Cycling Great Thomas Bids Emotional Tour Farewell

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Geraint Thomas wavesImage source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Geraint Thomas has been pinch Ineos Grenadiers - and their erstwhile guise Team Sky - since nan team's inception successful 2010

Dafydd Pritchard

BBC Sport Wales successful Paris

There is simply a segment successful Goodfellas, a continuous one-take changeable arsenic iconic arsenic nan movie itself, wherever nan protagonist Henry takes his early woman Karen to an exclusive club, skipping nan queue by entering via a backdoor, stepping done a vast, winding room and into nan eating room, handing retired rate and fleeting niceties to nan scores of different group he passes on nan way.

You whitethorn person seen it moreover if you person not watched nan film. A array is past specially brought to nan caller couple, played by Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco, successful a premier position adjacent nan stage, and a chap diner sends complete champagne.

On Sunday nighttime successful Paris, stepping alongside Geraint Thomas making his measurement from nan Tour de France decorativeness statement to his squad autobus felt for illustration a cyclist's reimagining of that scene.

As nan 39-year-old is retiring astatine nan extremity of nan year, this was his last Tour, a chance to bid farewell to nan title that made him a nationalist leader erstwhile he won it successful 2018. And everybody wanted a portion of him.

Still successful his kit, connected his motorcycle and pinch his five-year-old boy Macs sat connected nan handlebar, Thomas could hardly move without a manus reaching retired for a precocious five. As he wheeled past rival squad buses, riders and coaches were perpetually calling his name, falling complete themselves to congratulate nan Welshman.

Few achievements elevate one's position successful Paris for illustration wearing nan yellowish jersey arsenic nan Tour de France champion, crowned atop nan podium successful nan protector of nan Arc de Triomphe.

Although he was not victorious this year, Thomas was still successful demand, fixed his 18-year relation pinch this expansive aged event.

He was nan youngest rider astatine nan Tour de France successful 2007, nan champion 11 years later, and now nan oldest subordinate successful cycling's top title - nan only man successful nan Tour's agelong and storied history to person been each three.

"It's been amazing," Thomas told BBC Sport Wales. "Looking back, I ne'er thought I'd beryllium doing 14 Tours and to triumph it was conscionable bonkers. I tin look backmost pinch fond memories.

"It was thing I ever dreamed of doing truthful to person conscionable done it and beryllium successful Paris erstwhile is typical you know. To do 14 is unreal really, 1 hellhole of a journey.

"I'm not 1 to beryllium excessively sentimental and look backmost aliases whatever, you're ever benignant of reasoning of nan adjacent thing. But I conjecture erstwhile it comes to nan extremity there's thing other to look guardant to is there?"

Geraint Thomas (right) sits connected his bike, fresh to thrust his first Tour de France pinch Barloworld arsenic a 21-year-old successful 2007 Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Geraint Thomas (right) rode his first Tour de France pinch Barloworld arsenic a 21-year-old successful 2007

Thomas is not an outwardly affectional aliases demonstrative personification by nature, but nan Tour is simply a title for illustration nary other, a taste arena that transcends cycling.

It is nan logic why Thomas, arsenic a child, begged his parents for a Eurosport subscription, why he rushed location from schoolhouse to watch connected TV, hooked connected a athletics which was thing of an replacement curiosity erstwhile it came to nan sporting bid of things successful nan UK successful nan 1990s.

The Tour, however, has ever trim through. Mention nan yellowish jersey to almost anyone and they will deliberation of this race, sloppy of whether aliases not they've really ever watched it.

That is why Thomas has often said that it was winning nan Tour that really changed his life.

Even aft successive Olympic golden medals and respective world titles, he was only occasionally recognised moreover successful his location metropolis of Cardiff erstwhile he went retired pinch friends and family.

But erstwhile he became Tour champion, Thomas was hurled into a different stratosphere.

He was voted BBC Sports Personality of nan Year, sat adjacent to Nicole Kidman connected Graham Norton's sofa and exchanged shirts pinch Lionel Messi astatine nan Camp Nou. There were backstage passes for an Elton John performance too, what pinch Thomas signed up by Sir Elton's agency.

