“When you spoke, the room went quiet” – Rowe praises Geraint Thomas as career reaches final chapter

Geraint Thomas fresh off a bruising Stage 16 to Mont Ventoux, spoke to Luke Rowe on their Watts Occurring podcast to dissect the day's drama, action, and confusion. Between chaotic racing, awkward crashes, questionable team tactics, and an incredible atmosphere roadside, the two former INEOS Grenadiers teammates had plenty to unpack after the stage.

One of the first things they discussed? A crash during the neutral zone that had Thomas both laughing and cringing. “Doesn’t see the guy in front of him, bam,” Thomas said, recalling a teammate’s moment of distraction. “I felt genuinely sad for him. It’s so embarrassing… his pride and ego definitely weren’t fine.”

The stage had been a full-gas affair from the gun. Thomas, not in the break, spent most of the day trying to stay out of trouble while watching his teammates scramble to make moves stick. “It was just a chaotic day as always,” Thomas said. “The first hour was over 50k an hour, and we were just trying to go in the break.” At one point, he saw a move starting to form and radioed to check if any Ineos riders were in. Silence. “Connor comes on the radio—‘No, we’ve got no one there.’ So I was like, bollocks… might as well chase.”

Thomas ended up pulling to close the gap with help from Decathlon before hoping that either Thymen Arensman or Carlos Rodríguez could take it from there. “Carlos probably had the legs to go, but didn’t. Thymen jumped across, but it just wasn’t his day really.”

Rowe, who was part of the commentary team on TNT yesterday, was in the studio for Stage 16. “It was just a mad day, mate. That break looked like it was going to go and then everything kicked off again. The story of the race, expect the unexpected.”

That unpredictability extended to the green jersey battle too. Lidl-Trek’s lack of focus on the intermediate sprint caught Rowe’s attention. “Today for them was all about getting maximum points. 112k into the race was their finish line. They should’ve ridden flat out once that break established. They’ve got a real shot at green, and you can’t waste those.”

As for how the breakaway fight played out, Thomas admitted he had “absolutely no idea what actually happened in front.” Rowe filled him in: Enric Mas went early, with Thymen Arensman and Julian Alaphilippe trying to chase. Then Ilan Van Wilder surged back with 1km to go and took the win. “Ben Healy looked the strongest but got rolled at the end. Doesn’t matter how strong you look—it’s where you cross the line.”

Both agreed Van Wilder deserved the win and Continental Tires’ Chapeau of the day. But they also gave credit to Visma for a well-drilled ride with Jonas Vingegaard attacking relentlessly. “They did what they could,” Thomas said. “It’s pan-flat then finish up a mountain—how many tactics can you really use?”

They also reflected on the atmosphere on Mont Ventoux. “It was pretty much lined from bottom to top,” Thomas said. “Ten miles of people, deep crowds the whole way. A few times we had to go single file behind the moto just to get through.”

Their thoughts turned toward the final five days and the next sprint stage. “I still got money on Poggy to win in Paris,” Thomas quipped. “Not literally, that’s against the rules. But I’d bet on him if I could.”

Rowe leaned toward Arnaud De Lie or Jonathan Milan for the sprint win but admitted Tim Merlier was hard to bet against. “Every time he’s there, he wins.”

The podcast wrapped with a nod to Thomas’ last Tour and his leadership behind the scenes. “You weren’t the loudest on the bus,” Rowe said, “but when you spoke, the room went quiet.”