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news
Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome on Tour de France podium (via YouTube)Geraint Thomas reveals Team Sky Tour de France tensions
Geraint Thomas has lifted the lid on tensions within Team Sky during this year’s Tour de France, when he became the first Welshman – and the third rider from the British UCI outfit to win the race.
In an interview with the Guardian’s Donaald McRae, the 32-year-old, who looked set to be Team Sky’s undisputed leader in this year’s edition until defending champion Chris Froome was cleared to race just days before it started, revealed that their supposed co-leadership of the team was anything but.
He highlighted two episodes in particular – one the 35.5-kilometre Stage 3 team time trial in Cholet, the other being Stage 9 over the cobbles to Roubaix – where it was clear that he ranked below Froome in the team hierarchy, despite the latter having lost 51 seconds on the opening stage after a crash.
Thomas – who stressed in the interview his friendship with his team-mate and fellow Monaco resident, which is clearly on a different footing to the one Froome had with Sir Bradley Wiggins – spoke of how he “sat there and stewed” before the team time trial when it was made clear that only the four-time winner would be protected in the event of a puncture or mechanical breakdown.
“That’s a bit shit,” he recalled himself saying. “Fucking hell, guys, could you really not wait for me?”
Expanding on the episode in the interview, he said: “I was frustrated because I thought I was also a protected rider. But it’s not a decision they took lightly. They would have thought about it and debated it. I said my bit, and they said, ‘No.’ So you have to accept it.
“The likelihood [of a puncture] is really slim but at the time I thought it’s a shit situation. Yeah, it dragged me down a bit, but you let it go.”
He also recounted how following Stage 9 over the pave, “It was really hot in the hotel but when they put the air-con units on for all eight riders the electricity tripped. So they said: ‘Only one person can have it – Froomey.’”
At this point in the race, Thomas was second overall, 43 seconds behind BMC Racing’s Greg Van Avermaet, with Froome a further 59 seconds behind in ninth place on the general classification.
The Welshman said that he managed to find an air-conditioning unit which he wheeled back to his hotel room, whacked it on” and “we were fortunate it didn’t trip out.”
Thomas revealed that on two occasions later in the race, Froome revealed plans to attack a stage – something he welcomed for his team-mate’s openness – and said: “The biggest thing with Froomey was that it was never awkward."
As it turned out, Thomas’s back-to-back wins at La Rosiere on Stage 11 and the following day on the Alpe d’Huez put him firmly in the race lead, and going into the final week, he was the focal point of of Team Sky’s efforts to win a sixth Tour de France in seven years.
"He would have been gutted because he wanted to win a fifth Tour and three Grand Tours on the trot [If he had won the Tour de France this year it would have been Froome's fourth - Ed]," said Thomas.
"But when he congratulated me he seemed genuine, and since the Tour we’ve had a couple of nights out.”
With the route of next year’s race announced in Paris last week, Thomas is clearly keen to try and defend his title, although it’s unlikely to be until the routes of the Giro d’Italia – tomorrow – and Vuelta are announced that Team Sky will crystallise their Grand Tour strategy for next year.
He said: “I’d love to win it again. Each year’s different but I still feel I’m improving even though I’m 32. I still have the motivation and commitment where I think Brad Wiggins, once he’d won it, didn’t have 100% per cent motivation. I’ve still got the appetite. I enjoyed the whole race – not just the end.”
He added: “The team obviously know I can do it now. So I think we’ll be on a level playing field. I’m confident that, as long as we’re honest and open, we can both go for it.
“I’d happily help Froomey if he got through the first block of mountains and he’s strongest. I wouldn’t ride against him to try to win then.”
In what is an extensive interview ahead of the publication of his new book, The Tour According to G, Thomas also spoke about whether he could target both that race and the Giro d’Italia in the same year, as well as French fans’ attitudes towards Team Sky.
A keen Arsenal fan, he also spoke about receiving messages of congratulations regarding his winning of the yellow jersey from the club’s former manager Arsene Wenger plus its record goalscorer Thierry Henry, as well as meeting Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi.
Read the full interview here.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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18 comments
I think some commentators are being a bit harsh here. Being naive isn't a crime. He's having the race of his life, he gets it confirmed that he's not No 1 in the team, so he sits and stews and says that's a bit shit, and they say sorry, that's how it is, so he calms down, realises it's not something they've done lightly, sucks it up and carries on racing. Sounds professional to me. You'd be less than human to have no response at all in those circumstances.
I can understand how he feels but I think Sky's strategy was the right one. Despite G's time advantage over Froome G's ability to go the distance was an unknown, unlike Froome. Just look at what happened to Simon Yates this year in the Giro. Anyway once again well done G - really pleased for him.
