Thomas prepares for ‘insane’ life post Tour heroics
>> LONDON: Cyclist Geraint Thomas thinks life has been “insane” since he stood in the yellow jersey and proudly held aloft the Welsh flag on the podium in Paris as Tour de France champion — but the madness may just be beginning.
The likeable softly-spoken 32-yearold, who lives in Monaco, will have to get used to transforming from kingmaker for Chris Froome to the king himself, and that won’t come easy, according to 2012 Tour de France champion and former Team Sky teammate Bradley Wiggins.
“He’ll feel the same inside but people’s perception of him will change,” Wiggins said on Eurosport. “Everything will be different from now on.
“I think he may now be Wales’ biggest sports star.”
Thomas got an inkling of how far the madness was heading when he opened the newspapers on the morning after his triumph.
“One thing stands out is putting on Instagram [a picture of ] myself and my wife Sara eating Welsh cake in bed after the party on Sunday and the next thing it is on the front page of a paper, that is a bit crazy already,” he said.
Being described as Wales’ top sports star is some accolade for Thomas, the one-time shy schoolboy from Cardiff’s Whitchurch High School, which also produced the three years younger duo of former Wales and British and Irish Lions rugby captain Sam Warburton and Real Madrid football superstar Gareth Bale.
“It is insane all of us close to each other and incredible for a school in Cardiff,” Thomas told Channel 4 News.
However a humbled Thomas hopes he will be able to manage fame in the same way as Chris Hoy, the British track cycling legend he regards as a mentor.
“I have no idea what it will be like but I saw Chris Hoy after I had won and he was super nice,” he said. “He is a massive role model as he hasn’t changed and is still down to earth.”