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Wiggins says EVERYTHING about to change for Thomas
GERAINT THOMAS has been warned life will never be the same again after winning the Yellow Jersey – because he has become public property overnight.
While Thomas began his reign as Tour de France champion chomping on Welsh cakes in bed with his wife Sara at 5am, Sir Bradley Wiggins delivered a sobering verdict on the reality of his achievement.
Wiggins, Britain’s first winner of Le Tour six years ago, says Thomas will not be able to even pop out for a pint of milk without being recognised.
On his Eurosport podcast, Wiggins said: “Geraint will feel the same inside, but people’s perception of him will change.
“Everything will be different from now on. He won’t be able to walk down the street in Wales without people coming up to him – I think he may be Wales’ biggest sports star.
“Dave Brailsford and the team will be telling him, ‘Be careful now because you’re winner of the Tour de France. You can’t roll around on the floor and be sick like you’ve done in the past because you’ll be in the papers tomorrow’.
“Everything you do now becomes a news story. You discover that pretty quickly. I think winning the Tour is bigger than the Olympics. At the Olympics, you share the honour with others, but here it’s all about Geraint.”
Thomas, a double Olympic champion in the men’s team pursuit, won gold in Beijing and at London 2012. As Team GB executed the biggest bullion heists since the Klondike gold rush, Thomas was just a face in the crowd of British medallists. But Wiggins (below) added: “The public will want to get to know him more now. He’s an incredible guy with a great sense of humour. Get a pint in him and he’s the life and soul of the party.”
Thomas explored Paris nightlife with Team Sky to celebrate his maiden Yellow Jersey. Bleary-eyed, he was whisked by private jet to Sky HQ in Isleworth, west London, and greeted by the London Welsh male voice choir and kids from his first cycling club, Maindy Flyers in Cardiff. Sky changed the name of their postal address from Grant Way to Geraint Way in his honour. Civic leaders in Cardiff are planning a victory parade for Thomas, who is still coming to terms with the enormity of his achievement and being dubbed the greatest Welsh sportsman of all time.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, he said: “It’s bonkers – I tried to stay off Twitter during the race and then went back on after the time trial.
“It was just crazy, like lighting up Cardiff City Hall in yellow. The support has been amazing.”
Thomas, 14-1 outsider with the bookies a month ago, revealed the moment he realised the title could be his, saying: “Winning the first stage was massive for my confidence.
“Backing it up the next day, winning on the Alpe d’huez in the Yellow Jersey, that was like, ‘What’s happening? This is incredible.
“But I honestly didn’t think about winning the race until the night before the time trial.”