PARIS – Five years ago, while he participated 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 broke his pelvis. Against all odds, Thomas continued his way for 3,000 kilometers and three weeks to the finish line in Paris, where he celebrated the first of Froome's four victories with the rest of his Teammates. Sky.

to add a first triumph to the Grand Tour to 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 British successes at the Olympic Games and the Tour de France. wins for Bradley Wiggins and Froome.

"When he fractured his hip five years ago, he could not even ride a bike in the team time trial that followed. He continued and finished the race. It says a lot about his personality. Since his early years, he has always wanted to win.

At 32, the new Tour de France champion is anything but an overnight success

Growing up around Cardiff, Wales, Thomas 10, and his exceptional qualities have not gone unnoticed since a long time.

"I saw him for the first time around 13 or 14 and he joined me at 17," says Rod Ellingworth, Team Sky's Director of Performance. Thomas as a British team coach. "You could see right away that he was just flying around the track, he was pretty good, and as he joined the junior program, you just knew he was going to be pretty talented."

The Thomas's first hits came 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 cycling track to focus on the road race.

Described by his coaches as a dedicated professional with a healthy and balanced lifestyle The junior race of Paris-Roubaix in 2004.

"The ambition of Geraint was first that of the classics" says Ellingworth. "Then he ran the Tour in 2007 and three years later, he wore the white jersey (for the best youngster) .He had this ambition to win the Tour in the back of his mind."

At the 39 At the time, Thomas was the youngest cyclist to start the 2007 Tour when he started in London

. most of the time at the back of the pack that year and no one thought that he would finish the race, "recalls Brailsford. "He did it again.He showed his character."

Thomas, who is nicknamed "G" in the peloton, finished 140th, penultimate.

Years later, he introduced himself as a potential Grand Tour winner when he won the week. Paris-Nice in 2016. According to Ellingworth, this victory over Tour de France double winner Alberto Contador was a turning point.

But Thomas, Sky's pilot since 2010, suffered pain and injury the next day. season, forced to withdraw from the Tour and Giro due to accidents. He still wore 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 Critérium du Dauphine in the buildup gave him a boost of confidence," says Brailsford. "This victory was of great importance."

As in previous years, Thomas started the Tour to help Froome try to win for the fifth time in a row. But Froome crashed into the first stage and lost time, then split up in the Pyrenees while Thomas' formidable form was rewarded with impressive victories in the Alps. 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's really detailed about what he's doing, he really trusts him and uses his people very well, and you do not mind going further for him."

Thomas lives and s & Coaches to Monaco with his wife but often comes back 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 of beer while watching a rugby match.

"Like many British kids, 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 in Italy, I encouraged him to go out and get out of his system, in a way, he just loves life. as old as he is married, and things have calmed down. "

Now he is at the peak of his career, but without a contract with Sky at the end of the season. Thomas has not yet decided on his future with the British outfit. Brailsford is confident that he will remain a Sky pilot, while Ellingworth insists on Thomas's "mental abilities" and the love for the bike races will make him continue.

"He is loyal, I have never doubted it. When the team needed him, he was still there, "says Brailsford. "After all these years spent giving to others, he was finally rewarded."