Thomas ‘chokes up’ riding one last stage in hometown

Former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas is celebrated by thousands in Cardiff as he calls time on glittering career

- By FLO CLIFFORD IN CARDIFF

Alpe d'Huez's infamous Dutch Corner, the Trouée d'Arenberg at Paris-Roubaix, the Champs-Elysees... and North Road, Alpe d'Huez's infamous Dutch Corner, the Trouée d'Arenberg at Paris-Roubaix, the Champs-Elysees... and North Road, Cardiff. Maybe not the most glamorous location in cycling, but the Welsh capital felt like its heartland today, as thousands of people thronged the streets to celebrate the career of one of its most glittering sportsmen.

Around 8,000 fans gathered in Cardiff for Geraint Thomas’s homecoming after winning the 2018 Tour de France, a race which he readily admits “changed my life”. “I thought it was just going to be the wife and the dog,” he said at the time.

Plenty more than the wife and the dog braved a classically damp and grey Welsh afternoon to cheer their rider home seven years later on the final day of his professional career.

The Welsh flags were flying along North Road as Thomas rolled over the line some four minutes after stage winner Olav Kooij, waving to the generations of fans gathered at the roadside, parents pointing out his iconic white shades to children waving Tour of Britain flags. The 39-year-old gathered with his teammates for hugs and photos, to a soundtrack of shouts of “We love you G!”.