At the twilight of summer, so the twilight of one man’s career. On Sunday Geraint Thomas will pull on a racing jersey, wave to the crowd on the start line, and set off on his last race as a professional rider. On what is likely to be a classically British late-summer day – light drizzle and autumnal chill – the Tour of Britain will come to a close with a send-off for one of its most celebrated riders.
That’s unlikely to be how the famously self-deprecating Thomas sees it, of course, but it feels only fitting that the spotlight now falls on a rider whose own achievements tended to take a back seat to others’ ambitions. In between seasons spent largely in service of others, from Chris Froome to Egan Bernal, Thomas notched three track world titles, two Olympic golds, victory in several major stage races and one-day Classics, and his crowning glory, the 2018 Tour de France.
