Tour de France winner and double Olympic champion Geraint Thomas to retire from cycling at end of season

17 February 2025, 16:06

Tour de France winner and double Olympic champion Geraint Thomas will retire from cycling this year.

The 38-year-old announced on Monday that he would be retiring after a 19-year professional career, with British Cycling saying September's Tour of Britain will be his final race.

Thomas claimed Olympic team pursuit gold on the track at both Beijing 2008 and London 2012 before going on to win the Tour de France in 2018, becoming the third Briton and only Welshman to win road cycling's biggest race.

In October 2023, he signed a new two-year deal with Ineos Grenadiers, which he expected would be his last.

In a post on X, Thomas said: "Thought it was time we made it official. Yes, this will be my last year in the peloton.

"It's not been a bad run eh? Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine being a pro for 19 years. There'll be lots of time to reflect but, before then, I've got some big races to prep for."

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Thomas played a supporting role in all four of Chris Froome's Tour de France successes between 2013 and 2017 and finished second to Egan Bernal in the 2019 edition, before claiming a third podium place in 2022.

He won Commonwealth gold for Wales in the road race in 2014, was British champion in both the road race and time trial and finished on the podium twice at the Giro d'Italia.

He was also part of the Great Britain team that helped Mark Cavendish become road race world champion in 2011, while his track exploits included three team pursuit world championship golds.

British Cycling performance director Stephen Park said: "On behalf of British Cycling, I would like to congratulate Geraint on a stellar career, one that has shown what is possible within such a gruelling and captivating sport for those who have the grit and determination to succeed at the highest level.

"His 2018 Tour de France win will go down in history as the first time a Welshman has achieved the prestigious and hard-fought accolade.

"We will all be cheering him on over the coming months as he competes in his final season and look forward to bidding him farewell as he makes September's Tour of Britain his final race."