Geraint Thomas isn’t very good at pulling off a poker face, of pretending that he isn’t bothered about people doubting his ability. “I say it doesn’t motivate me, but deep down it does,” he says with a grin. “It’s nice to turn it around from last year and get on the podium.”
The Welshman is about to finish third at the Tour de France, becoming just the ninth person in the sport’s history to finish on all three steps of the race’s podium.
It was a result that few thought possible, including the man himself. “My wife [Sara] is the one person who has believed in me more than myself sometimes,” the Welshman, cutting a relaxed figure, says. “She actually texted me earlier saying ‘I told you you’d be on the podium in November’ and I did laugh at it then.”
In fairness, he had good reason to. Since finishing second at the 2019 Tour as a defending champion, Thomas had struggled to match his previous heights, a win at the 2021 Tour de Romandie and a third at that year’s Critérium du Dauphiné seen in the eyes of commentators and spectators as solid results, but nothing that elevated him into a major favourite.
His Ineos Grenadiers team took the same assessment, too, its deputy team principal Rod Ellingworth declaring publicly in March that Thomas’ place at this year’s Tour was not guaranteed and if he was to be selected he’d have to accept a role as a super-domestique to Adam Yates and Dani Martínez.
Thomas took objection, responding – and with an intonation that was striking – back in April at the Tour of the Basque Country that “when I won the Tour I wasn’t team leader”.
A few months on, he’s made a mockery of those who didn’t believe him. “It’s just the type of character I am,” he says. “I don’t just give up just because someone doesn’t believe I can’t do something. Deep down I knew I could still be good.
“I always believed I could. The end of last year was really hard mentally for a number of reasons. When I started [racing] again it was steady, which is normal. I was confident if I kept working hard I could be in the mix. I always believed that I could be there or thereabouts.”
(Image credit: Getty)
A new coach, a new racing schedule and changes to his training and diet brought about steady progression in the build-up to this year’s Tour, culminating in Thomas winning June’s Tour de Suisse.
Their lead sports director, Steve Cummings, admitted that it changed the team’s strategy,…