Geraint Thomas fights back tears as he ends his cycling career in Cardiff

Geraint Thomas ended his illustrious cycling career with an emotional finish to the Tour of Britain in his home town of Cardiff on Sunday.

The 2018 Tour de France champion, who also won two Olympic gold medals on the track, had been given a given a guard of honour before the start of the final 122.2km stage – fittingly held at the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome of Wales in Newport.

Thousands of spectators lined the route to show their appreciation for the 39-year-old, as the riders headed past the local club where Thomas started cycling as a child as well as his parents’ house, with a climb of Caerphilly Mountain before finishing on North Road in central Cardiff.

Dutchman Olav Kooij eventually took another stage win for Team Visma ahead of British duo Samuel Watson (Ineos Grenadiers) and Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) after the breakaway group was caught just before the line, while Groupama’s Romain Gregoire claimed the overall general classification victory.

Sunday, though, was all about Thomas’s farewell – his Ineos Grenadiers team wearing a special jersey designed by the Welshman, who was clapped over the finish line for the final time.

“It is emotional,” Thomas said to Welsh broadcaster S4C as he fought back tears while standing alongside his son Macsen.

“It is the pinnacle isn’t it, just finishing here. I am struggling to even speak. I knew I would be emotional, but this is special.

“It has been amazing. I don’t get to race for Wales much, but any country I was in, it felt like I was representing Wales anyway.

“This support now has just been incredible. Riding in (towards the finish), I was just choking up on the bike. It was an incredible atmosphere.”

Thomas – who had started riding for the then Team Sky since its inception in 2010 – finished in 80th position in the final general classification standings.

Gregoire claimed overall victory, two seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling), with Oscar Onley the best-placed British rider in fourth for Team Picnic Postnl.

There had been a four-man breakaway for the majority of the stage – with the peleton forced into a brief halt when a farmer moved his herd of cows across the route just above Markham.

Bastien Tronchon (Decathlon–AG2R), Julius Johansen (Emirates XRG) and Wright then looked to put some distance on the chasers heading into the descent from Caerphilly Mountain.

The trio, though, were eventually pulled back in as Kooij came through a bunched sprint finish to take his third stage win of the tour.