The top 10 people I've interviewed in cycling: Geraint Thomas 🏴
The Welshman has confirmed that 2025 will be his final season, as I look back at 15 years of coverage and 98+ interviews
Hi Subscribers,
I started this top-10 series in December, and with today’s official news that Geraint Thomas will retire at the end of the season, it’s the perfect time to focus on the Welshman.
It’s a long piece, covering about 15 years of interviews and interactions, but I hope that it shares my insight into what it was like to cover the Tour winner throughout the bulk of his career.
I hope you enjoy it.
Daniel 🫶
According to the World Wide Web, and in particular Cillian Kelly, my first of 98 CN interviews with Geraint Thomas occurred on November 24, 2010.
I have absolutely no recollection of that, and the same applies to a terrible video interview at the end of Dwars door Vlaanderen the following season, after the then-British champion was narrowly beaten to the line by that year’s surprise Tour of Flanders winner, Nick Nuyens.
However, I empathise with anyone who has talked to me 98 times, even if those interactions were spaced out over 15 years.
Few people were surprised by today’s official confirmation and the worst-kept secret that Thomas will retire at the end of the year. Still, it represents a seminal moment in the history of British cycling.
Thomas, now 38, has enjoyed an extraordinary career, winning a Tour de France, Olympic gold medals, and world titles. Not only that, he has become an iconic figure within the sport, a poster boy for cycling in these areas, and a hero to a new generation of riders who are finding their footing in the sport.
However, it is not merely the accolades that have distinguished Thomas; it is how he has conducted himself both on and off the bike.
While I may not remember all 98 of those CN interviews, I can certainly recall several poignant episodes related to Thomas over the years: how he steadily rose through the ranks, first as a white jersey wearer during his inaugural Sky Tour in 2010, then becoming a formidable super domestique for Chris Froome, and ultimately winning the Tour himself; later, he established himself as an elder statesman within the Ineos ranks.