THOMAS & FROOME KICK OFF TOUR OF BRITAIN IN WALES
HE’s beaten the world’s best, up cycling’s most gruelling climbs – but Geraint Thomas finally met his match yesterday on a steep little incline on the outskirts of Newport.
The Tour de France champion was nearing the close of yesterday’s opening stage of the Tour of Britain when he burst clear of the field on the short but severe Belmont climb, around 8km from the finish at Newport.
At just a few hundred metres long, it’s no Alpe d’Huez – but it may have felt like that to the Welshman, who’s been savouring his historic yellow jersey win for the past month.
“I had to give it a go, being on home roads and so close to where I grew up,” he said afterwards.
“I knew the climb but once I went I was thinking, ‘What have I done?’”
“When (Tour de France king of the mountains Julian) Alaphilippe went over the top I thought there was no way I could go with that, so I got back. It was nice to have a dig but I don’t have the legs to finish it off.”
Not that being dropped here will particularly matter to Thomas, who took the start line of yesterday’s opening stage in Pembrey, near Llanelli, not with aspirations of overall victory in this week-long race, but as an extended homecoming after his career-defining success in July.
With the exception of last week’s low-key Deutschland Tour, Thomas has largely been in party mode over the past month, and has admitted to feeling the effects already.
Nonetheless, crowds flocked to the start in Pembrey to catch a glimpse of the Team Sky star, joined on the start line by multiple Tour de France-winning teammate Chris Froome, making his first appearance in this race.
On Saturday they joined youth cycling clubs from across Wales at the velodrome in Maindy, Cardiff, where Thomas started his career, to ride a few laps of the track and answer questions from the gathered masses.
Then, following yesterday’s stage, it was on to another velodrome – this time in Newport – where a ceremony was held to name Welsh cycling’s national headquarters as the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome of Wales.
Newport City Council leader Debbie Wilcox said: “The renaming of our velodrome is a fitting tribute to Geraint, who has achieved so much in his sport.”
Thomas said: “It’s strange, really. You dream about racing and going across the line with your arms in the air, but you never think about the aftermath.
“I remember coming here in 2004 watching the guys training for the Olympics.
“I’d just won the junior worlds and I never would’ve thought then I’d be standing here with that up there,” he added, nodding at his picture on the side of the velodrome.
He added: “Being called the Geraint Thomas Velodrome is, yeah, nice. Thanks!”
When asked what he’d like to see from the velodrome in the future, he replied with a smile: “Well, don’t change it again”.
Earlier, the day had started at Pembrey Country Park as a showcase for an array of new cycling facilities that have been developed in Carmarthenshire. Chief among them is a new purpose-built closed-road cycling circuit, while the council used the occasion to announce five new cycling routes covering 450km of the council’s terrain.
The Welsh Government’s finance secretary, Mark Drakeford, was the official starter for the race.
He said: “I am delighted to be opening the first stage of this iconic race.
“Pembrey Country Park is an impressive venue for the Grand Depart, not only because it is a very popular visitor attraction but also because it has recently invested in cycling facilities, including the first national closed-road circuit in south Wales.”
On the road, the stage finished in Newport with a bunch sprint, where Lotto Soudal’s veteran German sprinter Andre Greipel led home Caleb Ewan and Fernando Gaviria to take the Tour’s first leader’s jersey. Thomas, for the record, finished 77th.