“I’m pretty laidback and don’t take myself too seriously off the bike,” Geraint Thomas says as, in retirement, the 2018 Tour de France winner reflects on the contrast between his relaxed public persona and his real self. “I think people assume I’m like that in every aspect of my life. But when it came to training and racing I took it really seriously. I did everything I could to reach my very best and always go as deep as possible. I had that determination to perform.”
The 39-year-old Welshman pauses as he thinks of his old contemporaries Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins: “Cav was obviously a lot more outspoken. I didn’t tend to tell people what I was hoping to do. And Brad’s spoken recently about how he had troubles in the past while he portrayed the whole rock-star image.
