An evening with Geraint Thomas

Geraint Thomas

Out to emulate Indurain

BBC Sports Personality of the Year and Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas will be at Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena later this month to discuss his historic win in the classic French cycling event with broadcaster Ned Boulting.

The first and only Welshman to win the Tour, Thomas returns to Cardiff on Saturday, 26 January, to chat about all things cycling from his early days with the Maindy Flyers Cycling Club to the cobbles of the Champs-Elysees.

It promises to be a revealing evening, with Thomas reminiscing about untold stories from the Tour and reliving, with the help of ITV’s Boulting, the unforgettable moment when he crossed the finish line to secure his place in the history books.

It will be a poignant trip down memory lane for Thomas, who will explain to a hometown audience how dreaming big and working hard can lead to the top of the podium.

Thomas' early successes were in track cycling, in which he was a specialist in the team pursuit. He won three world championships and was an Olympic gold medallist twice in 2008 and 2012.

Thomas had an early win on the road at the 2004 Paris-Roubaix Juniors and later had a senior victory at the 2010 British National Road Race Championships.

Leaving track cycling behind to focus solely on the road, he found success in both one-day races, such as the 2014 Commonwealth Games road race and the 2015 E3 Harelbeke, and in one-week stage races, most notably the 2016 Paris–Nice, the 2017 Tour of the Alps and the 2018 Criterium du Dauphine.

In cycling's grand tours, Thomas was initially a lead domestique to Tour champion Chris Froome and won the first stage of the 2017 Tour de France, an individual time trial, to become the first Welshman to wear the Tour's yellow jersey.

He later crashed in that race, as well as the 2017 Giro d'Italia, before winning the ultimate prize in cycling last year.

Speaking after being crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year in December, Thomas revealed his desire to emulate Tour legend Miguel Indurain by defending his title. The Spanish legend followed up his inaugural win in 1991 by being crowned champion again in 1992.

"No one has defended it once they've won it for the first time since back in 1992," he said. "It's a big challenge. It's one I'm looking forward to taking on. I'm motivated to train again and looking forward to next year."

Lance Armstrong did win the race in 2000, after winning his first in 1999, but all seven of the American's victories were wiped from the record books following his involvement in the sport's biggest ever doping scandal.

Thomas' Team Sky team-mate Froome has successfully defended the title twice, but crashed out in 2014 following his first win in 2013.

Meet-and-greet tickets are available at the Motorpoint Arena event, with packages including a premium seat in the auditorium, an exclusive meet and greet with Thomas and Boulting after the show and an opportunity to have a photo taken with them, plus a personally-signed poster.

For tickets and further information visit the Motorpoint Arena website.