayern Rundfahrt, 15th at the Criterium
du Dauphine - all signs of future success.
He would later ride the Tour de France at the service of Froome, most of it with a fractured
pelvis, underlying his sheer grit and determination.
In 2014, the divide between his classics and stage race ambitions was never more evident
- 3rd at the E3 Prijs, top 10's in Flanders and Roubaix plus a gold in the Commonwealth
Games Road Race showed his potential in the cobbled classics and one day races.
And yet that same year, he also won the Bayern Rundfahrt for a 2nd time, and came 22nd overall
at a Tour de France in which Chris Froome crashed out.
The progression continued in 2015 - a win in Algarve, 5th in Paris Nice, a huge win
at the E3 Prijs cobbled classic in Belgium.
2nd at the Tour de Suisse, and 4th in the GC at the Tour de France going into stage
19, before he cracked.
That, though, was after working completely at the service of Froome, riding in the wind,
on the front - he might have slipped out of the top 10 by the end of the race, but he
knew then that he could compete with the best at Grand Tours.
And so came a decision - the cobbled classics or the Grand Tours?
He chose the latter, and it paid off immediately with a win at Paris Nice in 2016, and in 2017
he would be team leader at a Grand Tour for the first time, at the Giro d'Italia.
However, if there's one thing that seems to follow Geraint around, it's bad luck
- a police motorbike stopped at the side of the road took down most of Team Sky as they
raced towards Blockhaus - he soldiered on, even finishing 2nd to Dumoulin in the TT the
following day, but ultimately his injuries would prove too much, and he abandoned three
days later.
And so to the Tour, which didn't go much better - lying 2nd overall behind Froome,
he crashed on a descent on stage 9 and was forced to quit the race.
You have to say, that if Geraint didn't have bad luck he'd have no luck at all.
Back in 2005 he had his spleen removed after a bad accident whilst riding to the velodrome
in Sydney, the crashes at the Tour, the crash wind at Gent Wevelgem, Tour de France last
year, Giro d'Italia last year.
It's no wonder that the world of cycling were questioning whether he'd ever manage
to avoid the bad luck that has plagued his career, and that must have crossed his own
mind too.
But the bad luck would continue - this year he dropped his chain on the decisive stage
of Tirreno Adriatico whilst leading the race, and then crashed hard in the opening prologue
of the Criterium du Dauphiné (WE HAVE VIDEO FOR THIS).
Since then, though, he's managed to piece together the perfect 8 weeks, in which he
hasn't put a single foot wrong.
He would go on to win the Dauphiné after a dominant performance, and at this Tour de
France, he really hasn't put a single foot wrong at any single point of the race.
At 32 years of age, everything has clicked into place for Geraint Thomas, and he can
barely believe it.
He's answered the critics questions, and his own, in fact the only question that remains
is, WHY ARE YOU STILL WEARING THOSE OAKLEYS?!
The common theme when you speak to his teammates past and present, coaches, mentors and friends,
is that he's a no nonsense good bloke - nobody has a bad word to say about him, and that,
although he takes his cycling very seriously, he's a relaxed individual away from it - he's
laid back, he's passionate about rugby and football, in fact he went to school with Gareth
Bale and Sam Warburton.
He also likes a beer, or three - so, cheers Geraint Thomas, you deserved that.
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