Geraint Thomas has said that winning the Tour de France is “just overwhelming” after assuring himself of victory in Paris tomorrow by maintain an overall lead of 1 minute 51 seconds over Team Sunweb’s Tom Dumoulin after today’s individual time trial.
There were emotional scenes after Thomas, in the yellow skinsuit of race leader, crossed the line in Espelette to be greeted by his wife Sara, who had travelled to France this morning without telling him, so as not to break his concentration.
The 32-year-old could also be seen on TV in a lengthy embrace with Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford – who was also his performance director at British Cycling, with whom Thomas won two Olympic gold medals in the team pursuit – ahead of the podium presentations following today’s stage.
“I don’t know what to say,” said Thomas. “It’s just overwhelming. I didn’t think about winning the Tour de France for the whole race and suddenly … I’ve won the Tour, man! I can’t speak.
“It’s just incredible,” he continued. “The last time I cried is when I got married. I don’t know what’s happening to me.”
Regarding today’s stage, which he finished in third place, 14 seconds behind Dumoulin, he said: “I felt good today. I felt strong in the time trial. I felt really good actually.
“I heard I was up and I pushing a bit hard in the corners sometimes. [Sports director] Nico [Portal] told me to take it easy and be a bit more relaxed, just to make sure I win the Tour. That’s what I did.
“It was stressful,” he added. “I believed I could beat the guys here. It was the biggest stage of all over three weeks. It’s wonderful!”
Brailsford, who has now guided a third British rider to Tour de France victory with Team Sky, told Eurosport how he and Thomas had approached today’s stage: “We talked about how he’s ridden in big Olympic finals, and it’s a similar type of day.
“You have to keep focused on the process and don’t let your mind wander [thinking] ‘what happens if I win, what happens if I lose, what happens if I crash, what happens if it rains, what happens if it doesn’t? What are my competitors going to do?
“And all you can do is focus on the process and he’s done that over years and years and years and I think those years of experience is what he had to bring to the table today.
“I think he was nervous. There’s always going to be a performance anxiety at these events at this level – everyone has it, it’s just human – and it’s how you manage it [which is key]. He’s managed it superbly.
“He’s shown he was the strongest rider in the race and it was highly improbable he wasn’t going to be as strong as them today, so as long as he stayed on his bike he was pretty safe.”
61 thoughts on ““It’s just overwhelming” – Geraint Thomas on winning the Tour de France (+ video highlights)”
Meanwhile, over in
Meanwhile, over in Guardianland Will Fotheringham does his best to spoil the party:
“Over the years since their debut in 2010 – when Thomas was their star performer – the British squad [Team Sky] have become an increasingly toxic presence, thanks to a mix of dominant riding and a weight of baggage that oscillates uncertainly between ambiguity and hypocrisy.
‘His will be a win that should inspire affection across the piece, but his team seem unlikely to earn more than grudging admiration.’
Get over yourself, Mr Fotheringham.
darrenleroy wrote:
Whats you problem with Fotheringtons words? looks to me like the simple summary of events and a prediction that should be obvious to anyone following the sport. Crucially, the brief mention of G in the second sentence is alluding to how much he is liked and how his win will generally be received very positively by all in the sport.
You can’t disagree that Team
You can’t disagree that Team SKY hasn’t polarised support of cycling in a way that I’ve never seen. Look at the bile hurled at people who dare to oppose the supremacy of the team or any of its riders.
Get over it, not everyone is a blind supporter of Dave Brailsfraud and Team SKY.. I’m chuffed to nuts for the Taff, he’s worked hard for it and seems a decebt enough lad.
don simon wrote:
You can’t disagree that so called supporters of cycling have polarised the view by attacking a racing cycling team/individual riders with bile, disgusting comments, lies and hatred simply because they have dared to dominate and do things in a very professional manner.
It’s people like you that start the agressive hatred and negative comments that in fact polarise matters. YOU ARE THE FUCKING PROBLEM!!!
