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PARIS (AP) – Five years ago, while he was competing in the Tour de France in favor of Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas fell off his bike on a Corsican road in the first phase and was unable to compete. the pelvis is broken.
Against all odds He continued his career with 3,000 kilometers and three weeks until the finish line in Paris, where he celebrated the first of four victories of Froome with the rest of his teammates. Team Sky.
triumphs over an already glorious career with the victory in the Tour de France.
"He's a real fighter," says Sky director Dave Brailsford, the man who orchestrated the British successes and victories of the Tour de France for Bradley Wiggins and Froome
"When he s & ## Hip fractured five years ago, he was not able to ride a bike in the team time trial, which continued and ended the race, which speaks volumes about his personality. he always wanted to win. "
At 32, the new Tour de France champion is anything but a success overnight
Growing up on the outskirts of Cardiff, Wales, Thomas started the 10-year race and its outstanding qualities did not go unnoticed. "I saw him for the first time at age 13 or 14 and he joined me at age 17," says Rod Ellingworth. Team Sky's performance director, who also coached Thomas as a British coach. "You could see everything from he was just flying around the track, he was pretty good, while he was joining the junior program, you knew he was going to be quite talented. "
Thomas's early successes have come on the track. In 2006, he was the youngest member of the British pursuit team who competed at the world championships. In 2008, he won the Olympic gold medal alongside Wiggins. Four years later, in London, with a second gold medal obtained in the same event, Thomas leaves the track to focus on the road race.
Described by his coaches as a dedicated professional with a healthy and balanced lifestyle, Thomas has already shown The Paris-Roubaix Junior Race in 2004.
"Geraint's ambition was to have a good time. First of all to be a classic, says Ellingworth. "Then he ran the Tour in 2007 and three years later he was wearing the white jersey (for the youngest). He had this ambition to win the Tour in the back of his mind."
Riding for the Barloworld team at the time, Thomas was the youngest cyclist to start this 2007 Tour when he started from London.
"He spent most of the time at the back of the pack this year and no one thought he would finish the race," Brailsford recalls. "He still managed, he showed his character."
Thomas, nicknamed "G" in the peloton, finished 140th, penultimate.
Years later, he stands as a potential winner of the Grand Tour. when he won the Paris-Nice week in 2016. According to Ellingworth, this victory over the double winner of the Tour de France Alberto Contador was a turning point.
But Thomas, who has been a Sky pilot since 2010, suffered injuries and injuries the following season, forced to retire from the Tour and Giro because of the crash. He was still wearing the yellow jersey of the Tour after winning the time trial but broke his collarbone in a downhill accident in the Alps.
"This year, he arrived at the Tour in great shape and his victory at the Dauphine Criterium in the build-up gave him a boost of confidence," says Brailsford. "This victory was of great importance."
In previous years, Thomas started the Tour to help Froome try and win for a fifth time record. But Froome crashed into the first stage and lost time, then cracked in the Pyrenees while Thomas' prodigious form was rewarded with impressive victories in the Alps
Sky, and especially Froome, have been victims of abuse. of a doping case only a few days before departure. But Thomas seemed immune to the jeers and jeers that accompanied them through this 3,350-kilometer odyssey. He won two consecutive stages in the mountains and became the first Briton to win at Alpe d'Huez. He sealed his victory with a third place Saturday in the time trial.
"He's really laid back, but not like he did not care," says Ellingworth. "He is very specific about what he does, he really trusts him and uses his people very well, it does not bother him to go further."
Thomas lives and trains in Monaco with his wife but often returns to Cardiff to socialize with his friends and family. For a long time, he had the reputation of being a party animal, always ready to drink a few pints while watching a rugby match.
"Like many young Britons, he likes to have a drink or two, but he's not wild," Ellingworth says. "When he was with me full time, we lived in Manchester or Italy, I encouraged him out of his system, in a way, he loves life, he gets older, he gets married, and things have calmed down. "
Now he is at the peak of his career, but off contract with Sky at the end of the season." Thomas has not yet decided on his future with the British outfit. he will remain a Sky pilot, while Ellingworth insists on Thomas's "mental abilities" and the love of the bike race will encourage him to continue.
"He is loyal, I do not Have never had any doubts about it., He was always there, "says Brailsford. "After all these years spent giving to others, he was finally rewarded."
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Andrew Dampf and Ciaran Fahey contributed to this story.
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More coverage of the Tour de France: https: //apnews.com/tag/TourdeFrance
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