Geraint Thomas, King of Wales

Lovers of rugby and beer, the expistero conquered the title of the Tour de France, sixth in seven years for Great Britain. The decorative role of the Colombian cycling.

Geraint Thomas, a 32-year-old Briton and former partner of Real Madrid footballer Gareth Bale at Cardiff's Whitchurch High School, rugby and beer lover, joined the Tour de France story on Sunday proud of the yellow shirt on the podium in Paris, surpbading none other than Tom Dumoulin and Chris Froome.

Coming off the track, where he won two Olympic titles (Beijing 2008 and London 2012) and three world titles, G, as his friends say, expanded the UK field into the world's most important race, in the footsteps Bradley Wiggins (2012) and Froome himself (2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017), for no less than six titles in the last seven editions

Thomas is a member of the Order of the Empire British for his athletic merits. After his successes in velodromes, he quickly began to stand out, as in 2004 he won the youth of Paris-Roubaix.

As a professional created in 2005 in the ranks of the Wiesenhof, he goes through the Saunier Duval and the Barloworld. , where he coincided with the Colombian Mauricio Soler, and since 2010 defends the colors of the sky.

The new Tour champion is proud of his Welsh identity. He was born in Cardiff on May 25, 1986. He did not learn the Welsh language at school, he did it later, thanks to his wife.

He excelled at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, wearing the Wales shirt, in Glasgow, the most important international result of cycling in that country until his explosion in the Tour. Thomas entered the goal pointing to the red lion of the Welsh flag, just like yesterday at the Champs Elysees, after the last stage won by the Norwegian Alexander Kristoff.

For Thomas, the key to his triumphs is weight. When he was on the right track, he said, he was fat. "I was young, not too serious, and like a good Welsh guy, I liked to drink beer, and then I had to put in a lot of effort to lose weight."

He had to lose five pounds to go to the Beijing Games. The goal was to be around 70 years old. From there, you could think about adapting to the mountain for road tests.

Still gregarious, he had to carry the captain's gallons this year. He was superior to Froome and proved it by winning the alpine stages of La Rosière and Alpe d'Huez and still successfully finishing the work of his teammates. Froome had to give his arm to twist.

Geraint has in his palmares Paris-Nice and Dauphine. In the 2017 Giro, he tried to fight for the pink shirt, but a fall ruined his plan. This time, thinner, took the runway for takeoff.

His evolution has no secrets, makes sense after 10 years of work on the road, according to his coach, Tim Kerrison. "Thomas is similar to Wiggins: he's a good columnist and a good climber, very regular, not very striker, but he's sure."

The Welsh ran his first Tour in 2007, at the age of 21, with the Barloworld jersey. There he was chubby, honors the beer. He was penultimate.

He does not hide that he likes to live and that he is pbadionate about rugby, although he has a quiet character. Did you feel under pressure in the Tour? "Not at all," says his manager, Dave Brailsfod, "is an Olympic champion."

At Whitchurch High School in Cardiff, someone is proud of Thomas' triumph in the Tour. That's Gwyn Morris, the physical education teacher of Sky cyclist, who says that he realized his dream when he was a kid. The dream of a cyclist and a country. Thomas is already right to have a good beer and to celebrate: he entered the Olympus of sport

Colombia has complied

Although the l '; main goal was not achieved, which was to fight the title of the event, with Nairo Quintana or Rigoberto Urán, the beetles played an important role in the 105th edition of the Tour

Fernando Gaviria has won two stages and Nairo one more. Egan Bernal was a luxury gregarious in the Sky team and was fifteenth. Daniel Felipe Martínez was shown during several stages, just like Darwin Atapuma

"It was a learning tour, I keep it good, we did not go unnoticed and left the name of Colombia We are now going to Vuelta a España, "said Quintana, tenth overall.