'I wasn't sure I'd get here' - Geraint Thomas starts final race after travel chaos

The Tour of Britain had been earmarked as Geraint Thomas’ final professional race since the very start of the year, but as the clock ticked towards midnight on Monday, he was beginning to worry if he’d get there at all.

A severely delayed flight from Nice made for an anxious evening for Thomas, who eventually made it to his destination in the early hours of Tuesday morning. He lined up for the start of stage 1 in Woodbridge after barely five hours of sleep, though he shrugged off the impact. “It could be worse, it’s not so bad,” Thomas told reporters.

All’s well that ends well, though, given the pomp and ceremony for Thomas’ final bow at this Tour of Britain, they might very well have waited for him.

“I wasn’t sure I was going to get here yesterday with the flights and stuff, but I’m happy to be here now, and I’m buzzing, looking forward to it,” Thomas said.

“There was a fault with the plane, and then a storm came in, so the other plane to take us couldn’t get in. There were flights being cancelled all over the place, and I thought it could be tight here, but luckily the flight finally went at around midnight, I think. I got to bed about two o’clock.”

Thomas and his Ineos teammates are wearing specially designed red jerseys for his final race as a pro, while the route itself has also been designed to offer a send-off to the 2018 Tour de France winner. The final two stages are in Wales, with the grand finale coming in his native Cardiff on Sunday.

“It’s pretty mad, the effort the team’s gone to with the bikes and the jersey, and obviously the organiser as well, having the finish in Cardiff. It’s going to be a special week, that’s for sure,” said Thomas, who downplayed his own competitive aspirations for the week.

“The main thing is enjoying it, making the most of it and making it something to remember. Obviously, we’ve got a strong team here and I’ll do my bit for the boys. I’m not really in the shape to win myself, but we’ve got some good guys here to perform.”

The 39-year-old completed his final Tour de France in July, and his lone outing since then came at the Deutschland Tour. A final block of training followed ahead of his last race.

“It’s certainly been a year of lasts, really, not now the lasts are getting a bit more significant – last training day, last pre-race ride and this and that,” said Thomas, who is set to join the Ineos management team from 2026. “It’s like when you’re a kid and Christmas seems so far away. This last race seemed far away, but suddenly it’s here. But it’s the last week of racing, so I’m going to try and enjoy it.

“It feels like the right time anyway, so I’m happy it’s finishing – but it’s also going to be a strange feeling.”