Geraint Thomas - British National Road Championships
Well it's has been a great year wearing the national champs jersey. To wear the red, white and blue stripes all over the world representing the UK has been an honour. Yesterday was a hard race but I wanted to try everything to keep the jersey. In the end I gambled a bit which didn't pay off. I was hoping to leave the majority of the chase to Pete as I knew he wanted it desperately.
Unfortunately, I had to settle for the silver. But Brad is a classy bike rider and there's no shame in losing to him. I'm sure he will keep the jersey ‘out there' this next year. He better make the most of it because I want it back!!
Don't get too comfy in it Wiggins
I'd just like to thank everyone for their support this last year, it's been amazing! And also the people of Newcastle for putting on such a great race and creating such a great atmosphere, I am looking forward to returning soon...
For further information on Geraint please visit: www.geraintthomas.com
The full British Road Race Championships report here>>>
Geraint Thomas talks Team Sky and the Dauphine
"Well what a great couple of weeks it been. Ok, my win was good on a personal note, but winning the Dauphine with Brad today is as great a feeling!!
"The team at the Dauphine was unbelievable, and I'm not just being biased, a lot of the guys said it. It is without doubt the best team I have ridden with! We were under a lot of pressure during the last 3 days. There was attack after attack, typical Tour de France racing but we coped really well. It was like going into battle, we all fought for each other, and obviously Brad finished it off a treat!!
"I can certainly say I was feeling the efforts from this week today though. I was on 'early doors' with Flecha. Which basically meant we had to 'marshal' the front of the peloton until the right break went clear. Then it was a case of just getting to the finish. Unfortunately I think we missed the time limit by about 20sec which is a bit of a disappointing way to finish but the end result was what it's about!
"I now have a bit of down time in my flat in Tuscany. Then the last block of training in the Alps at the end of the week. The teams moral is great at the moment, hopefully July will bring just as much success!"
Geraint Thomas wins Bayern Rundfahrt!
Photos: Graham Watson
Geraint will be talking us through the Bayern Rundfahrt a little later but in the meantime here is a report from Team Sky:
Geraint Thomas finished safely in the bunch on stage five to take a superb overall victory at Bayern-Rundfahrt.
The British national champion capped off a strong race for the team following stage wins from Edvald Boasson Hagen and Bradley Wiggins by finishing the final stage with his overnight lead intact.
The win marked the first professional victory for the 25-year-old who infiltrated a decisive breakaway on stage three before taking over the race lead after a strong performance in Saturday's time trial.
Boasson Hagen maintained an impressive run of consistency to take third in the sprint into Moosburg behind stage winner Giacomo Nizzolo (Leopard Trek) and John Degenkolb (HTC-Highroad).
Third place on the line, coupled with his exploits in the stage's intermediate sprints, meant the Norwegian wrapped up the blue sprints jersey in addition to the squad's dominant showing on team classification.
Team Sky rode a smart race faced with the difficult task of trying to control affairs with a reduced squad of five, making victory for Thomas a team success in every sense.
During an undulating start to the stage Jaroslaw Marycz (Saxo Bank-Sungard) broke away early on with a daring solo attack, while behind Team Sky were tasked with marshalling the peloton.
The Pole was the first man through the day's first intermediate sprint point at Hohenwart and, when the field followed, Thomas' GC rivals Michael Albasini (HTC-Highroad) and Nicki Sorensen (Saxo Bank-Sungard) flashed through to take the remaining two spots, shaving two and one second respectively off the Brit's advantage.
As the peloton gradually reeled in the lone attacker, Boasson Hagen played the team game to perfection at the second intermediate sprint to take second place and soak up much of the pressure going into the closing stages.
Marycz held a slender one-minute advantage as the field hit the first of the finishing circuits but was inevitably swept up ahead of a sprint finish that played into the hand of Thomas.
After the final stage Servais Knaven admitted that the race had been a special one for the team.
"Today was another good day for us again. We took the GC for G, another podium finish for Edvald and the points jersey, plus the team prize - so not too bad," said the Sports Director.
"We had the five riders and at the start there were a lot of attacks which we controlled pretty well. One rider went away and then it was fairly easy to control the race after that. Bradley and Christian were leading the field and the rider out front always had between three and four minutes.
"Eventually some teams came up to help so Brad could go back and conserve some energy for the end. At the finish he gave a good lead-out for Edvald with CJ and G also got on the front and Edvald did a good sprint.
"He has been on the podium a lot this week which is really good to see. He has also been a big help to the team all week. Even when he had the leader's jersey he had to do some work because we changed our tactics. It's been a really good week for everyone and it was great for G to take the win at the end."
Fresh off the podium Geraint Thomas echoed the sentiments of his DS after a great week and a landmark victory for the Welshman.
G said: "There were attacks at the start but the boys covered them really well and then one Saxo Bank rider ended up on going up the road which was perfect for us.
"Brad and Christian controlled it all day then and they were super-strong as always which meant me, Eddy and CJ could sit back a bit and focus on the sprints. We led out Eddy at the end and he ran third to take the points jersey.
"It was a great end to the week - we've been on the podium every day as well so it's a great race for us.
"We've all worked really well together. Even without radios, we've known exactly what we've had to do and we've all communicated really well. I think it shows that after a full year together we are really starting to gel as a unit and as a team. It's really paid off this week."
The win marked the first stage-race victory as a professional for Thomas, a feat he admitted came as somewhat of a surprise.
He added: "It's great, I didn't really expect it coming into the race. We had Eddy and Brad and Christian as well - we thought all four of us were capable of winning it and to be in that position is fantastic.
"The goals this season were the classics and the Tour; I hit the first one of those pretty well, had a little bit of downtime after that and now the build-up to the Tour seems to be going pretty much to plan. I'll have a nice, easy week now and then it's the Dauphine and then the Tour will virtually be on us."
Geraints Blog:
Well that was Bayern Rundfahrt and my first stage race win! It has been a great week for Team Sky, 2 stages a 2nd, 2x 3rd, team GC, Points jersey and of course the Overall!
I've been asked a few times already if I'm surprised? Well without sounding like a cocky so and so, not really to be honest. Obviously we had a super strong team here and had 4 guys that could have won. I was fortunate enough to get into the race deciding break, toke the jersey in the TT, then had Brad and Christian riding at 50kph for the final stage. Perfect!
I knew I had good legs though. I had worked hard since my break after the Classics and knew given the right opportunity I could do something. It's been coming! That's another question I have been asked a lot recently... 'Are you annoyed/nervous that you are missing that win?' It hasn't played on my mind, although I did really want it. I knew if I kept putting myself in the right place it would happen. Fortunately it did this week and I'm very happy!
I now have a nice chilled week at home before I head off to the Dauphine on Saturday. The Tour de France will be on us before we know it!
