S2 - Episode 1 - Geraint Thomas

Topics Discussed:

• Geraint’s upbringing in Cardiff and his unlikely fall into cycling, and how his love for it and the people he met is what made him stick with it.
• The importance of play as a child, how it’s good to hold on to that as an adult, and how Geraint has found this key in having a lengthy, prosperous career.
• Ed and Geraint’s time living close together and all the fun they had when working together.
• Geraint’s down-to-earth personality, and how it’s something you can see in a lot of Welsh athletes.
• Geraint’s transition from cycling for fun to taking it seriously and how he always had the mindset for it.
• Geraint’s quiet confidence and resilience and how he won’t talk about his goals and his self-belief, but it’s present and allows him to consistently give 100%.
• Geraint pontificates on how his Dad helped him develop this attitude, even though he didn’t realise or appreciate it as a child.
• Geraint’s injury at Giro d'Italia, how he broke his pelvis and proceeded to cycle 130 km to finish the race. He talks about it in detail and how disappointed he was to lose.
• The self-doubt that comes after an injury like that, and how you almost hope it’s a serious injury so you don’t have to wonder ‘what-if’ had you pushed yourself harder.
• The press’ tendency to twist what athletes say and the frustration Geraint feels towards it.
• How the training is the hardest part and how the race is won in the months of training leading up to it.
• How Geraint’s mindset changed from being a helper cyclist to believing he could win the Tour De France after 2015 when he was fourth in the 19th stage.
• How Ed almost retired after the 2020 Olympics got delayed, and how Geraint’s advice to Ed helped him believe he could carry on until 2021.
• Geraint’s nickname ‘G’ and his opinion on it.
• Geraint’s sporting hero and non-sporting hero.
• Geraint’s main goals for 2021, given all sporting events, are on.
• Geraint’s opinion on what it means to be Welsh.