"I can't believe it, it's a lifelong dream" - Brilliant Benjamin Thomas claim Olympic title in the Omnium
Track Cycling
Benjamin Thomas is having himself a very successful year. After a first Grand Tour stage win on the road earlier this year at the Giro d'Italia, the 28-year-old Frenchman has now become Olympic champion at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games on the track, in the Omnium.
"It's the dream of a lifetime, the day of glory for me. An incredible day, nothing could happen to me, the planets were aligned. I was on a mission," an emotional Thomas reflected after receiving his gold medal in a ceremony at the velodrome. "I can't believe it, it's a lifelong dream. Olympic champion is too big for me. When I was little, I didn't even think about it, being at the Games was a dream and doing this today, I don't have the words. It's going to take me a long time to believe it."
Whilst the Cofidis man did eventually succeed, there was a moment of worry as he crashed with around 20 laps to go in the final event, threatening to scupper his hopes. "I didn't want to panic, stay lucid, I saw that I didn't have anything broken, I was in pain everywhere but it wasn't serious, everyone is in pain," he reflects of the scare. "Afterwards, I saw that I was able to sprint so I told myself that it was good and in the end, it was the crowd who pushed me."
Thomas was a big favourite three years ago in Tokyo, but ultimately came up short, finishing 4th. This time though, in front of a passionate French crowd, Thomas would not be denied. "In Tokyo, they put the medal around my neck before the race even started and that is never right in sport," he recalls. "Sport is about defeats, disappointments. I went through some terrible things after Tokyo and I knew how to re-motivate myself. I am very proud today, there are many people I would like to thank, but those who know, I thank them."
"I ride my bike for fun. After the scratch, I said that I had enjoyed it and that I was going to enjoy it until the end," Thomas concludes. "There is competition, there is a stake but in the end, I had a blast on the track. It was really the pleasure that gave me the strength in the last laps."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Tomber parfois. Se relever toujours. Bravo Benjamin Thomas pour cette formidable médaille d’or, la première de l’Histoire olympique française en omnium.
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