Profile: Geraint Thomas

Profile: Geraint Thomas

Profile: Geraint Thomas

Thomas has proved his cycling talent on both road and track

BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2007 contender Geraint Thomas is going from strength to strength in the world of cycling, both on the track and on the road.

The 21-year-old from Cardiff has had a fine 2007, winning a gold medal in the team pursuit at the World Championships in Mallorca.

This year he also become the first Welshman in 40 years to finish the gruelling 2,206-mile Tour de France, finishing 140th overall while riding for his Barloworld team.

A product of the Great Britain Olympic Academy, Thomas announced his talent to the world in 2004 when he became the World Junior Track Scratch Race champion.

A serious training accident early in 2005, rupturing his spleen in Australia, derailed Thomas' meteoric rise.

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But the youngster returned later that year to win his first major senior title, taking scratch gold at the British Track Cycling Championships.

It was a case of nearlies in 2006, as Thomas finished third in the Commonwealth Games points race and runner-up in the team pursuit at the World Championships in Bordeaux.

Thomas, a regular winner of the Welsh Senior Road Race Championship, has built on that to have his best year yet and he is likely to be one of Britain's medal hopes at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.