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
NO I AM FUCKING NOT YOU FUCKING MUPPET! YOUR INABILITY TO HAVE A RATIONAL CONVERSATION WITH ANYONE WHO SAYS ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT TEAM FUCKING SKY IS A PERFECT ILLUSTRATION OF THE THICK, FROTHING FROOME SUCKERS WHO ARE DIVIDING SUPPORT OF THE SPORT! FUCKING NEWBIES! TAKE YOUR FOOTBALL TEAM SHIRT WEARING TRIBALISM AND SHOVE IT!!!
don simon wrote:
That’s rich coming from an entitled cunt like you who cries like a baby if anybody challenges your needless vitriol you spout whenever Team Sky’s success is mentioned…..(crack)pot meet kettle.
Your inability to have a rational conversation with anyone who mentions Team Sky or challneges your vitriol is the perfect illustration of your mental masturbatory obsession with Froome, not the other way round.
JF69 wrote:
Learn to read, dickhead, then learn to understand what you’re reading. Then come back and comment. And if you still don’t understand, the I suggest you don’t comment, especially if you take umbrage to being called a dickhead.
don simon wrote:
I particularly like that attempt at putting someone down from a chap whose picture shows someone wearing a team shirt.
Welsh boy wrote:
Good, but I am surprised that it’s lost on you (probably not though). He’s gay too, not sure what that says about anything either.
My concern was the phrase:
My concern was the phrase: ‘an increasingly toxic presence’. How is dominant riding, obeying team orders, being more organised and more tactically aware (and having a bigger budget I’ll grant you) in any way ‘increasingly toxic’? It’s a lazy assumption to make but I’d expect nothing less from a paper that seems to have it in for Sky.
darrenleroy wrote:
My concern was the phrase: ‘an increasingly toxic presence’. How is dominant riding, obeying team orders, being more organised and more tactically aware (and having a bigger budget I’ll grant you) in any way ‘increasingly toxic’? It’s a lazy assumption to make but I’d expect nothing less from a paper that seems to have it in for Sky.
— darrenleroy
It’s more the lack of transparency over the years when it comes ot certain matters (remember how Sky were all up for this until it came down to the crunch?), the crossing of ethical lines when it comes to TUE’s, a Parlimentary report which states there’s wrongdoing when it comes to said TUE’s, having a bigger budget than even the sport’s own governing body when it comes to tackling “adverse” dope tests, Dylan Van Barle’s admission on Dutch radio to inhaler use despite not being asthmatic and so on.
If you’re going to claim to be whiter than white then you could really do with walking the walk and talking the talk.
If the string of Tour victories are indeed as a result of hard work & organisation then great, it’s a real acheivement. However, Sky have created the cloud that hangs over their own head here. The constant domination of a single race is very de ja vu like and we all know that this sport has a horrible history of simply repeating past mistakes.
This thread
This thread
There’s nothing wrong in
There’s nothing wrong in being critical of Team Sky and the way they ride / perform / prepare just like there’s nothing wrong in being super supportive of the team.
They are there to win races and titles and if during that they make more friends then good on them but you’ll always have this prejudice against them, possibly due to jealousy, from supporters of other teams and of course there’s the age old British attitude of knocking our winners.
Personally i love watching them but thats my own opinion which isn’t shared by all.
One final note for all you football fans – Cycling’s coming home AGAIN.
Well done Sky, Chris Froome
Well done Sky, Chris Froome for his efforts and attitude towards a team mate who had a fantastic Tour de France. And finally I’m so pleased Geraint has won the biggest cycle race on the planet.
BehindTheBikesheds & don
BehindTheBikesheds & don simon should both probably be banned from commenting on this site; both childish, bring nothing positive, and use abusive foul language.
Grow up, the pair of you.
NorthEastJimmy wrote:
Hi, Im DinosaurJR and I approve of this post.
NorthEastJimmy wrote:
oh so you want to repress comment and criticism, particularly of those that attack cyclists simply for the fact they are part of a successful team, righty ho. I don’t think so sonshine!
NorthEastJimmy wrote:
oh so you want to repress comment and criticism, particularly of those that attack cyclists simply for the fact they are part of a successful team, righty ho. I don’t think so sonshine!
