Thomas: I was frustrated by Team Sky’s protection of Froome

Geraint Thomas has revealed there were tensions between himself and Team Sky during this summer’s Tour de France after the team made it clear in the first week that Chris Froome was their only truly protected rider.

The Welshman, who ended up winning the maillot jaune and becoming Wales’s first winner in the process, has written a book called The Tour According to G, which is out later this week. In it the 32-yearold reveals that he was told before the team time trial in Cholet that if he suffered a puncture or a mechanical he would be left behind by his team-mates. Sky’s riders were under orders to wait only for Froome, who by that stage was trailing Thomas by 52 seconds in the general classification following a crash on stage one.

Thomas writes in his book that he “sat there and stewed” in the team meeting before saying: “That’s a bit s---. F------ hell, guys, could you really not wait for me?”

In an interview with The Guardian, Thomas added: “I was frustrated because I thought I was also a protected rider. But it’s not a decision they took lightly. They would have thought about it and debated it. I said my bit, and they said, ‘No’. So you have to accept it. The likelihood [of a puncture] is really slim but at the time I thought it’s a s--situation. Yeah, it dragged me down a bit, but you let it go.”

He also writes about two later occasions on which Froome told the team he planned to attack even though there was a danger he and Thomas could lose time as a consequence. Thomas says in his book that was actually a good example of how well Sky’s riders worked together, and how fair things were between them, “because he told me openly he was going to do it”.

Sky were clear before the Tour that Froome, the four-time champion, was their leader. But Thomas was also due to be protected for what was a dangerous first nine days featuring bunch sprints, crosswinds and classics-style stages. The situation would then be reassessed.

In the event, Thomas took control of the race in the second week, winning two stages in the Alps including on Alpe d’huez. The Welshman eventually won by 1min 51sec with Froome, who was attempting to win his fourth straight grand tour, third at 2min 24sec.

Thomas insisted there were no bad feelings. Froome is even given space at the end of his book in which he writes about how, “despite my own regrets … it was a pleasure watching G win”.

“The biggest thing with Froomey was that it was never awkward,” Thomas said. “When he congratulated me he seemed genuine, and since the Tour we’ve had a couple of nights out.”