This year’s Tour de France winner, Geraint Thomas, will ride the Tour of Britain alongside last year’s Tour de France winner, Chris Froome. Thomas finished seventh in the Tour of Britain last year, in what was his first appearance since 2011, but Froome hasn’t appeared in the race since 2009.
Thomas said: “As soon as I’d finished the Tour I knew I wanted to ride the Tour of Britain and race on home roads. It starts in Wales which will be special, and then I get to go and race across the whole of the UK. I can’t wait.
“I want to go to the race in the shape to compete and enjoy it. We’ll have to see how the next few weeks go but I’m looking forward to it and I know we will have a strong team there.”
Thomas renounced his normal strict diet while celebrating his Tour de France win, but speaking in Cardiff last week, he said he was keen to maintain decent fitness for the World Championships in September.
“I’d still quite like to try and have some sort of form by the end of the year but I don’t know about winning them.
“I think I’d have to be sort of Tour de France weight and form. I think it’s easier to get the form. The weight now, it’s a bit of a write-off to be honest after the last 10 days. It takes a lot of hard work, that’s the hardest part for me.”
Having already won the Giro d’Italia and finished third in the Tour de France, Froome will understandably skip the third Grand Tour of the year, the Vuelta a Espana, which he won last year.
He said: “It’s been a long time since I’ve raced the Tour of Britain. The Vuelta a Espana has always been such a big goal and sadly coincided with the Tour of Britain, but not doing La Vuelta this year gives me the chance to come back to the UK and race on what looks like a great parcours.
“I’m really looking forward to riding. I always remember there being a great atmosphere at the Tour of Britain and the race has only got bigger over the years. I’m really looking forward to coming back.”
The race begins at Pembrey Country Park, Carmarthenshire, on Sunday September 2.
39 thoughts on “Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome to ride the Tour of Britain”
Good news for the race,
Good news for the race, however I fear the crowds will not be much cop with it being the week the kids go back to school 🙁
Technically its the Tour of
Technically its the Tour of England and Wales
dreamlx10 wrote:
It’s an 8 day race, you can’t expect it to hit every UK county in that time.
F*** me, a 21 day race in Italy, France or Spain won’t visit every region/province in those countries.
Some people are never satisfied.
Danger Dicko wrote:
Yeah, add in that it’s been to Scotland (albiet only the southern part, admittidly) in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 (so that’s 7 times out of the last 8 editions), and deamlx’s comment looks rather stupid.
joules1975 wrote:
I don’t think so – I think as a point of principle it should visit each of the three countries each time.
It’s fine to disagree, and you have a point – but I don’t think it makes deamlx’s comment “stupid”.
Duncann wrote:
His Froome and TDF comments cemented that view.
joules1975 wrote:
No, deamlx’s comment was 100% correct, they said “technically it’s a tour of England and Wales”, you and others need to read properly otherwise you’ll look stupid!
Danger Dicko wrote:
Scotland is neither a region nor a province within the United Kingdom
dreamlx10 wrote:
You’re telling me Scotland isn’t in the UK?
vonhelmet wrote:
Believe it or not, it’s a country in the UK.
vonhelmet wrote:
It is one of the “Kingdoms” that make up the United Kingdom, Wales being a principality of England
dreamlx10]
It can also be viewed as a ‘region’, in the ‘usual’ sense or otherwise, e.g.
dreamlx10 wrote:
It used to be, but is no longer a kingdom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1707
I do wonder just what
I do wonder just what percentage of his life Chris Froome has actually spent on this island?
Organon wrote:
Who cares? Nationality in sport is basically nonsense.
Organon wrote:
Probably not an awful lot, however his parents from Gloucestershire.. brothers lived in UK growing up.. and his wife is from Neath.
I’ll take him as British.
peted76 wrote:
For me the most damning evidence against Froome being British is that he has his brakes set up left – front / right – rear. Absolute scandal.
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For me the most damning evidence against Froome being British is that he has his brakes set up left – front / right – rear. Absolute scandal.
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Interesting – a new Tebbit-test!
Boo, the route is nowhere
Boo, the route is nowhere near me this year.
it would be nice if it could hit more than 2 countries,
he did say ” the whole of the UK “
It’s up to local areas to pay
It’s up to local areas to pay for the tour to come to them. Clearly no one, or not enough people, in Scotland wanted to pay. Go figure.
vonhelmet wrote:
Thank god for some common sense in these comments
exilegareth wrote:
It won’t catch on. I blame the SNP (Squirrels’ Nuts Party).
CygnusX1 wrote:
Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind before you reach eighteen.
So it’s in the UK then? I’m
So it’s in the UK then? I’m glad we agree.
vonhelmet wrote:
Yep. It’s also in
GreatBritain, so there’s something fishy going on.He said “Technically its the
He said “Technically its the Tour of England and Wales” (emphasis mine) which is incorrect. It is the “Tour of Britain” (title) which this year happens to go to Wales and England. It is also a tour of parts of England and Wales.
He said “Technically its the
dup
fukawitribe wrote:
No, they’re a political party in Northern Ireland which is in the UK, but not part of Britain.
It’s the United Kingdom
It’s the United Kingdom (singular) of Great Britain and Northern Ireland [geographical terms.] Scotland is not a current Kingdom. It is a quasi-autonimous region within the state of the UK. The word ‘country’ is ambigious, as in the Basque country or the Black country. The Tour of (Great) Britain does not specify which parts of the island it will visit, there is no error in nomenclature if the organisers miss out Scotland.
Meh! I’ll be watching La
Meh! I’ll be watching La Vuelta.
Last year it was great with
Last year it was great with no “borefest” of loops of london, shame its had to go back. I’ll be heading over to Cumbria for the cracking stage there.
Amazing, two Grand-Tour
Amazing, two Grand-Tour winners on the ToB. I hope the crowds turn out and given them the respect their acheivements warrant. Reallly, who would have thought this possible when it re-started a decade or so ago. I can remember being in a rainy car-park in Matlock being amazed that Paolo Savoldelli was just a few metres away, quietly getting ready to ride …
Who gives a monkeys if it
Who gives a monkeys if it goes to Scotland or not, other than cycling fans. My experience is most Scots always support any other nation against the English. So if we go on this Geraint is from Wales and Chris (for arguments sake)Kenya
We all know in England they are both British 🙂
CXR94Di2 wrote:
Wasn’t aware that there were any riders in the ToB riding for a particular country.
At the European Road Race on Sunday in Glasgow there was plenty of support for English and Welsh riders riding for GB.
I recognise that the ToB can’t come to Scotland every year and the Scots get a share of the pie across a longer period.
Does anyone know when Stage 3
Does anyone know when Stage 3 (Bristol) starts, and can anyone recommend good viewing places (suddenly discovered I have a day off that day, and Bristol is my nearest city
)
(swerving hard to avoid the England/Scotland hatefest upthread)
Why don’t they just combine
Why don’t they just combine it with the best race in Britain and ride round Yorkshire for 12 days ? !
Batchy wrote:
8|
Batchy wrote:
Wasn’t that a Monty Python sketch?