“If the string of Tour
“If the string of Tour victories are indeed as a result of hard work & organisation then great, it’s a real acheivement”
Of course it’s hard work. It’s blindingly obvious from your statement you don’t believe it is and everything Sky have done is down to drugs. All the other teams use TUE,. It’s only because Sky has won the TDF multiple times on successive years that the French press are trying to create a negative slant on their achievements.
CXR94Di2 wrote:
If it was a true hard work ethic then this would be instilled from day one and formed into a habit. A habit that would be hard to break if you left Sky & moved teams because it’s part of daily life. You’d definitley apply the same work ethic to training, no?
So when riders do leave Sky, they often don’t perform to the same level – Kennaugh & Porte as examples here. Viviani is the exception to this rule and Cavendish to a lesser extent. What are they missing in other teams? Do they get lazy? Something else? Certainly not the drive to win, that’s for sure.
“Everybody wants to know what I’m on. What am I on? I’m on my bike busting my ass six hours a day. What are you on?”.
Rapha Nadal wrote:
If it was a true hard work ethic then this would be instilled from day one and formed into a habit. A habit that would be hard to break if you left Sky & moved teams because it’s part of daily life. You’d definitley apply the same work ethic to training, no?— CXR94Di2
I not in a position to know for sure, but I would imagine that much of the training you undertake with a new team and coach(es) would be more inline with what they think is best for you and your position in the team, rather than what might be a habit of yours.
fukawitribe wrote:
That’s probably correct, wasn’t it Steve Jobs who said something on the lines of employing people because they are good at their job and letting them do it, and not telling them how to do the job? If it’s commonplace to stifle talent in the wider workplace, I don’t see sports coaches being any different. Hop into the world of football and you can see that Morino appears to be destroying Pogba, yet he had a storming World Cup.
Surely as a coach you’d want to know the secrets of an ex-Team SKY rider and try to apply that strategy, maybe they do, but can’t.
don simon wrote:
Maybe, if you believed the rider had reached his peak due solely to the Sky training regime and that your own experience, skills and techniques were inferior. Or not. Meh.
don simon wrote:
I do wonder if there’s some sort of NDA in place upon departure.
Rapha Nadal wrote:
I wouldn’t have thought so, why would they need that?
don simon wrote:
Because marginal gains is about more than not eating nutella and having a fancy pillow in your armoury. Don’t disclose our secrets or we’ll get ya!
Rapha Nadal wrote:
The basic problem with this premise is that it assumes that a) cycling is not about the team and b) a great domestique will make a great team leader, that is only true in very select cases. A good team leader with a great team is a much more formidable proposition than a great team leader with a poor team. Usually when riders leave Sky they go on to be team leaders with much poorer teams, it should surprise nobody that they are much less successful.
Rapha Nadal wrote:
If it was a true hard work ethic then this would be instilled from day one and formed into a habit. A habit that would be hard to break if you left Sky & moved teams because it’s part of daily life. You’d definitley apply the same work ethic to training, no?
So when riders do leave Sky, they often don’t perform to the same level – Kennaugh & Porte as examples here. Viviani is the exception to this rule and Cavendish to a lesser extent. What are they missing in other teams? Do they get lazy? Something else? Certainly not the drive to win, that’s for sure.
“Everybody wants to know what I’m on. What am I on? I’m on my bike busting my ass six hours a day. What are you on?”.— CXR94Di2
You really don’t have a clue about how teams and as a part of that human beings work do you, you have no ability to grasp that when people leave one environment they are not going to perform in the same manner, for better or worse.
Invariably when you leave the most professional, rigorous, dedicated organisation, one that absolutely knows what it aims are, who does what and when leaving no stone unturned and then go to an organisation that doesn’t match that then you are not going to be as good, this is why it’s massively important to have great team managers/higher ups, it’s all on them as to how the organisation works out. A poor leadership throughout particularly at the top can ruin talent, you see this in business, in sport and importantly in schools all the time.
