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Geraint Thomas was always waiting patiently for his turn.
Back in 2010, when Team Sky manager Dave Brailsford boldly stated that the upstart team would win the Tour de France within five years with a British rider, many people laughed at him.
The claim seemed audacious, especially since no British rider had come close to winning in Paris. Riders like Tom Simpson, Sean Yates, Chris Boardman, and David Millar all previously wore yellow, and only Simpson with sixth, and Robert Millar (now Philippa York), with fourth in 1984, came within podium range.
The stars aligned sooner than anyone expected, and Sky chaperoned Bradley Wiggins to victory in 2012. Chris Froome rattled off four more inside five years, but Thomas was patiently waiting in the wings for what seemed like his destiny ever since he was a youngster riding an outdoor track in Wales.
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Thomas grabbed his fate and the yellow jersey in dramatic fashion in 2018, and roared to victory, much to the chagrin of teammate Froome who was hoping to win his fifth yellow jersey.
Yet it wasn’t until Thomas’ victory that year that the team truly delivered on its promise of a British winner who was actually born in Great Britain.
Wales, to be more specific.
Though the others are UK citizens — Wiggins was born in Belgium and Froome in Kenya — Thomas holds the distinction of being the only British-born Tour de France winner.
At 37, Thomas is one of the peloton’s superstars.
And he recently penned a deal to race for two more seasons with Ineos Grenadiers, the only rider who’s been with the team every year since its inception — Ben Swift was also part of that inaugural line-up but he briefly left the team between 2017 and 2018.
Extremely versatile, his career has spanned from the track, winning Olympic gold medals in the team pursuit in 2008 and 2012, to a world-class road career, with victories in one-day classics, weeklong stage races, and grand tours, capped by the 2018 Tour win, and three other grand tour podiums.
How did it all start?
In the second installment of Velo’s “Origin Stories,” Thomas shares new details about the early steps of his career:
First Bike: ‘Any Free Bike is a Good One’
Thomas, shown here in 2007, started racing on an outdoor velodrome in Wales. (Photo: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
Born in Cardiff, Wales, Thomas is renowned for his love of all sports, including rugby and American football.
His father, Howell, bought for him a used bike to ride around the neighborhood, and he quickly found love for two-wheeled exploring. At first, cycling was just for fun.
“My very first bike was a blue Trek, I can’t remember the model,” Thomas told Velo. “My first proper racing bike was a Giant when I was a junior. Compact frame, it was beautiful, I loved that bike. The first free bike was when I was 16, but let’s be honest, any free bike is a good one, isn’t it?”
First Win: ‘I Started Winning A Lot, That’s It, Then’
Thomas wore the white jersey in the 2010 Tour de France. Eight years later he won. (Photo: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
His first touch with racing came with local club rides when he was barely a teen with the Maindy Flyers Youth Cycling Club, where he first met future pro teammate Luke Rowe.
The outdoor velodrome at the Maindy Centre in Cardiff dates back to the 1950s and was used in the 1958 Commonwealth Games.
Thomas began to race in the youth categories and started winning. The torch was lit.
“When I under 12, I won a few of those on the outdoor velodrome a few miles from my house. In the evening, we’d have races every Thursday night,” Thomas said.
“The first time I started, I didn’t win anything. It was in the winter, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it, but by the spring, I started to win a lot, and I thought, that’s it, then. I was hooked, and the rest is history.”
First Contract: ‘Barloworld and the Italians telling me I needed to lose weight’
Thomas turned pro with Barloworld in 2008. (Photo: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
While still in his teens, Thomas was tapped by British Cycling as part of its development program.
The UK cycling program was in a rebuilding phase, and already looking ahead to the 2012 Olympic Games to be hosted in London.
Thomas built on his track cycling prowess and soon started to race on the road as well, where he excelled in time trials and long, hard efforts.
By the time he was 20, he was ready to make the leap to the pro ranks.
“It was the end of 2006. I remember a guy from British Cycling ringing me and saying this new team [Barloworld] is after a British rider, and they’re interested in a young kid,” Thomas said.
“I ended up going to see them in Italy. I can’t remember if I was trying on a pair of shorts or what, but I remember all the Italians sitting there, looking at my legs, talking about how I was a bit chunky, and saying I needed to lose a bit of weight, proper Italian style,” he said with a laugh.
Incredibly, in his second pro season, Thomas raced his first Tour de France in 2007 and won the Olympic gold medal in team pursuit in 2008. In his final season with Barloworld in 2009, he hit sixth in the Tour of Britain, and his future with Sky was sealed.
“I signed with them, and it was an amazing three years with Barloworld,” Thomas said. “Based in Italy, with an African sponsor, but an Italian-based team. That really set me up for the future.”
Thomas seemingly has been fated for big things ever since he started racing on the outdoor track at the Maindy outdoor velodrome more than 25 years ago.
Thomas, shown here winning gold in team pursuit in the 2008 Olympic Games, remains the only British-born Tour de France winner. (Photo: DANIEL GARCIA/AFP via Getty Images)