Human Interest |
Sport Specific Information |
Club / Team |
INEOS Grenadiers: Great Britain |
General Interest |
Injuries |
In December 2020 he dislocated his shoulder in a training accident. (bbc.co.uk, 06 Dec 2020)
He was forced to withdraw from the 2020 Giro d'Italia with a fractured hip. He sustained the injury after crashing when a drinks bottle became lodged under his front wheel just before the start of stage three. (bbc.co.uk, 06 Oct 2020)
In 2017 he sustained a broken collarbone. (bbc.co.uk, 28 Jul 2019)
He fractured his pelvis after crashing on stage one of the 2013 Tour de France. Despite his injury, he continued and managed to finish the race. (telegraph.co.uk, 28 Apr 2014)
He crashed during the individual time trial at the 2009 Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy. He went over a guardrail and down the banking at the side of the road, fracturing his hip and breaking the scaphoid bone in his wrist. (geraintthomas.com, 08 Jul 2016)
Doctors were forced to remove his spleen in 2005 after a training accident. The accident kept him off his bike for six weeks. (telegraph.co.uk, 28 Apr 2014; dailymail.co.uk, 24 Sep 2010) |
Memorable sporting achievement |
Winning the 2018 Tour de France. (walesonline.co.uk, 28 Jul 2018) |
Sport Specific Information |
Why this sport? |
He began cycling after seeing an advert for the Maindy Flyers Cycling Club. "I joined a kids club and immediately loved it." |
General Interest |
Hero / Idol |
German road cyclist Jan Ullrich, British road cyclists Nicole Cooke and Bradley Wiggins. (teamsky.com, 15 Jun 2016; peoplescollection.wales, 08 Jul 2014) |
Awards and honours |
He was appointed Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire [OBE] in the 2019 New Year Honours List. He had been appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire [MBE] in 2009. (bbc.co.uk, 28 Dec 2018; geraintthomas.com, 03 Jul 2016)
In 2018 the Wales National Velodrome in Newport was officially renamed the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome of Wales. (bbc.co.uk, 03 Dec 2018)
He was named the 2018 BBC Sports Personality of the Year. (bbc.co.uk, 17 Dec 2018)
He was named BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year in 2014 and 2018. (bbc.co.uk, 17 Dec 2018, 08 Dec 2014)
He won the 2011 British Olympic Association [BOA] Olympic Athlete of the Year award for cycling. (velonation.com, 22 Dec 2011)
In 2004 he won the Carwyn James Junior Award at the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year event. (geraintthomas.com, 03 Jul 2016) |
Sport Specific Information |
Name of coach |
Tim Kerrison [club], AUS |
When and where did you begin this sport? |
He began cycling at age 10 in Cardiff, Wales. |
Further Personal Information |
Occupation |
Athlete |
Languages |
English |
General Interest |
Nicknames |
G, Ger, G-Man (bbc.co.uk, 18 Dec 2018; geraintthomas.com, 16 Dec 2018; cyclingweekly.com, 01 Nov 2018) |
Sporting philosophy / motto |
"You've got to be able to hurt yourself. The mental side is the biggest thing, especially with cycling, because involves a lot of hours and a lot of time on your own. It definitely helps if you enjoy it too, because I enjoy just riding my bike for fun." (sustainhealth.fit, 13 Aug 2020) |
Other information |
FUNDRAISING EFFORT In April 2020 he raised over 350,000 GBP for the National Health Service [NHS] in Great Britain. He spent more than 36 hours over three days riding his bike in his garage in Cardiff, Wales, while the country was in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "No exaggeration, the last two hours were the hardest I have ever had on the bike. I am going to have a week off to recover from this. It was 36 hours in the saddle over three days which would normally be a big training week for me. The longest ride I have done on the road is eight hours and 20 minutes in a group and that was with a coffee stop. On a turbo the longest was three hours and there is a lot of difference from that and riding outside where you have the scenery and downhill. Here I am just in my garage." (bbc.co.uk, 18 Apr 2020)
AUTHOR In 2018 he released a book called 'The Tour According to G', where he described his journey to winning the 2018 Tour de France. (bbc.co.uk, 06 Nov 2018) |
Hobbies |
Supporting English football team Arsenal. (Castelli Cycling YouTube channel, 19 Apr 2019) |
Other sports |
He has represented Great Britain in track cycling, and won gold medals at the Olympic Games in 2008 and 2012. (SportsDeskOnline, 25 Jun 2014) |
Further Personal Information |
Family |
Wife Sara, son Macs [2019] |
Sport Specific Information |
Training Regime |
He is on the bike for about 300 days a year, but his training schedule has changed since the birth of his son in 2019. "Before I used to do a two-hour recovery ride on my days off, but now I like to actually take the day off and spend it with my family." |