Open your eyes ffs instead of continually banging on with your narrow minded narrative!
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
If it was a true hard work ethic then this would be instilled from day one and formed into a habit. A habit that would be hard to break if you left Sky & moved teams because it’s part of daily life. You’d definitley apply the same work ethic to training, no?
So when riders do leave Sky, they often don’t perform to the same level – Kennaugh & Porte as examples here. Viviani is the exception to this rule and Cavendish to a lesser extent. What are they missing in other teams? Do they get lazy? Something else? Certainly not the drive to win, that’s for sure.
“Everybody wants to know what I’m on. What am I on? I’m on my bike busting my ass six hours a day. What are you on?”.— Rapha Nadal
You really don’t have a clue about how teams and as a part of that human beings work do you, you have no ability to grasp that when people leave one environment they are not going to perform in the same manner, for better or worse.
Invariably when you leave the most professional, rigorous, dedicated organisation, one that absolutely knows what it aims are, who does what and when leaving no stone unturned and then go to an organisation that doesn’t match that then you are not going to be as good, this is why it’s massively important to have great team managers/higher ups, it’s all on them as to how the organisation works out. A poor leadership throughout particularly at the top can ruin talent, you see this in business, in sport and importantly in schools all the time.
Open your eyes ffs instead of continually banging on with your narrow minded narrative!
— CXR94Di2
Yeah, I mean being a head of department for a large brokerage with some 50 staff under me does mean that I have no idea about team management, the inner workings of a business, people etc. How silly of me.
Your second paragraph is just utter shite. Do you really think that other teams lack ambition and drive? Don’t know what team & individual rider aims/targets are? Are run by people with no prior experience? Who haven’t won races?
And that last line?! Oh, the fucking irony.
I bet if a French rider
I bet if a French rider signed for Sky as lead rider then they’d change their tune. Vive le Sky!
Yorkshire wallet wrote:
I’m sure there were rumours a couple of years ago of them trying to pick up Bardet for pretty much that reason.
Thomas was humble in victory
Thomas was humble in victory and Froome was magnanimous in defeat. Neither are actors, so one would assume that the emotions they displayed yesterday were genuine. It has been a thrilling three weeks and Thomas’ story seems to strike a bit more of a chord with Joe Public than Froome’s, and will definitely recruit a few more young ‘uns to the sport, whose parents might then be a bit nicer to cyclists when they encounter them on the road. What’s not to like?
The multi day races are just
The multi day races are just as much about the team as the individuals who make up the team. Team Sky has the greatest depth of team members to support their leader, so have a high level of performance.
I suppose when a Sky ex joins another team, the last thing a coach would want to hear is that ex Sky member telling his new coach, you’re doing it wrong.
Morning all. Think I should
Morning all. Think I should’ve worn a helmet for this thread.
Beecho wrote:
I did. It didn’t protect me.
Podc wrote:
You need disc brakes for this thread too. Not required in normal conditions, but when it gets a bit stormy they prove their worth.
“Everybody wants to know what
“Everybody wants to know what I’m on. What am I on? I’m on a forum busting my ass six hours a day. What are you on?”.
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This thread is like
This thread is like Thunderdome: two men enter; everyone leaves a bit dumber.
zanf wrote:
“bust a deal, lose my wheel”
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Whoever fights monsters
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.
I’m enjoying these squirrels.
I’m enjoying these squirrels. Don’t let BTBS see that disc brake one as he’ll be off on a rant.
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Nature does not hurry, yet
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Has bike.owner been ban
Has bike.owner been ban-hammered? All his squirrels have gone.
Now my pictures look even more out-of-place than they usually do.
I bet it was his spat with Tony Farrelly on the Campy bike article.
hawkinspeter wrote:
Looks like it – the threads i’ve looked at have the touch of Thanos about them…
fukawitribe wrote:
Yes he has but not intentionally, and not for his spat with me – that would be too easy and feel a bit wrong.
