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news
Geraint Thomas on Tour de France 2018 podium.JPGGeraint Thomas wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2018
Geraint Thomas has been named as the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2018, Thomas beat Lewis Hamilton and Harry Kane in a public vote to take the title.
Speaking immediately after his win was announced Thomas said:
"I feel really to have come into cycling at the age I am. I was just going down the local leisure centre going for a swim, then I end up riding a bike.
"I'd like to thank my wife, she deserves this just as much. I'm really lucky to have her and my family.
"As a bike rider, I was always focused on myself, but hearing stories like Tyson and Billy, then seeing kids on their bikes back home, you take great pride in winning this.
"It's been an amazing year for British sport and long may it continue."
Moments after the Tour de France champion was announced as Sports Personality of the Year Team Sky tweeted a video showing reaction to Thomas's win from the the Team's training camp in Mallorcca
He did it!!! Here was the reaction from our training camp in Mallorca as @GeraintThomas86 was announced as the winner of #SPOTY pic.twitter.com/2XZtItUSvK
— Team Sky (@TeamSky) December 16, 2018
Earlier in the evening Thomas, a keen Arsenal supporter had jokingly appealed to fellow Gooners to vote for him in a bid to stop Harry Kane, who plays for arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur winning the title – Kane had been favourite with the bookies to take the award tonight. No surprise then that Arsenal Football Club wasted not time in tweeting their congratulations to Thomas either.
Massive congratulations to Arsenal fan @GeraintThomas86: The 2018 BBC Sports Personality of the Year
Well done, Geraint - we're proud of you #SPOTY pic.twitter.com/eUFsAdvXAl
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) December 16, 2018
More to follow
road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.
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38 comments
BTBS - just had a gold Bentley come from Kane Towers with a note inside, he speaks very highly of all of your achievements!
Some remarkable ignorance of geography and/or political terms here as usual. I hope some of you don't need to take a citizenship test soon. I'd just like to point out that Harry Kane did actually win the Golden Boot, an actual prize at the World Cup, something an Englishman hasn't done since 1986. Let's not get parochial here.
Can't we be happy that 4 different British cyclists have won the SPOTY in recent years and there may be more to come.
Having seen first hand his trophy cabinet in his front room I can confrim that it's heaving with many, many awards & acolades.
Clearly you are ignorant because I stated he'd won a goal scoring trophy, dubious at best anyway given the claimed goal that got him the 'golden boot' would not be accorded if reversed for an own goal. It's a minor side bar, an irrelevance, it's not a title or a record unlike all the others. he's an absolute nobody and he stole a podium off others with far greater achievements at national and global level.
"he's an absolute nobody".
Not doing too badly, is he.
I notice the Times yesterday - front page! - just had a tiny article saying something like "Cyclist beats Kane to Sports Personality of the Year". Just some no-name cyclist, clearly...
Quite expected to see that as the headline on the BBC sports webpage
Charming as usual. Did you read that one back at all? Yes that is how goals work, they say who scored them and if you didn't score one you didn't score one. Lucky you are just another internet nonentity with a chip on his shoulder, and Harry Kane is famous, wealthy, successful, popular and humble; all qualities you lack.
I'm pretty sure that I'd fail that. I am somewhat proud of this too.
G was presented with a TdF trophy to replace the one that was nicked, on Sunday Brunch. I think he thought it was going to be a joke one, it is Sunday Brunch after all, but it was real, and quite a touching moment. It was a thing of beauty and then he left it on the corner of the table, so easy to knock off.
Or nick...
Here is a Tottenham Shirt c.1995 with some successful grafing:
https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/german-player-steffi-graf-looks-up-to-the-sky-after-winning-news-photo/51603682
Close enough
Here's a few:
http://www.perspecsnews.com/read/sport/messi-v-kane/Skl5v8J_Gf/rJgfWbWlmf
https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=2572963.html
They are bits of stats without a huge amount of context but show that Kane is certainly of a high level. I don't think he's as skilful a player as Messi and Messi has done it for a decade. On the other hand, he's great for his age and has continued to improve year on year. I think the fact that he has played for a just above average England team and a good Tottenham team (certainly no City, Barca etc.) means his achievements are greater. Also, I like he's a team player, does the dirty work etc. I'd have him at the Rovers!
