The cyclist born to be in yellow '“ Geraint Thomas and the making of a new Tour de France hero

Geraint Thomas is on the brink of becoming the first ever Welsh cyclist to win the Tour de France.

It’s been a long journey for the two-time Olympic champion who is cycling’s ultimate team man.

Prior to the 2014 Grand Depart in Yorkshire, he gave a revealing interview on what the sport meant to him – and his brushes with injury.

This is what he said.

GERAINT THOMAS has seen it all on

his bike. He has the medals and scars

to prove it. He’s the double Olympic

team pursuit champion who pedalled

2,000 miles with a fractured pelvis to

help Team Sky’s talisman Chris Froome

make Tour de France history last year.

Yet even this selfless hero is surprised

by the scale of this weekend’s Grand

Départ in Yorkshire, the sheer number

of cyclists on the region’s roads and the

1,000 bright yellow bicycles adorning

roundabouts along the route. “It’s nuts

here,” he observed.

Perhaps not the most eloquent

words spoken by a top sportsman in

the UK, their profoundness should

not be under-estimated. Spoken from

the heart, their rawness does, in fact,

offer a unique perspective – from the

saddle – on cycling’s journey into the

public’s consciousness, the staggering

enthusiasm for a sporting event

without comparison in Yorkshire and

how the whole country can benefit

from an ethos that has seen Britain

become the fastest nation on two

wheels.

For, while the eyes of the world will

inevitably be on Froome, and also star

sprinter Mark Cavendish’s quest to

win tomorrow’s opening stage in his

mother’s home town of Harrogate,

the eminently likable Thomas’s own

story of success explains why cycling

commands a higher profile than

cricket and a host of other mainstream

sports.

They’re important lessons about

community initiatives, a winning

mentality and having no regrets that

should not go unnoticed ahead of a

momentous weekend for sport in

Yorkshire – and Britain.

Despite the pressures on the public

finances, grassroots sport does matter

– and don’t let any penny-pinching

politician say otherwise. Even though

this engaging Welshman went to the

same state school as Gareth Bale, the

world’s most expensive footballer, and

British and Irish Lions skipper Sam

Warburton, he is an accidental cyclist.

“I was going swimming at the local

leisure centre and they had a kids’ club

which had just started. I made friends

and that was it,” recalled the 28-yearold.

“When I was a kid, cycling was a

niche sport. If your dad didn’t do it, or

someone in your family, you didn’t get

involved. It’s weird because everyone

has a bike when they’re a kid.”