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Name: Geraint Thomas

Age: 25

Nationality: British

Team: Sky

Role: Rouleur, track cyclist

2011 WorldTour ranking: 156

Twitter: @GeraintThomas86

Website: www.geraintthomas.com

2011 highlights:

• Tour de France: 31st overall, 3rd in stage 2, 5th in stage 5, led young  rider classification in stages 1-7
• Paris-Nice: 5th in stage 3
• Dwars door Vlaanderen: 2nd
• Tour of Flanders: 10th
• Bayern-Rundfahrt: 1st overall, 2nd in stage 3, 5th in stage 4
• British National Championships: 2nd in road race
• Tour of Britain: 3rd in stage 4, 4th in stages 5 & 8b, 5th in stages 1 & 8a points, won points classification

Why I like him:

I have absolutely no interest in track cycling so Geraint Thomas’s greatest wins (so far) have been lost on me. But what wasn’t lost on me was his magnificent performance in stage three of the 2010 Tour de France, when he kept up with the front group of Fabian Cancellara, Thor Hushovd, Cadel Evans and Andy Schleck as they powered over the cobbles to put time into Alberto Contador. Not only did he keep up with these hardmen (okay, three hardmen and one skinny climber), but his attitude after the stage made me think, wow, this is a guy I can get on board with. Because he was ecstatic – he looked like he was going to leap out of his skin he was so geed up from that ride. [Geed. G’d. Is that a deliberate pun? – Ed.] I like that in a rider – someone who doesn’t shrug and act nonchalant but who thinks “hell yeah! That was GREAT! Let’s do it again!” And that’s Geraint Thomas.

He’s already stated that the Olympics are going to be his focus (track, I suspect, not road race), so he’s probably not going to ride the Tour de France. But hopefully he’ll be riding in the Spring Classics – a future force in that discipline, almost certainly – and he could be a main player for the team in the Giro. I predict a stage win or two if they let him ride for himself …

Where to see him in 2012:

Spring Classics, Giro d’Italia, London Olympics, World Championships

Watch out for regular updates tracking Geraint Thomas’s 2012 season over the coming months.