In his own words

Shortly after the finish of his first Tour de France in 2007, Thomas broke down his key moments of the race for Cycling Weekly.

Prologue in London

“The start in London was exciting but it was the most stressful part of the race because of all the attention. I’d hoped to do better than I did, but in the weeks before the race I worked on my climbing, not on my time trialling.”

Stage six

“The first week of sprints was very important for us. Robbie Hunter didn’t win any stages. I felt pretty good and did some work but I soon realised the Tour sprints are faster and crazier than any other. I crashed in Ghent but landed on a fat Italian sprinter so wasn’t hurt.”

Stage nine

Mauricio Soler gave the team a huge boost by winning the stage but I suffered in the Alps. On stage eight to Tignes I spent 100km on my own after being dropped and thought my race was over. Fortunately I got back onto the gruppetto and made it inside the time limit.”

Stage 11

“There’s no such thing as a transition stage because riders are always desperate to win. I really struggled in the heat of the south of France and was swinging off the back all day into Montpellier. Fortunately my room-mate Robbie Hunter won the sprint and so that boosted my morale after a very tough day.”

Stage 16

“The Pyrenees are definitely harder than the Alps. Fortunately I’d learned how to pace my effort better. The Aubisque was like a wall in places but from the top I could virtually see Paris.”

Stage 20.

“I made it. I never imagined I’d go all the way to Paris but suffering so much for three weeks was worth it and I’ve learned a hell of a lot. I rightly had a few pints afterwards, but now I want to use my hard-earned fitness in the second half of the season.”