Geraint Thomas, the early years

A very brief extract from a chat that I had with Geraint Thomas as he prepared for the 2020 Tour de France, a race he never reached.

ST; What kind of family did you come from – was your dad a cyclist?

GT: My dad never raced. He did some riding and stuff, and played rugby when he was younger, and he encouraged me to do lots of different sports. Cycling was the one I stumbled on, and then I just dropped the other sports. 

I went to Whitchurch, one of the biggest schools in Wales; just a normal life really. I was never left without food on the table or anything like that, but it wasn’t like we were well off or anything, just a decent standard. 

I was just fortunate to find cycling and carry it on; something I enjoyed and that I was good at.

ST; The British Cycling Academy and the whole UK cycling scene and funding system were only just starting to take off back then. Did you have support from the beginning, or did you have to get a regular job?

GT; I was fortunate in that the Academy started in 2004. I turned U23 in 2005 and then joined the Academy and moved up to Manchester. I was really fortunate with that, and so I didn’t have to go out and get a job or anything like that. We got money from British Cycling, and we had to pay towards rent and things. It was just a great way to learn how to race your bike and everything around it - from nutrition and hygiene and everything around else. All about life really – we definitely learnt more from it than going to uni, that’s for sure. 

It was something I always wanted to do, and I was always going to do it (turn pro), so it was just a natural progression for me.

ST; British Cycling had huge success on the track, particularly at the Olympics, and you took team pursuit gold in 2008 and 2012. You kept your track focus right up until 2012. Do you regret not fully committing to the road earlier?

GT: No, I have no regrets at all. The London Olympics was massive, and something I wanted to go to and win a gold medal at. The team pursuit was the best event for me to do that in, which is what I did.

From there I focussed more on the road. I don’t see it as a negative at all, certainly a positive. If anything I think that it prolongs your career. It isn’t as if I’ve had all those super hard years on the road. With the track it took away a bit of that intensity of the road, with how hard it is. It’s paying off now in my later years.