Geraint Thomas has been a vital clog of Team Sky for a number of years now and as Chris Froome cemented his third consecutive Tour de France victory yesterday the Welshman admitted that winning feeling never ‘grows old.

It was a superb ride from everyone associated with Sky; and although it was a fairly subdued race for Thomas personally, he still played a vital role in securing Sky fourth Maillot Jaune in five years.

Thomas came into the race as backup leader in case anything happened to Froome, but the Briton leader showed how strong he is, as he rode superbly to take the Yellow Jersey in what was an entertaining race.

But for Thomas he didn’t have the same effect like he did last year, when he was by Froome’s side every step of the way. But a crash on the first stage did affect him in the early weeks, but when the Tour entered the Alps Thomas along with Wout Poels and Sergio Henao all made sure Froome didn’t lose any meaningful time to his rivals.

Thomas says it’s an ‘amazing feeling’ as Froome and company won the Tour

Speaking back at the Sky bus after the final stage on the Champs-Elysees in which Andre Greipel continued his record of winning in every Grand Tour he enters. 

Thomas spoke about the feeling of winning such a tough race: "It never gets old, that's for sure. It's always special. As a kid you always dream of finishing the Tour de France, let alone being part of a team that has won it.

Froome and Thomas at the Tour de France / Road Cycling
Froome and Thomas at the Tour de France / Road Cycling

Many fans and pundits have praised the way Sky have ridden this year’s Tour; last year they were singled out for being negative and bringing a ‘boring’ style But this year they took on all types of terrain and conquered them, and Thomas was integral to that.

In a way it has been unlike any other Tour; this year there was certainly some iconic sights, most notably Froome running up Mont Ventoux in just his cleats, and then Adam Yates was on the wrong end of the flame rouge collapsing, but at the end of the day that’s the way the Tour is, it ebbs and flows.

"That's the thing with the Tour: there are so many ups and downs and so many twists and turns, you go through all that as a team,” said the 30-year-old.

Next up for Thomas is a little break before the Olympics where he will be supporting Froome in his bid to add a Gold medal to his palmares in Rio in a couple of weeks.

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