“It was just lambs to the slaughter” – Geraint Thomas reacts to Tour de France breakaway experiment

Geraint Thomas made his presence known in Stage 7 of the 2025 Tour de France, slipping into the breakaway in what will be his final appearance at the race. Though the former Tour winner was dropped on the first ascent of the Mur de Bretagne, his move into the early attack was a brief flash of aggression from the winner of the 2018 edition.

“It was a bit of a big fight for the break, so it was kinda like – OK, I’ll try, because if it’s a decent size then you never know,” Thomas told ITV after the stage. “You could tell that UAE and Alpecin wanted to control, but just because someone wants to control, you don't let them.”

His group never had much hope. Thomas was part of a five man move that never gained significant time on the peloton, and in the end a Tadej Pogacar victory was inevitable.

“In the end it was only five of us and they didn’t give us any time – it was just lambs to the slaughter, mate.”

Despite the outcome, Thomas said there were a few silver linings to being out front.

“Well, you’ve just got to accept it. You could ride real hard and try and make it harder for them, but then you just dig yourself into a hole anyway, so it’s kind of like you just keep chopping off and hope, you just go deep,” he said. “But it was always going to be hard. At least there were positives – I didn’t have to fight in the peloton all day.”