"The final pre Tour chop” - Geraint Thomas seemingly uses haircut to confirm Tour de France selection
Cycling
With just three days remaining until the 2025 Tour de France
begins, INEOS Grenadiers remain the only team yet to officially announce their
lineup. However, Geraint Thomas appears to have quietly confirmed his selection
via social media. In an Instagram post showing his wife Sara preparing to cut
his hair, Thomas wrote, “The final pre-Tour chop,” a caption that all but
confirms his presence in Lille on Saturday.
This year’s Tour will be the last for Thomas, who is set to
retire at the end of the season. The 2018 Tour de France champion will also
become the oldest rider in the race, having first lined up at the event all the
way back in 2007, an incredible 18 years ago now. His presence adds a nostalgic
note to this year’s start, with fans eager to see the Welshman take on the
Grand Boucle one final time.
INEOS has struggled to replicate its past dominance at the
Tour in recent years. Since Thomas’ 2018 win and Egan Bernal’s victory in 2019,
the team has yet to return to the top step of the podium. Thomas was the last
INEOS rider to finish on the Tour podium, placing third in 2022. In 2024, the
team failed to win a single stage. Thomas’ participation this year may mark
both a farewell and a symbolic moment for a team searching for a new chapter.
Thomas gave his supporters a scare last month when he
crashed during stage three of the Tour de Suisse. The incident, which saw him
twist his knee and hamstring, briefly raised concerns that he might miss his
final Tour.
“I just hit a lip on the side of the road, really,” he told
reporters after the stage. “It was my fault, but then I just kind of got my
foot caught behind me and I just twisted all my knee and my hamstring – it was
just a dead leg.”
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Fortunately, he avoided serious injury and was advised to
take a few days off. Speaking on his Watts Occurring podcast, Thomas
explained the medical decision: “The doc was basically like: ‘we don't want to
take the risk, we think you're better just having a few days off, make sure
it's 100 per cent and then you can train again and be good for the Tour.’”
Given the proximity to the Tour, the team opted for caution.
“Any other race it probably would have been like 'oh just start tomorrow, see
how you are'. So I wanted to start, but it made sense, so that was the call.”
Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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leedorney10-11-2026 - If I was Lucinda Brand, I'd refuse to wear the jersey. Is there a rule that she "has to" wear it, as the winner? It would certainly feel like stolen valor.wrsty10-11-2026
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Brucegel09-11-2026
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