Riding a dragon-emblazoned Pinarello Dogma F and donning a custom red jersey, featuring a red dragon and a sketch by his son Macs, Geraint Thomas completed his final professional race in his hometown of Cardiff today, capping off a remarkable career on the road and track.
“It’s a nice feeling, It’s mad that people care that much about seeing me do well, it meant so much. What a way to finish,” said an emotional Thomas at the finish line.
“I was riding through Birchgrove and all the fans, I almost choked up riding my bike.
“To finish here is like a full circle. It is incredible, passing Maindy with 1k to go, there is no better way.
“I am going to switch off a bit, I have to take my lad to school on Tuesday so, back to reality. I will do the things that I would not normally be able to do.”
Ineos Grenadiers sports director Ian Stannard, who was also Thomas’ Team Sky/Ineos teammate, commented: “Obviously we had a race to focus on, but at the same time you could feel the build-up as we got towards Cardiff.
“It’s a shame about the rain, but what a final stage for G. All the crowds all the way from Caerphilly was amazing, both sides all the way down. It has been amazing.”
Despite the typical rainy Welsh weather, fans were out early to celebrate G’s final race.
“This is the only stage I’m watching this year”, said spectator Nick Simms.
“Geraint Thomas is the main reason we came down all the way from Derbyshire. It is a long way to come down, but it is Geraint’s last race.
“He is a real nice guy; it is great that it is finishing at home. It has been a really good tour to watch.”
The race passed Maindy Velodrome, the home of Geraint’s childhood cycling club, the Maindy Flyers.
“It’s really emotional, especially watching the kids in the parade”, said Nia Price, a member of the Maindy Flyers.
Before the pro peloton reached Cardiff, Thomas organised the opportunity for 150 members of his former club to cycle through the finish line.
“It was a lot of fun, shepherding lots of kids. Saying farewell to G, and being proud of him for being an ex-Maindy Flyer,” said Maindy Flyer coach, Andre McEwan.
“The kids having that experience, is the biggest thing. They do races in their age categories, but to do something with full advertising, when the crowd is out and they get the feeling of going through a finish line.
“It’s an opportunity to see what is ahead of them if they want to continue pursuing cycling.”
Thomas started cycling for the Maindy Flyers at the age of 11. He once said that he may never had ridden a bike if he had not lived so close to Maindy in Cardiff.
Nia added: “They are so excited, they have been riding around all morning. They decorated the Maindy Velodrome, so from the air you can see his face on the track.
“I think he will be going into management, but hopefully he will continue visiting us at Maindy Velodrome.”
Thomas also passed the pub where he enjoyed his first pint, and was only 100 metres away from his parent’s house.
“He is a Welsh icon. It is great that he will be going past Maindy Velodrome,” said Richard Cottrell, a Cardiff local.
“I only got into cycling recently. I did a charity cycle ride a year ago, and watched the Netflix series. Yesterday I went and watched them cycle up the Tumble, and have watched the rest of the race on the TV.”
Wearing all the free merch available, his girlfriend Colleen Eley joked, “I don’t really watch cycling. We planned it all to come down early for the merch.” We’ll be sure to pass that quote on to G and the Tour of Britain organisers…
As far as the racing was concerned, the final Tour of Britain stage saw Olav Kooij (Visma–Lease a Bike) sprint to victory, with Brits Sam Watson (Ineos Grenadiers) and Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) joining him on the podium to take second and third place on the day.
In the overall standings, Frenchman Romain Gregoire (Groupama–FDJ) held on to secure the general classification win, impressively fending off Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) – just 4 seconds separated the top three. After his remarkable Tour de France breakthrough this summer where he finished in fourth place overall, 22-year-old Brit Oscar Onley (Team Picnic–PostNL) will have been feeling some déjà vu after also bagging fourth at the Tour of Britain.
For those who were wondering, G finished down in 80th overall, over 20 minutes behind the victorious Gregoire. We don’t suppose he’s in the slightest bit bothered, and neither are you, but we’d guess the chugging of beers handed to him by spectators might have cost the legendary Welshman a few seconds here or there…
5 thoughts on ““What a way to finish”: Geraint Thomas closes out stellar cycling career with emotional swansong in home city during final Tour of Britain stage”
Retirement brings a whole
Retirement brings a whole host of challenges for all of us not just top flight athletes, let’s hope he navigates them with panache.
Being a multi-millionaire
Being a multi-millionaire will no doubt help🙂
And if he goes into team management, he will be pretty busy, in addition to having a young family.
I have hardly seen a more grounded elite sportsman, so maybe not much adjustment needed.
He’s set for some management
He’s set for some management role at Ineos from what ive read, he could easily step into a similar role at BC, plus he’s got his podcast and of all the riders of that era, he’s bar maybe Ed Clancy the most grounded of the lot.
He’s not one of those who i think will struggle to fill the not being a pro cyclist gap with something else.
The only person ever (I think
The only person ever (I think!) to be both the youngest rider in the Tour de France and then, later, the oldest rider in the Tour de France. Cycling’s a bit more intense now so it may be that no one will ever do this again. Chapeau!
Absolutely terrific career,
Absolutely terrific career, both on track and road.
Shame he didn’t add the Giro to his long list of achievements.
A great sportsman. Well respected by the public and his fellow pros.