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Interview: Geraint Thomas
23rd February, 2006; Interview by Larry Hickmott
One of the key riders for Wales at the Commonwealth Games will be Geraint Thomas from Cardiff. The Olympic Academy rider won a World title in the 2004 Junior Worlds and since then has had some scintillating performances on the road and track in between injuries.
Geraint will be riding the Points and Scratch races on the track at the Games and he says "these are my two main objectives and, hopefully, I'll come away with a medal
from either or both." If he rides anything like he did at the Track Nationals last year where he attacked a class field in the closing laps and they were powerless to stop the youngster from winning a senior British title, a medal is a strong possibility.
Geraint will also be riding the road race at the Games and again, at the Under 23 Road Worlds last year, the former Junior Paris-Roubaix winner showed he also has the endurance and class to go the distance on the road. "I'm really looking forward
to riding for Winny (Julian Winn)" he said of his role in that event, adding "I am also down to do the Time Trial but I haven't decided yet whether I will or not".
Although still only just a senior, Geraint has experienced a Junior Worlds, many a high ranking European road race and World Track Cups as well as a senior Worlds as a spectator. So is he nervous we asked?
"I haven't really thought about the Games too much lately" was his answer. "I have the Sydney World Track Cup coming up, and that is the main focus at the moment. But when I do think about the Games I get excited about competing there rather than nervous. Once we arrive at the Athletes Village and actually see how big the Games really are, I think I'll get a few butterflies!"
Australia, and Sydney specifically, hold painful memories for Geraint as it was here whilst preparing to compete in last years Sydney World Cup that he crashed and ended up on the hospital operating table where he had to have his spleen removed. It meant he didn't compete in the Sydney World Track Cup or the Los Angeles World Championships. So we asked what does he feel about being in Sydney to prepare for the Sydney World Cup and Commonwealth Games?
"It's a great advantage been able to come out to Oz so early to prepare and after just riding the Tour of Langkawi which I used to build my form up, travelling here wasn't too bad. It also allows me time to acclimatise and get over any jet lag etc. I've also managed to get into a good routine which is starting to feel 'normal' so I don't feel out of place like a visitor would."
Geraint also has a good track to prepare on not that different to the one at Manchester. The Velodrome of course is the Dunc Gray one at Bass Hill and is 35 kilometres (20 miles or so) from where the team are based in Cronulla (near where Captain Cook landed when he discovered the place). Having the base near the camp has meant that the riders have been able to get in some good track time which Geraint says has helped him get his track legs back.
Since arriving in Oz, Geraint has done two races, criteriums, with one being a handicap which anyone who is from Australia like me, had to endure most of their racing lives. "The first one was only two days after arriving so I took it quite easy for the majority of the race" Geraint explained. "With about 10 minutes to go, I started to race and we (GB Under 23 lads) made it a clean sweep 1-2-3 in the race."
"The handicap was the second race and I was feeling really strong even after a hard session on the track a few hours before. I rode hard all race and it proved to be a good training session on top of the others that day."
"My highlights since Christmas have been the Tour of Langkawi which I used get some form and I was riding hard in the finale each day to try and set up Cav (Mark Cavendish) for the sprint. I got stronger as the race went on and even though we didn't get a stage win, which I think we deserved after coming close a good 3 or 4 times, I came out of the race with good form and morale."
"I was also in Majorca for three weeks prior to this with the GB team and also had a
stint at the T-Mobile team's training camp. This was really good as it boasted my morale further and really got me working hard to achieve my goals for the Games. To be riding and chatting with the pros was really good and I learnt a lot about how to prepare off the bike as well as on it."
Finally, I asked Geraint what were the best and worst things about being away from home to which he replied "the best thing about been away from home is the good weather conditions, which helps to give us good morale for training. The Velodrome is also very bright and 'airy' which makes it a better environment to train hard in."
"Being away with Rod and the other Under 23 lads also helps to keep you focused and we try to make sure everybody does everything well. Training hard, eating well, resting 100% and everything else revolves around our cycling."
"The 'bad' things about being here is that it's really easy to not rest 100% etc as there are loads of coffee shops full of cakes etc. We are also right next to the beach so there are many tempting distractions (I think I know where he is coming from on that score having lived over the road from the beach and those ladies that go there ), so it can be hard to stay focused. But I can't really complain about that!"
"One bad thing that sticks out are the roads. They are really busy out here in Sydney and the drivers aren't great. It's also on these roads where I lost my spleen so its
been a bit dodgy at times."
Never a truer word spoken Geraint and I can recommend that anyone going there try a few of the smaller coastal towns (like Nowra) as a training base as the roads tend to be quieter than Sydney although you may struggle to find a velodrome in the outback! Our best wishes to Geraint and the team and we'll have more from them in a few weeks.
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