'I was just a normal bloke from Cardiff who ended up winning the Tour'!

The two-time Olympic gold medallist details the grit needed to succeed and says Ineos are held to a different standard than other teams

- Donald McRae

"I'm pretty laidback and don't take myself too seriously off the bike," Geraint Thomas says as, in retirement, the 2018 Tour de France winner reflects on the contrast between his relaxed public persona and his real self.

"I think people assume I'm like that in every aspect of my life. But when it came to training and racing I took it really seriously. I did everything I could to reach my very best and always go as deep as possible. I had that determination to perform."

The 39-year-old Welshman pauses as he thinks of his old contemporaries Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins: "Cav was obviously a lot more outspoken. I didn't tend to tell people what I was hoping to do. And Brad's spoken recently about how he had troubles in the past while he portrayed the whole rock-star image.

"I was the total opposite to both of them, just a normal bloke from Cardiff who you would go down the pub with and have a pint - who then ended up winning the Tour. That's the bit people might find weird when they don't really know me. They don't see the hard work you do from November to the race in July. They just see the finished product and assume that it's easy, especially when you've had a long career."

Thomas shakes his head. "But to continue at that level needed determination, discipline and commitment, and that was hard. That was one thing I wanted to get across in the book."