WELSH cycling star Geraint Thomas said an emotional farewell to the Tour de France after a completing his 14th and final appearance in the three-week race.

Geraint, who won the race in 2018, and finished second in 2019 and third in 2022, posted after crossing the line on the Champs-Elysees in Paris: “OK, here goes. The Tour de France. Honestly, watching it on TV when I was a kid, it felt like something that happened in a different universe.

“I dreamt of racing it, of winning it, but I never for a second thought I would. Kids from Cardiff don’t ride the Tour.

“And then, in 2007, there I was on the start line. Now I’ve raced 14 of the flipping things.

“Winning it in 2018 changed my life and I will never be able to quite believe that I did that.

“But honestly, just riding the Tour is the biggest pleasure of all. Experiencing the race, the country, the people, the fans, it’s something I’ll never ever forget or take for granted.

“A huge thank you to my teammates who’ve been there with me along the way, every single staff member who’s been on the journey, and to you all for following along.

“It feels very weird to think I’ll never race another Tour but I’m so proud to have done it 14 times.And, it turns out, kids from Cardiff do ride the Tour. Merci.”

But Geraint – who owns the St Tewdrics wedding venue in Chepstow, and namechecked the Blorenge as one of his favourite hill climbs in his book Mountains According to G – isn’t finished just yet, as he’s likely to ride the Tour of Britain next month, which includes a penultimate stage in Monmouthshire and a final ‘Rumble on the Tumble’ above Abergavenny before finishing a day later in his home city of Cardiff.