"You young lads don’t belong here" - Geraint Thomas on how Team Sky was frowned upon in its early years

Geraint Thomas' full career has been linked to Team Sky, now called INEOS Grenadiers, where he raced all the way up to this year. He is now the team's director of racing, but recalls his first years with the team, back when it skyrocketed to the top of the sport.

The Welshman turned pro in 2007 and then made his way into the newly-created Team Sky in 2010, alongside the likes of Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins. He didn't play a role in the team's first Tour win, but was present in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 - all four of Chris Froome's wins - before then taking his own in 2018.

But when the team first came up, through it's 'marginal gains' methodology, the time received a lot of glances. “A lot of people didn’t like us: a new team, lots of money, big talk, not from a traditional cycling country… We had rollers to warm up, and no one else did," Thomas highlighted in words to L'Équipe.

"Everyone looked at us and said: ‘Who the hell are these guys? You young lads don’t belong here.’ And then we won.” The success extended throughout the entire 2010's, with Froome winning the Vuelta a España and Giro d'Italia too throughout his career; and with Egan Bernal conquering the 2019 Tour de France, the last one of the decade and the last year before the rise of the new generation of climbers such as Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard.

Throughout the years Thomas had proved his ability to ride stage-races, but was never able to crack the Top10 of a Grand Tour, partly due to his supporting roles , partly due to crashes. His very first was no less than an overall victory at the Tour de France, something which defined his career.

“Sometimes I made up stories in my own head. In 2019, even though I hadn’t actually heard it, I thought: ‘People probably think my Tour win in 2018 was just a fluke.’ That only motivated me more.” In 2019 he was second to Bernal, but even in the latter years of his career, the veteran continued to perform at a very high level.

In 2022 he joined Pogacar and Vingegaard on the podium of the Tour de France; in 2023 he carried the pink jersey into the final time trial up Monte Lussari but lost it to Primoz Roglic; and in 2024 he once again managed to finish on the podium of the Giro d'Italia. He rode the 2025 Tour de France knowing it would be his last, but not his last connected to the British team.