Yeah, we're gonna need some more graphs with those stats.
(disclaimer: I've got Kane in my fantasy football team, but I'm also doing quite badly this season)
In fairness Hawkins, Kane was only 17 when those stats begin, made a Europa league debut in August 2011. Messi and Ronaldo are playing for the best teams in European football, Kane has heled drag Tottenham upwards.
BTBS - you can call it BBC crud but it's people that voted, not the BBC. Furthermore, if you want to discuss the boundaries, a big reason Geraint would have won it is a loyal Welsh base. As for Kane winning nothing, that's like saying Geraint was a piss poor tour rider before July. Similarly your attack on football is a lot like other people's view of cycling based on the behaviours of a few, you're being as moronic as they are!
Much of what people like about Kane is what we hold dear with G; he's a humble man, dedicated to his family and has a huge understanding that teamwork and effort are as important as talent.
Well done G, well deserved.
Yep, I'd like to see some more up-to-date stats that includes Kane, but couldn't find any (didn't look for very long though). I'd be surprised if he's anywhere close to Messi though.
I'm wondering what Chris Froome needs to do in order to win SPOTY.
Become more gregarious, write some top selling books, spend more time in the UK
Then again I doubt Froome gives two hoots about SPOTY.
IMO Simon Yates' achievements this year we're greater than Thomas' but he doesn't have the same media profile.
Sorry, double post
Simple. Be actually British and not simply hold the passport. Seems like a genuine nice bloke though.
Well done Geraint. Acheivement and personality.
Sports personality is a bit of a misnomer; Sports performance of the year is a little more accurate.
Cue standard SPOTY bickering.
Having lit the blue touch paper with Froome and his passport.... I can't see anything to bicker about here.
You need to remember that this is a vote of the masses, not a vote by devotees of road racing who can add up the points each has scored. The masses remember what they see on the news, and in most cases, think the tour de France is the only game in town. They have never heard of the The Giro or The Vuelta ( Yates has also achieved much this year) , and probably associate Froome with a near ban, and urine being thrown in his face. They find the "boy next door" or "Alp d'huez man!" attitude of Thomas appealing. Also, Thomas actually has a personality!
Both Hamilton and Thomas are essentially the best of the best. Can't say that for the footballer.
Statistically he's the best English goalscorer of his generation, up there with greats like Shearer, Rooney, and Lineker (none of whom won SPOTY - for some reason only creative midfielders have won it in the modern era)
He's probably at the level of Ronaldo if he was playing for a better team.
My footie mad mate says this is cobblers. Says he's a world class player but not elite. I have no real clue because football isn't on my radar unless utterly unavoidable, like the World Cup.
Ronaldo and Messi are IMO two of the top 5 players to ever play football. Of course Kane's not at that level but he's the next level down and probably in the top 10 of footballers playing right now.
As much as I like Kane (my wife is a Spurs fan), he's nowhere even close to Ronaldo and Messi. They are truly in their own category - have a little look at this article for the statistical analysis: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/lionel-messi-is-impossible/
morris-feature-messi-1.png
Given Lewis Hamilton was also in the frame, I was expecting Geraint to come second. When Lewis was announced as second place, straight away I knew it was Geraint.
No, Hamilton isn't that well liked, just look at previous years when he's not even in the top 3, there's an arrogance to him, real or just perceived. I'll cheer him along in F1 and will him to win, because he's a Brit.
As soon as Kane was announced as 3rd, I knew G was 1st.
The BBC propaganda machine had failed to get Kane to No1, and Jimmy Anderson was there to represent core BBC sports, but both hadn't achieved anything memorable in the sporting year, especially compared to our cyclists.
There must be some sore heads in the BBC sports department, as they'll all have drowned their sorrows, as yet ANOTHER cyclist has won SPOTY. For all the money invested in our national football team, the best thing they did was win a penalty shoot out.
Kudos to Lizzie Yarnold, Dina Asher Smith and our women's netball team, who actually won stuff, but they don't have the public profile of G, which was boosted by all his extra TV apperances.
New rules next year, no public vote, just a secret BBC panel, just so the footballers can win something
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