Who is Geraint Thomas? On track on the Tour de France of Great Britain

Whatever they do in school canteens at Whitchurch High School in Cardiff, it's probably more than just a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

Within three years, the treadmill of the school produced three wines from Wales. Gareth Bale has won the Champions League four times – no British player has won it more often – and has decorated his last triumph with the greatest sportsmen – a tripled few colleges, academies, grammar schools or comprehensives of the downtown.

Sam Warburton, one of Welsh's great warriors, announced his retirement earlier this month after leading the British and Irish Lions to a draw against New Zealand's almost invincible All Blacks. 2017.

And now, Geraint Thomas, double gold medalist in the Olympic team pursuit on the track, has emerged as a candidate for greatness with a sensational turn on the Tour de France.

Until this year's edition, Thomas had always been the faithful sidekick of Chris Froome, a Dennis Waterman worthy goalkeeper who was following Arthur Daley at a party at the Winchester Club.

But since Froome crashed on the first leg, leaving Thomas 50 seconds off the road, there was a change in the order of the Team Sky hitters.

Thomas the flank engine became the main locomotive. Heroically, suspended his personal ambitions of a record fifth yellow jersey to help his compatriot make a life-changing statement in the saddle.

So how did 32 year old Geraint Thomas emerge from the shadows when he started this season having never finished in the top 10 during a Grand Tour?

Well, it's not a surprise to his Team Sky payers, to begin with

What is his record li

Last year, Thomas wore the Yellow Jersey for four stages after winning the Grand Départ time trial in Düsseldorf, and he was in good form until When he broke his clavicle down the Mont du Chat near Chambery.

And in 2018, he won the Critérium du Dauphine that lasts all week – as much unofficial warm-up for Le Tour as the tennis at Queen's for the unofficial warm-up of Wimbledon – then He arrives at the starting line on July 7 in the best shape of his life

Froome, on the other hand, has entered the 105th Tour de France with the uneducated fringes of a nation still convinced that it's not the same. he was running on pure salbutamol, the asthma medication which he was rid of excess last September after an unexplained spike in a urine sample on the Vuelta in Spain.

Innocent until proven otherwise? Not Froome, not in the eyes of the militant side of the road, who channeled their contempt for him through placards, boos, punches, spitting, smoke bombs and showers of unknown liquids.

Thomas also booed was booed on the ceremony podium after the reception when he collected his yellow jersey, although people who mocked him did not understand why they were giving him a hard time – except that 39, he is British, he is part of Team Sky. likely to win a popularity contest along the roads in France.

But he found the pressure to try to win the most famous bike race, but laced with poison , a doddle compared to his previous incarnation on the track. "To be honest, it's a lot less stressful," he said. "When you compare that to the final of the Olympic Team Pursuit, with four years of hard work and three partners relying on you to win a race by tenths of a second, it's a real pressure."

In fact, Thomas has been the first man in 25 years to win consecutive mountain stages on Le Tour and first British rider to win the 21 hairpin bends of the Alpe d'Or. ; Huez

How did Thomas ride a bike?

Born in 1986, Thomas nurtured his cycling instincts at the Maindy Flyers Club, where he raced with his future Team Sky colleague, Luke Rowe. In the British Olympic Cycling Academy

Thomas was the youngest rider in the world to have run his first Tour de France in 2007, when he finished 140th out of 141 survivors.