Hoy hails the battling qualities of Welsh star

FROM a corner of the Trongate to the Col du Tourmalet, from Maindy Flyers to Montrose Street, the journey of Geraint Thomas to the summit of the Tour de France is such a spectacular drama that it demands an encore in Glasgow.

The theatre may be ready as the city prepares for the European Games but Thomas, once on the longlist for Team GB, will be resting up next month following his efforts in the greatest cycle race in the world.

The Welshman is on the verge of winning the Tour de France with today’s time trial and tomorrow’s normally traditional lap of honour in Paris standing between him and his first grand tour title.

But Glasgow can offer plenty of other leading heroes and heroines on the track and on the road, and Sir Chris Hoy is the most informed critic as to what the world has witnessed over the past three weeks in France and what it may see in the coming days on Scottish soil.

Hoy’s rave review of Thomas is followed by a fascinating preview of the championships, with a leading role predicted for Jack Carlin, the 21-year-old from Paisley.

But, first, his verdict on the Welshman.

‘I first met Geraint 18 years ago at Maindy Flyers velodrome in Cardiff. He was about 13 — one of the youngest of the group — but you could see he was handy back then,’ said Hoy. ‘He was on a little rough outdoor track. Geraint was head and shoulders physically and in ability ahead of the rest. You just thought: “Wow. He’s already pretty good. How fast is he going to be at 18, 19?”’

The answer is simple. Thomas, 32, has proved fast enough to win world and European golds on the track and strong enough to win races on the road before going into the penultimate day of the Tour with a lead of two minutes and five seconds over Tom Dumoulin.

He was also tough enough to win gold in the Commonwealth Games road race in Glasgow in 2014 when rain in the Trongate and beyond proved no barrier.

Hoy, the winner of six Olympic gold medals who was in Glasgow yesterday to meet the game’s 200 volunteers, said: ‘The tougher it gets, the better he gets. He really relishes the physical and mental challenge. He’s been through so much with serious injuries and accidents. He’s a tough guy who just gets on with the job.’

If we have the alluring prospect of another British winner of the Tour de France, there is a certainty of spectacular action in the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome in Glasgow over the next couple of weeks as the likes of Katie Archibald, John Archibald and Carlin aim to stir home passions

Carlin will seek to add to his already impressive palmares in the sprint but his GB team-mates will provide formidable opposition in the individual events. Philip Hindes, Ryan Owens and Joe Truman have all been named in the team but Jason Kenny, winner of six Olympic golds, may provide the strongest opposition.

‘Jason will certainly do the team sprint but he’s keeping it low-key,’ said Hoy. ‘But he’s a competitor, so, when he gets on a track, he is doing it to win.’

Carlin has already won silver at the 2018 World Championships in both individual sprint and team sprint and a silver in the team sprint at the European Championships.

‘Jack is in incredible form,’ said Hoy. ‘I was so impressed with the way he stepped out of his role as man one in the team sprint, a very one-dimensional role, and made the final of the sprint in the World Championships.

‘He’s got the mental side, as well. He seems to have all the components of a champion of the future. If he won a big championship, then it would just be a stepping stone towards the next challenge.’

Any victory in Glasgow would almost guarantee Carlin a place in the squad for the 2020 Olympics and Hoy said: ‘If you make the games in a squad of that calibre, you have a good chance of medalling in Tokyo.’

This and much more will be decided in the arena that bears his name, but Hoy will keep his distance during the European Championships.

‘I am going to be in a television booth in George Square doing the punditry and analysis,’ he said.

The cycling world revolves around Paris this weekend. Hoy and Glasgow will be at the centre of it very soon.