Kadinski, calm down dear.
They were both named as co-leaders and protected riders. G seemed a little miffed that even though he was 1 and nearly 2 minutes ahead early doors he was less protected than he was led to believe. It all worked out in the end and the story magnifies the wins, sells books and still comes across as good natured. If Sky had failed by a second or two then I think G would have every right to be very voal.
As others have said, their respective histories and the slice of history Froomey was riding for were big factors. Maybe just a slight communication issue, or they didn't expect Froome to be so far down so early or it wasn't until 5 days out they saw how head and shoulders above G was riding.
You have to say, they started to play it erfectly with Froome attacking and G sitting on TdM's efforts to bring him back...
The comments relating to Froome being the Sky leader in the early parts of the race are valid - especially when you consider that G did not have the best track record in grand tours at that time. However, once G was solidly placed in the yellow jersey with a good time gap over Froome and looking like the most likely winner of the tour; Froome never stopped acting like the leader. This is clearly evident in the latter stages of this year's tour where Froome constantly sat at the back of the Sky train, behind the yellow jersey, and never once rode to support G even though the Sky press releases had stated that G was the leader.
Next year at Sky is going to be a management nightmare with G, Froome and Bernal all looking for grand tour wins. At the Tour an eight man team with two leaders (25% of the team) will be interesting.
I don't think he's actually making a big deal out of it, I think he's used it to highlight how great his success was this year. As much as a check to your ego it must be, I don't think he'd really argue with the team choosing Froome as the priority, he has the previous form, and has come back from a seemingly worse position in the Giro. Who knows how it would have gone if it was just Froome vs Dumoulin. As it was he should be proud that he won the race without being the team's no 1 priority.
Not sure what the big deal is. It's just asset management. Froome had to suck it up in 2012 to let Wiggins win. Worked ok for him.
Well, yeah, Froome is the number one ranked rider in the team, he had won the previous 4 tours. Thomas had never been able to win. Obviously Froome will be protected.
What does he expect Sky to do? G just sounds like a naieve, big-headed, cock.
At least he's Welsh.
Just another Monegasque wrapped in whatever flag is to hand. Lyon is closer to the Alps and has a perfectly functional airport. There must be something else... No representation without taxation, as someone once said, or similar words.
If the Welsh don’t like it, they can always change the rules on what constitutes being Welsh enough to race in their colours.
Or understandably upset that despite having amazing form going into the race and being named as a protected rider, he was not treated as such. This is especially true when he was leading Froome by over a minute from the second week of the race.
Froome had just won the Giro in one of the most stunning comebacks in the hstory of the sport. How does the poxy form of Thomas going into the TDF even begin to compare? And Thomas was not named as a protected rider at all - the article is about how Thomas was in a mood because it was made clear to him that he was *not* a protected rider.
Why don't you put yourself in Geraint's shoes for a minute? Let's see if you can get angry about something that others see as insignificant, just try it...
Maybe if Thimas had actually thought for even a split second why he was still second fiddle and that many teams no.1 are not in yellow early doors or ahead of their no.2 rider, so that IF a puncture occurs and it's him, the team are not going to fuck about waiting for the second fiddle rider. T'aint rocket science and he's been around long enough to know the score.
He was naive (at best) to think he was the daddy all of a sudden when at that moment in time he was still the no.2 and still expendable should the worst come to the worst.
it outs him as to why he's the meat (and damn good meat at that) but certainly not the thinking mans cyclist by any stretch if he can't join the dots up! Let's hope he doesn't become a DS.
Couldn't be anyone further from that description. Thomas wasn't able to win previous GTs either cos he was working for someone else (usually Froome) or had injuries or illness.
I think G sounds like a nice guy and comments from considerable number of other pro riders support that being the case, he’s definitely well liked in the peleton and I don’t think he’s particularly big headed.
However you make it sound as if he’s as strong a rider as Froome but just had bad luck, I think its very unlikely and to race as such would not be sensible. He was largely unproven as a GT leader and let’s not forget that consistency is a big part of winning grand tours luck or no luck.
There was always going to be a pecking order and for Thomas to expect to be at the top of it in a team like Sky is slightly naive
"He would have been gutted because he wanted to win a fifth Tour and three Grand Tours on the trot [If he had won the Tour de France this year it would have been Froome's fourth - Ed]," said Thomas.
froome has won 4 tdf so far, so it would have been his 5th tdf if he’d have won this year.
... which is exactly what the first part of the sentence says, the [Editorial] was correcting the "3 GTs on the trot" to 4.