"He's left a real legacy, whatever happens" - As Geraint Thomas' Tour de France career nears end Steve Cummings, Simon Yates, Michael Woods & more pay tribute

Geraint Thomas' Tour de France career has spanned 18 years, with the Welshman doing it all from being youngest rider in the race on debut in 2007, winning the Maillot Jaune in 2018, and now this year, being the elder statesman of the peloton. Given everything Thomas has achieved, it's unsurprising that tributes are pouring in as his career nears its conclusion.

Among those sharing their thoughts, is former Tour de France stage winner Steve Cummings, a man who worked closely with Thomas during his time as an INEOS Grenadiers sports director. "The fairytale ending to Geraint's time in the Tour would be if he won a stage this July. But he's been a part of the Tour for so long and in so many different roles, he's left a real legacy there, whatever happens now," Cummings tells Cycling News.

"When you consider where he started and where he got to in his racing in the Tour, that development is like a tribute in itself: a tribute to how well he could apply himself and improve. There's huge talent, of course, but behind that, there's a very resilient and determined character as well," Cummings adds. "It's worth remembering his first role was as a lead-out man, then being a GC support rider and a time trialling specialist, and finally going all the way to the top of the overall for himself. At the same time, he's quite relaxed with it all. He's had his moments – we all have – but generally he handles himself pretty well."

One man who was a key factor in Thomas's career was Rod Ellingworth, and he has very lofty praise of the Welshman. "Geraint's an absolute all-rounder, isn't he? OK, there's Tadej Pogačar, but there aren't many Grand Tour winners who ride and win Classics like E3 like he has, or what was he - eighth in Flanders? He's been top 10 in Roubaix, too," says Ellingworth. "I think his first Olympic gold medal [in 2008, Team Pursuit] was a defining moment for him, it was one of his big goals to be Olympic Champion. That was a good, big moment. Fortunately, there have been loads with Geraint, that's the thing. It's mad. When you look at his results, it's pretty mad, isn't it?"

"I think that just shows G's all-aroundness. He's not a natural, he's not that skilful on the bike in that sense, but he's got some balls - that's the thing," Ellingworth adds. "He can lead out Cav, who's perhaps one of the best lead-out guys in the world. He can do the team pursuit. He's got a fast finish. The way in which he's done the team pursuit was phenomenal, and then he was great at team time trials and individual time trials as well. So he's just a complete all-rounder, very much like Bradley [Wiggins] in a sense. I remember when Brad won the Tour, Geraint was like, 'right, if he can do it, I can do it.' So he was like, proper ballsy."

The leading British stars of today also shared their tributes. Current British national champion Samuel Watson makes his Tour de France debut for INEOS in Thomas's final Grand Tour. "Even you saying that he's a friend is a a little bit strange, to be honest, because, yeah, I'll be honest, he's a massive inspiration, not just for me, but for pretty much all the British guys and yeah, I never really thought that I'd be teammates with him racing the Tour de France alongside him, it's pretty surreal," Watson says. "I guess everything he says is pretty valuable. These are guys that you can learn from just by watching what they're doing, and he's a great guy to be around."

Whilst current Giro d'Italia champion Simon Yates, who rode with Thomas for Team GB, explained how his personality was just as important as his on-bike success. "I mean, he's had a really phenomenal career, of course, not many guys can win the Tour de France. I mean, also, not even that, but [his successes] on the track as well, it's always an inspiration from that point of view. But he's also a good guy, so I think that's more important to me."

Finally, Israel - Premier Tech star Michael Woods shared the perspective of a rival. "For me, he's a rider that someone I look up to, although he's the same age as me. I started a lot later than him but he's someone I always respected as a rider, not just how he races, but the way he carries himself. I still remember that interview he gave after winning the Tour de France, and his just being awestruck and stunned by the fact he'd won it. It wasn't this figure who almost took for granted, he seems like a guy who was cherishing that moment," Woods says of his relationship. "I'm a fan of his podcast, too, it's always great getting insight from him and I listen to it often when driving from Andorra to Barcelona airport."

"In terms of racing him, a good anecdote that shows what he's like would be the year after he won the Tour de France. It was my first Tour and I was sitting high up on classification, it was a good stage for me, maybe stage 8," the Canadian recalls in conclusion. "Anyway, EF was riding for me so we were in sitting front of Ineos - Sky at the time - and I crashed on a corner, I took him out, he was right behind me. It was my fault, I took the corner poorly,. So there was I crashing the guy wearing the number one on his back. I felt so awful. I apologized to him afterwards but he was super cool about it, he said - you know, stuff happens, it's part of the sport So he didn't carry a grudge. And I think it's just indicative of the kind of person he is."