Geraint Thomas recalls Tour de France glory ahead of final race at Tour of Britain Stage 6 in Wales - 'It changed my life'
Published 07/09/2025 at 09:34 GMT+1
Geraint Thomas is about to call time on his legendary cycling career, and the Welshman recalled memories of his triumph at the 2018 Tour de France ahead of his final race at the Tour of Britain. Stage 6 of the race will begin in Newport at the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome of Wales, concluding in Cardiff near the site of his homecoming parade of the win that "changed his life".
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Geraint Thomas has spoken about his iconic Tour de France victory in 2018 ahead of his final career race, saying the win "changed his life".
The Olympic champion will bid farewell to cycling when the Tour of Britain concludes in Cardiff on Sunday.
The final stage begins in Newport at the velodrome named after the 39-year-old, and the 122.62km stage will loop from the port city through to North Road in Cardiff.
It is beautifully fitting that the Welshman's final race ends in Cardiff, the site of his homecoming parade in the famous yellow jersey in front of around 8,000 people in the Welsh capital.
"It changed my life," said Thomas as he recalled winning cycling's most acclaimed prize.
"It's a funny one. I kind of felt like at the time I was most confident and felt no pressure, which is kind of the opposite to what you might think."
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His triumph saw him become the first Welshman to win the Tour de France, and only the third British rider to win in total.
He continued: "You're in that yellow jersey, one or two stages, you think as the race goes on you'd be feeling more pressure, but if anything I just felt more relaxed. Mentally I was in such a good place.
"It might have been different if it was four or five years earlier, but it almost felt like everything that had happened before was setting me up for that."
Thomas' penultimate race took him from Pontypool to The Tumble as Remco Evenepoel returned to winning ways.
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He attempted to force his way into the day's early breakaway to no avail, and sits at 86th for the tour and over 16 minutes behind leader Romain Gregoire, but he will no doubt be the most beloved rider on the final stage.
"The last stage goes within 100 metres of my mum and dad's house, past the pub where I had my first pint," Thomas added.
"I'm just lucky the Tour of Britain comes at the end of the season so I can finish my career on home roads. It will be an amazing way to finish."
His farewell tour has garnered the love of plenty who have come to witness him sign off from a legendary career.
"It was a special day, the crowds were amazing," Thomas added. "Coming up the climb was mad. It felt like every person on there was cheering for me, which was crazy.
"I saw a lot of friends and family, and it was a super nice way to finish my penultimate day. One more day, it's going to be a nice day."
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