Thomas steams into the mountains for a final tour de force

GERAINT THOMAS sets off today towards a last tango in Paris to bring the curtain down on British cycling’s merry dance with the Yellow Jersey.

- By Mike Walters

At 39, Thomas embarks on his 14th and final Tour de France with his legend among the race’s all-time greats enshrined long ago.

When ‘G’ won the fabled Maillot Jaune in 2018, it was one of Welsh sport's finest hours. He climbed every mountain and, when the going got steep in the Alps or Pyrenees, Thomas played a peaky blinder.

Thomas is special because he went through purgatory — and kept going.

Twenty years ago, in Sydney, he suffered a ruptured spleen when a piece of debris deflected into his front wheel and sent him flying over the handlebars. Thomas needed lifesaving surgery to stem internal bleeding.