Thomas Tour champ on eve of final stage

No more doubters

ESPELETTE, France – Five years ago when riding the Tour de France in support of Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas fell off his bike on a Corsican road in the opening stage and broke his pelvis.

Against all odds, Thomas soldiered on for 3,000 kilometers and three weeks to the finish line in Paris, where he celebrated the first of Froome’s four victories with the rest of their Team Sky teammates.

Barring a crash on Sunday on the ceremonial stage to the Champs-Elysees, it will be Thomas’ turn to add a first Grand Tour triumph to an already glorious career.

“He is a true fighter,’’ says Sky principal Dave Brailsford, the man who masterminded Britain’s successes at the Olympics and Tour de France wins for Bradley Wiggins and Froome.

“When he fractured his hip five years ago, he could not even stand up his bike in the team time trial that followed. He still carried on and finished the race. It speaks volumes about his personality. Since his junior years, he has always wanted to win.’’   

At 32, the new Tour de France champion is everything but an overnight success.

Growing up on the outskirts of Cardiff, Wales, Thomas started bike racing at 10, and his exceptional qualities did not remain unnoticed for long.

“I first saw him when he was about 13 or 14 and he joined me at 17,’’ says Rod Ellingworth, the performance director at Team Sky who also trained Thomas as a British team coach. “You could see straightaway he was just flying round the track, he was pretty good. As he joined the junior program, you just knew he was going to be pretty talented.’’