None of that was remotely normal for a cyclist, sloppy of really successful aliases likeable Thomas mightiness be. Cycling is not a athletics that lends itself to a glamorous lifestyle.

Riders person to sacrifice their family lives, their societal lives, their fare – beautiful overmuch everything – to make it to nan top.

Then location is nan colossal beingness effort nan athletics demands.

This was Thomas' 14th Tour, during which he has cycled for much than 1,000 hours and successful excess of 26,000 miles – which is longer than nan circumference of nan earth.

That still only makes up a fraction of nan distances he will person clocked successful each his different races and training sessions; literal years spent connected a bike.

No wonder, then, that he was fresh to telephone it a day.

"It decidedly feels for illustration nan correct clip now. It was a ace difficult race," Thomas said.

"The Tour is ever hard, but nan measurement racing is changing, not conscionable physically, nan aggression successful nan peloton and everything, nan respect, everything is changing, truthful I'm decidedly happy to beryllium stepping distant now."

Geraint Thomas holds nan Welsh emblem aft winning nan 2018 Tour de FranceImage source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Geraint Thomas won nan Tour de France successful 2018 (pictured), vanished 2nd successful 2019 and 3rd successful 2022

A determination connected what comes adjacent tin wait. First, a chance to walk much clip pinch family.

When Thomas sealed triumph aft nan last clip proceedings successful 2018, nan first personification he saw aft crossing nan decorativeness statement was his woman Sara, flown successful by nan squad bosses to astonishment their caller champion. On Sunday, she was by his broadside erstwhile more.

"It hasn't really deed location yet that this is nan past one. We were conscionable stepping up nan Champs Elysees, seeing nan Arc de Triomphe and thinking, 'It's not each time you get to do this'," Sara said.

"It is simply a large portion of our life but we're some very judge it's nan correct clip to decorativeness and excited for what lies ahead.

"The highs are astonishing but nan lows are truthful incredibly debased that sometimes you commencement reasoning if it's worthwhile, but past you get those astonishing days again.

"It's going to beryllium strange. It's going to beryllium rather an accommodation having him ever astatine home. It will beryllium bully for him to do nan mundane jobs, for illustration nan schoolhouse pick-up and drop-off. Less travelling and being successful 1 spot for longer. I'm looking guardant to that."

The emotion was mutual.

"When you really commencement to deliberation astir everything you've been through, you know, that's erstwhile it gets a spot like... yeah, it gets you," Thomas said, his sound breaking a little.

"They spell done truthful much, conscionable arsenic overmuch arsenic me, if not much because they unrecorded nan highs, but they unrecorded each nan lows arsenic well.

"And it's conscionable been awesome that Macs has been capable to beryllium connected nan podium pinch maine 3 times. Special memories."

This is not rather nan extremity of nan roadworthy for Thomas, who will discontinue afloat astatine nan extremity of this year. Before then, location is clip for 1 last race, September's Tour of Britain which will fittingly decorativeness successful Cardiff.

As a kid pinch dreams of becoming a master cyclists, Thomas had nary Welsh domiciled models whose paths he could follow, truthful he blazed his ain trail.

By becoming nan first Welshman to triumph nan Tour de France – having been only nan 2nd to compete successful nan iconic title – Thomas transformed cycling successful his homeland, and secured his ain legendary status.

The thousands who lined nan streets of Cardiff for his 2018 homecoming were impervious of that; freshly-converted cycling fans congregating to shape nan benignant of throng usually reserved for Six Nations matchdays successful nan Welsh capital.

That is Thomas' Tour legacy.

"This is wherever it each stated," Thomas said arsenic he motioned towards nan splendour of his Parisian surroundings.

"I did it my first twelvemonth arsenic a pro and was nan youngest feline past and nan oldest feline now, truthful it's afloat circle. It's nan pinnacle of nan sport, it's nan biggest motorcycle title successful nan world.

"To do 14 is unreal really, 1 hellhole of a journey."

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