Geraint Thomas, one of five men to win the Tour de France and an Olympic cycling gold medal, plans to retire from competition after the 2025 season when he will be 39 years old.
“This will be my 19th year as a professional, and it’s got to end at some point, doesn’t it?” Thomas said in a BBC Breakfast interview that aired Monday. “I just didn’t want to do one year too many and be that grumpy guy that’s always sort of well, grumpy, negative on the bus, because I’m still really enjoying it. I still feel I’m competitive and last few years has still been good. I think just the timing’s right, with family and stuff as well.”
Thomas, from Wales, was a constant during Great Britain’s golden era in cycling.
It began on the track (team pursuit gold medals in 2008 and 2012) and moved to the road (supporting Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, then winning the Tour de France himself in 2018).
Asked to pick out one highlight, Thomas started with the 2008 Olympics — “Beijing was massive,” he said — before turning to the Tour.
“The Tour is what really sort of changed my life, really, being recognized all over the place, places like America,” he said. “We were on Alcatraz and some dude recognized me there.”
Thomas will play a support role for Ineos Grenadiers in his 14th and final Tour de France this July and “maybe try to win a stage but just enjoy the race” he said, according to the BBC.
In 2007, Thomas finished next to last place in his Tour debut (just to complete a Tour debut at age 21 is a feat in itself).
In 2013, he broke his pelvis in the first stage yet still finished the 21-stage event.
In 2015, he slammed into a telephone pole and fell into a ditch at the Tour.
After winning Paris-Nice in 2016, he withdrew on the ninth stage of the 2017 Tour after breaking his collarbone in a crash.
Then in 2018, he won the Critérium du Dauphiné and emerged at the Tour after teammate and three-time defending champion Froome crashed multiple times in the first half. Thomas became the first man from Wales to win the Tour.
“I got into cycling because of this race,” he said on the Champs-Elysees podium. “I remember running home from school to watch the ends of the Tour de France, and the dream was always just to be a part of it.”
Thomas also placed second at the Tour in 2019 and third in 2022, plus was second and third at the Giro d’Italia in 2023 and 2024.
The only Tour de France winners to compete in more total Tours were Dutchman Joop Zoetemelk (1980 champion) and Belgian Lucien van Impe (1976 champion), according to ProCyclingStats.com.
The other men to win both the Tour and Olympic cycling gold were Wiggins, Zoetemelk, Jan Ullrich of Germany and Miguel Indurain of Spain, according to the OlyMADMen.
“Thought it was time we made it official,” was posted on Thomas’ social media. “Yes, this will be my last year in the peloton 🤝 It’s not been a bad run eh? Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine being a pro for 19 years. There’ll be lots of time to reflect but, before then, I’ve got some big races to prep for.”
