Why Geraint Thomas' Tour de France victory ranks among Welsh sporting greats

In 2007, a 21-year-old cyclist, carved out on the country lanes of south Wales, achieved a childhood dream.

Rolling into London’s Trafalgar Square - the chosen destination for the 94th Tour de France’s Grand Depart - the youngest rider in the race was now in the big time.

11 years on, that young rider returned to the Champs Elysees, not as one of the pack, but as winner. The king of cycling’s greatest race. His name will go down in history.

Just where it ranks in the pantheon of Welsh sporting greats is a much-mooted matter. John Charles? Perhaps. Gareth Edwards? Maybe. Joe Calzaghe’s world domination? Hmmm. But however you see it, Geraint Thomas winning the Tour de France is now is right among them.

But why? He is, after all, far from the first Brit to do it. He is not so young, nor so old. He is a proven pro, respected in the peloton with years of experience and hundreds of thousands of miles under his belt. You might say it is no surprise. You’d be wrong.

Because unlike many who have gone before him, his is a victory that was not meant to be and is borne out of decades of suffering and self-sacrifice, against opposition who were not meant to crumble. In a team that was not made for him.

Cycling is an intrinsically team focused sport. The merging of individual effort with the protection and support of colleagues willing to take themselves to the darkest of physical and mental places sets it apart from all others. And all for someone else’s gain.

And that has been the vortex in which Thomas’ career has sat.

A so-called ‘Domestique’ of the highest order, his value - both tactically and financially - has lain in his willingness and ability to make others ride better. Ask Sir Bradley Wiggins, or Chris Froome who they want to ride beside them - Geraint Thomas every time.

So once again, he arrived at the 2018 edition’s first stage ready and willing to help. Reporting for duty armed with his best. And in the form of his life.

It was from here that he was to launch his greatest race.

Even when he benefited from his team leader’s misfortune to steal a march on the lead, he kept to his task as he kept to his duties to protect team leader Chris Froome, even once he’d taken the leader’s yellow jersey. Ego and entitlement left firmly at the door. On a level of honour alone he is worth every penny. Then consider the race.

21 stages, 2082 miles. Journeys across the alps, the Pyrenees, the cobbles of the north, the heat of the south. Every inch covered under his power alone. And then there is the mental test.

To win a yellow jersey you must offer more than just talent. A heart and mind strong enough to withstand the anguish and sheer pain of a 18km climb, followed by a 60kmph decent on mountain roads which offer the prospect of a one way trip down a cliff where many before you have lost their lives.

That is the arena in which you must survive.

To do it therefore requires a singularity of mind and ego to match. The self-confidence to attack, and stay ahead so often provides a rider people love, or hate in equal measure.

But Geraint Thomas defies that convention too. Loved throughout the peloton, the media, and, most unlikely of all for a member of Team Sky, by the French public themselves. His ever-present self-deprecation, open nature and friendly demeanour have won over the hearts of almost all he rides with and past.

He is truly the people’s champion.

And now he is Tour de France winner too. The first British-born rider to do so. A product of British cycling’s academy and a Welshman to his core, his name now sits alongside the greats.

Merckx, Coppi, Anquetil, Wiggins, Froome. Thomas. And it is not out of place in the slightest.