Geraint Thomas - The defining moments of a remarkable career

Thomas was a bona fide track star in the early part of his career. 2007 saw Thomas pick up the rainbow jersey for the first time in his career in Mallorca as part of an exceptional British team pursuit squad which included Bradley Wiggins, Ed Clancy, and Paul Manning. The quartet would defend their title the following year on home soil at the Manchester Velodrome.

Perhaps more significantly, the quartet would go on to win Olympic gold in the Beijing Games later that year, becoming only the second British team to do so in the men’s team pursuit after the 1908 quartet, the first time the event ever featured at the games.

Thomas would go on to have one more majorly successful year on the track in 2012 before turning his full attention to the road. Once again he was part of the team pursuit world champions squad, before defending Olympic gold on home boards in the London Games. 

In 2007, at age 21, Geraint Thomas made his Tour de France debut with Barloworld, the first British-registered team to feature in the race since ANC-Halfords in 1987, though the squad's structure was primarily South African and Italian. Thomas was the only British rider in the team on the startlist and one of five riders from British shores to start the race, which began with a Grand Départ in the UK. A special welcome to the Tour for the youngest rider in the race, and the first Welshman to feature since Colin Lewis in 1967. 

It’s safe to say that the Tour didn’t hold back in unleashing its full wrath on Thomas, who finished 140th in the general classification out of 141 finishers in Paris, and knowing what we all know now about his pedigree, this was only the beginning of his special relationship with cycling’s biggest bike race.

Having become National road race champion in 2010, as well as being an Olympic and World Champion on the track, Thomas picked up the Commonwealth Games title in 2014 on Scottish roads in Glasgow, representing his beloved Wales. It wasn't straightforward, as Thomas had suffered a puncture with just six kilometres remaining, but he had enough time in hand to complete a swift change before continuing on his way to victory in biblical weather conditions.

By 2013, Thomas had made the switch from Barloworld to another British-registered team, Sky, but unlike his former team, this operation had put British Cycling on the map to a whole other level. On the opening stage in Corsica, Thomas was involved in a heavy crash and consequently suffered a broken pelvis. Remarkably, the Welshman soldiered on and supported Chris Froome to the first of four Tour de France victories. It was a race that illustrated the character and determination of Thomas, as well as his loyalty to support his teammates when he could have very easily and understandably abandoned the race.

But ultimately it was these sorts of displays of grit and determination that have earned the Welshman so many fans and respect from other riders in the peloton over the years.

Before turning his hand to racing for Grand Tour victories, Thomas was a potential classics specialist in the making. 2014 saw 7th and 8th place finishes at Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, respectively, illustrating Thomas's potential as a classics star. This was further compounded by a stunning solo victory at the Belgian classic, then known as E3 Harelbeke. As Thomas mentions, he remains the only rider to have won both the Tour de France and E3 Harelbeke, quite an achievement.

There were signs of the shift in trajectory from the Classics to GC racing in 2016 where Thomas won the overall at both the Volta ao Algarve and Paris-Nice. The 2017 Giro d'Italia was the first Grand Tour GC tilt for Thomas, who sat second when he was involved in a crash on stage 9, where the left-hand side of the group hit a stationary motorbike. His GC ambitions were gone in a flash, but Thomas soldiered on for a few more stages before abandoning.

Bouncing back from disappointment pulled on the yellow jersey at the Tour de France in 2017 after a powerful time trial on a gloomy opening stage in Düsseldorf, Germany. Little did he know it was something he would become more accustomed to in twelve months' time. Thomas was again well placed in the GC in that edition, sitting second in GC behind teammate Chris Froome after stage 8, before another crash ended his race. 2017 was certainly a test of the resolve of the Welshman.

The 2018 Tour de France was the pinnacle of Thomas’s career. After years as a domestique for Froome’s four Tour wins (2013, 2015–2017), Thomas seized his chance as a GC contender. He won Stage 11, taking the yellow jersey, and cemented his lead with a historic victory on Stage 12 at Alpe d’Huez, becoming the first Briton to win on this iconic climb. Thomas held the yellow jersey for 10 days, finishing the race as the overall winner, the first Welshman and third Briton to claim the Tour. His victory earned him the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, a landmark achievement before the fifth cyclist to do so.

In 2019, Thomas returned as a defending champion but faced a strong challenge from teammate Egan Bernal. He rode in support of Bernal, who emerged as Ineos’s GC leader, while still competing for a high placing. Thomas finished second overall, securing another podium finish and reinforcing his Grand Tour pedigree. His performance showcased his consistency at the highest level, even as he prioritized team success by helping Bernal become the first Colombian Tour winner.

At age 36, Thomas delivered one of his strongest Tour performances in 2022, finishing third overall behind Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar. His climbing ability was exceptional, with improved performances on climbs like Alpe d’Huez compared to his 2018 win. Despite not winning a stage, Thomas’s consistency in the high mountains and hot conditions demonstrated his longevity and adaptability. This podium finish, alongside his 2018 win and 2019 second place, underscored his ability to compete at an elite level late in his career.

There was a wrong that needed to be made right with the Giro d'Italia. 2017 saw him abandon days after the injuries sustained in the race, after the crash, which involved a motorbike. Meanwhile, the 2020 edition delivered a similar fate: a stray bidon in the neutral start of stage 3, left Thomas with a fractured pelvis, though he finished the stage before abandoning the race overnight.

Things looked to be falling into place during the 2023 edition for Thomas, who looked assured and measured, moving into the pink jersey at the end of stage 10, after Remco Evenepoel abandoned the race. Thomas carried pink well, briefly loaning the jersey to Bruno Armirail from a breakaway, before retaking the jersey and leading the racing into the decisive stage 20 time trial. 

It wasn't to be for Thomas, who, despite finishing 2nd on the stage, shipped 40 seconds to a rampant Primož Roglič, a significant enough margin for the Slovenian to take pink with Thomas settling for second before returning in 2024 and finishing third.

Announcing his retirement in February 2025 has served as an extended farewell season for one of the best riders of his era. In July, Thomas raced the fourteenth and final Tour de France of his career, part of an Ineos team that won two mountain stages with Thymen Arensman. The final curtain of Thomas's racing career was the Lloyds Tour of Britain, which concludes this weekend in Wales, and the final stage began outside of the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome in Newport before finishing in Thomas' hometown of Cardiff.