Cardiff praises local boy Geraint Thomas after Tour de France victory | sport

T The sky was gray and streams of water ran down the Maindy Flyers bike path, where Geraint Thomas learned to ride for the first time 23 years ago. But the drenched kids and parents of Thomas's old club in Cardiff were, for the most part, buzzing with excitement as they gathered in their yellow and blue jerseys to celebrate the first Welsh and only the third British to win the Tour de France.

"It's amazing, especially because he's come from the club," said Sarah Tregear, whose kids bike with the club. "We watched the flights to Paris last night, but for kids, there's no better place than here."

"It's just going to show what you can accomplish at Maindy Flyers, I want to be like him someday and I hope that there will be a Women's Tour de France," said Jess Rich, who had whistled around the velodrome.

In the downtown cafe, I wanted to applaud and applause as Thomas slid toward the finish line draped in the Welsh flag. The cafe was crowded with wet bodies, especially because four camera crews had rightly decided that it was the perfect place to catch the city's cycling fans.

"It's one of those times when you're incredibly proud to be Welsh," said Jake Flynn, wearing a jersey adorned with a red dragon. "I think they should paint the city in yellow to mark the occasion – it's a lot of yellow paint, but its dedication should be celebrated."

The fans were not the only ones to be excited by this historic moment for Welsh sport. The Welsh Assembly and Cardiff City Hall were bathed in bright yellow over the weekend, in the blink of an eye to the yellow jersey that Thomas stubbornly refused to give up for the second half of the tour.

announced on Twitter an ironic look at the addition of a yellow jersey to his red dragon logo.

However, many people who know Thomas have a hard time accepting the magnitude of what he has accomplished.

Debbie Wharton, who coached her on the Maindy Flyers track, said her victory still did not seem really real. "I grew up watching the Tour de France.I have always been stuck to it as a kid.But think that the winner is someone we know, who grew up on the road and went to my cycling club, is still amazing. "

Wharton had shed tears with him when Thomas broke down in a television interview after maintaining his lead in the time trial in the Basque Country on Saturday. But she found herself smiling looking for Welsh cakes.

"They are his favorites, and a few years ago we delivered home-made Welsh cakes to him while he was running for Team Sky in Belgium," she said. "The other runners did not know what they were."

One of Cardiff's friends, very close to Thomas, Ian Jeremiah, who runs the Cyclopaedia bike shop where Thomas repaired his bikes, also found Thomas's victory difficult. understand. "It's really amazing, you never think that someone you know can win a race of this importance," he said.

But Thomas has been training hard from the start, he added. "He did this big training block and said to one of our comrades at the start of the tour" it's about, "Jeremiah said.

It may be a household name now, but his friends will help him stay on earth. "Whenever he comes back, he goes out with the same group of guys that he's always known about.This keeps him on earth.His group of friends has not changed because & # 39; He has stayed with them and they stayed with him, "said Jeremiah

Steve Williams, a former physical education teacher of Thomas at Whitchurch High School, who produced a long list of athletic talents including footballer Gareth Bale and international retiree Sam. Warburton was full of pride. "It's a tribute to his commitment, his determination and his character," he said. declared. "In 2007, he was 140th – and then 11 years of hard work later, he is the first."