Ten years ago to the day a nervous Geraint Thomas rolled down the start ramp in London as he set out on the first Tour de France of his career. Back then he was a little softer around the edges, and riding in his garish red Barloworld kit he finished a respectable 45th place in the opening 7.9km test. Three weeks later he would arrive in Paris, exhausted, and in 140th place overall – one spot shy of the lanterne rouge – but with a couple of kilos chalked off for good measure.
Back in those dizzy days in the English capital – before Team Sky, before British Cycling's boom and then its bust-up, before Yorkshire's Grand Depart, before Dave Brailsford, and before inner chimps and Fancy Bears – Thomas was just a new kid on the block, living out his dream of racing in the pro ranks.
So much has changed since then but Thomas has remained the same: a well-grounded, talented athlete, who throughout Team Sky's travails of the last 12 months has never once neglected or refused questions or dogged responsibility. Success has come his way – both on the boards and on the road – but when he pulled on the maillot jaune in Düsseldorf, having seen off the best time trialists in the world, the satisfaction and pride was evident for all to see.
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"I've watched the Tour since I was 10 and that's what got me into cycling. To be the other side of the camera and to take this jersey… this is my eighth Tour de France and my 12th Grand Tour and to finally win a stage is amazing and the jersey on top of that is incredible," he said.
As a 10-year-old Thomas would rush home from school to catch the final kilometres of the Tour. He had begged and pleaded for his parents to buy a satellite subscription in order to watch the race and from then a dream was born.
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