I’m sure he won’t believe that. And if it’s any comfort to bike.owner he actually got a few extra days on the site – we were going to boot him last week for his comments to another commenter on the legal blog which topped off all the abuse and general snarkiness he’s dished out in his relatively short career as a commenter on road.cc. As we’ve said before, we’ll tolerate some swearing and even the odd bit of verbal roughstuff, but we won’t tolerate it from the same people all the time and especially from those that feel the need to pick a fight on every comment thread.
The number of people we’ve banned in 10 years is still barely if at all in to double figures – we don’t like banning people, but if you come on to the site and consistently share your opinions in ways that make it a less inviting place for other people to share theirs you can expect to be ban-hammered – and without warning. This applies to an infintessimaly small number of the people who post on this site – though two of the contributors to this thread should maybe consider watching their Ps and Qs for a while. I’m sure we all know who they are.
Really sorry if any replies to him you were particularly fond of got rinsed along with bike.owner.
In related news bike.owner.ghost is currently in the account approvals queue – he’s not getting in tonight (bike.owner and his ghost are surely male) but we might let him in in the morning. We do have a new poll widget we’ve been trying out so there has been some discussion of putting bike.owner.ghost in or out? to a vote, but it does rather feel like putting someone in the virtual stocks… which we don’t want to do. On the other hand voting is generally a good thing.
Cheers Tony.
Cheers Tony.
Two contributors?
Two contributors?
Thanks for the explanation,
Thanks for the explanation, Tony.
Personally, I think you’d have been justified for banning him for your spat – it’s one thing to criticise an article, but another to start arguing with the editor/writers. I thought at the time that he was going to get banned as you clearly told him to go to other bike sites if he didn’t like this one.
Have you thought about implementing some kind of sin bin – maybe no commenting for a week if someone oversteps the line? That would moderate some of the exuberance shown in this thread but without being overly harsh on the perps.
hawkinspeter wrote:
Yes some sort of a sin bin would be really useful. In fact it was a form of that that I was trying to implement when bike.owner got deleted. That needs working on then!
A sin bin or something similar would definitely be our preferred option – we just need to find the right module to plug in to the forum software.
Bring back Superpython!
Bring back Superpython!
Yorkshire wallet wrote:
Always thought that BTBS was SuperPython re-incarnted. Either literally or just spiritually.
A sinbin does sound like a
A sinbin does sound like a fair idea, or maybe a time expiring yellow card thing, yes I know, football but we all know what it means.
If only that superpython bloke had toned it down just a little bit, then maybe his interesting and insightful views would still be being read.
Neither sinbins nor bans work
Neither sinbins nor bans work, it isn’t difficult to get other log ins. Fortunately bike.owner and valbrona have particular styles which will have them outed in a very short period of time if they were to return under other names, and more importantly continue with the same messages.
don simon wrote:
So, are you suggesting an AI based approach to build a database of users and their posting style signatures? Maybe a Markov Chain based approach would work as well.
On the other hand, I think bans/sin bins would work well enough for the small number of “problem” posters. Also, if we fed Boatsie’s posts into an AI, we’d probably end up with some kind of Terminator based apocalypse.
I’m glad he’s been barred. He
I’m glad he’s been barred. He’s done nothing since joining but be arrogant, arsey, over-opinionated and combative with everyone. Maybe he’ll calm down a bit if he’s allowed back in?
“Also, if we fed Boatsie’s posts into an AI, we’d probably end up with some kind of Terminator based apocalypse.” That actually made me burst out laughing – I fear you may well be right
!
StraelGuy wrote:
I fear that bike.owner had more serious problems than just being an arrogant arse, I doubt a ban will change any of that.
I’m still not sure whether
I’m still not sure whether bike.owner was just a regular poster having a laugh. It’s just not possible to genuinely be that big an arse. When reading his latest ding-dong, I was always reminded of Alan Partridge’s interview with a farmer, who said, “You seem to alienate everyone you come across, including, I gather, your wife, which is why you ended up living like some bloody tramp in a lay-by.”
– IT’S A TRAVEL TAVERN
srchar wrote:
Coincidentally, that’s what I have written on my business cards.
Be honest, though, there’s a little bit of you that misses him, right?