Geraint Thomas looks back on the most notable moments of his career, between victories and spectacular falls.
Geraint Thomas is enjoying his retirement… almost. The winner of the 2018 Tour de France has no longer participated in races as a rider since last September, but he will remain alongside his former teammates as sporting director of the Ineos team. Installed in Monaco, the Welshman returned to The Team on the highlights of his long career.
For Thomas, the last edition of the Grande Boucle will remain engraved in his memory. “The last lap, the noise, it was crazy, I really think it’s the best atmosphere, the loudest I’ve experienced”he says. And to add: “The last two kilometers, I had goosebumps. I realized on the last day of the Tour de France that I had run something like 280 stages (282). I didn’t cry but I felt the emotions rising. »
His first fall
Geraint Thomas also remembers his first fall as a professional, which occurred in 2005 in Australia during a track World Cup: “The guy in front of me ran over a piece of debris and it threw him onto my front wheel. I landed on my handlebars and it ruptured my spleen, which had to be removed. »
And the surprise doesn’t stop there. To avoid disappointing his mother, he made her believe that he was enrolling in university.
“I pretended, but I didn’t go”he says. It was only in the hospital, in intensive care, that his mother discovered the deception. “And of course my mother said to me: I told you, you should have gone to university”he says.
