When Geraint Thomas lines up for the first stage of the Tour of Britain in Newport on Sunday, it will be his first competitive appearance in his home country since his triumphant Tour de France victory last month. The Welshman has been included in a strong Team Sky line-up for the week-long event and is likely to get a rapturous reception.
However, this may well be the last time British cycling fans have the opportunity to see Thomas racing on these shores in Team Sky colours. Following his Tour victory, it has been reported the Welshman had offers from other teams, with Thomas himself suggesting earlier this month that a switch could, potentially, be on the table.
It does not seem unfathomable for Thomas to be looking elsewhere; two Grand Tour contenders rarely sit comfortably in one team and with Froome looking likely to be targeting regaining his Tour crown next year, Thomas may not even be given the opportunity to go for a successful defence.
But the departure of Thomas would be hugely damaging for Team Sky. It would be dangerous to suggest that 32-year-old’s Tour victory has healed all of Sky’s PR wound, but it certainly was timely.
The run-up to the year’s biggest race was marred by headlines about Froome, his adverse analytical finding and then the decision by the race organisers that the four-time winner would be banned from competing. The palaver certainly affected Froome and likely was a significant factor in his below-par performance over the three weeks.
Froome was cleared on the eve of the race of any wrongdoing and so did begin the race but the damage was done. The Brit was not well received on the roadside, with too many spectators believing there is no smoke without fire.
That Thomas ultimately grabbed the headlines was a blessing for both Team Sky and for Froome, who ultimately finished third. The Welshman’s win meant that the post-race interviews focused on his personal story and his rise to the top of the sport, rather than the allegations that had plagued Froome and Team Sky in the months preceding the race.
Team Sky general manager, Dave Brailsford, could hardly have written the script better himself. And Thomas’ win means the Team Sky squad can go into next week’s Tour of Britain with a rider in the spotlight who is generally seen as squeaky-clean rather than having to deflect questions about Froome’s doping test results and why he was ultimately exonerated.
Yet it would be naive in the extreme to expect one popular grand tour winner to solve all of Team Sky’s problems. The British team still has a number of clouds hanging over it, and no amount of pushing Thomas’ story will make some people forget quite how murky some of Team Sky’s behaviour has been in recent years.
The fact remains that less than six months ago, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport tore apart Team Sky’s reputation and severely damaged the initial claim of Brailsford and Team Sky that this team would be one the public could trust.
The “jiffy-bag” saga continues to rumble on and as the years have passed, more and more dents have been made in Sky’s suggestion they would be untouchable when it came to allegations of doping, which has so plagued the sport.
So Thomas’ Tour victory, and the certain positive reaction he will receive throughout next week at the Tour of Britain, has been and will be a welcome dose of good news for Team Sky and those who have spent far longer than they would have liked in recent months and years putting out fires. The Welshman is likeable and personable in a way that Froome has never been and importantly, is also entirely untouched by any allegations of doping.
If Sky want to keep control of the narrative, as much as is possible anyway, they must do everything in their power to persuade the Welshman to remain at the team. Because if he leaves, the positive headlines are likely to vanish in a puff of smoke and Brailsford et al will be forced to return to deflecting and denying the negative headlines that have dominated Team Sky in recent times.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here