Geraint Thomas has signed a new three-year contract with Sky Procycling, the British team announced today. The 25-year-old from Cardiff, Wales, is currently in his second year with the team, and this new deal will keep him there until 2014.
So far this season the 2010 British champion has won the overall Bayern-Rundfahrt, taken second in the Dwars door Vlaanderen and tenth in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, before finishing sixth in the first stage, and fifth in the fifth stage of the Tour de France.
"It's great news to be able to commit my future to Team Sky,” said the Welshman. “The team have shown their potential over the last 18 months and I am delighted to have been a part of that success. The management have shown real faith in me as a rider and I feel like I'm improving all the time.
“The future is really exciting for Team Sky and British Cycling and I'm thrilled I will be able to play a part in it," he added.
Thomas is currently riding the Tour de France for Team Sky, where he wore the white, young riders’ jersey for the first week of the race. He gave up the jersey on stage seven to Châteauroux while waiting in vain, along with the rest of the team, to see if injured captain Bradley Wiggins could continue.
"We are delighted that Geraint has re-signed for another three years with Team Sky,” said Team Principal Dave Brailsford. “We have been determined from the start to build and develop a team around the very best homegrown talent like Geraint.
“The last two weeks at the Tour de France have underlined again his world class abilities,” he continued, “and we look forward to seeing even more from him over the next three years."
Even while wearing the white jersey Thomas has been working hard for the team’s sprinters, playing a major role in Edvald Boasson Hagen’s stage victory in Lisieux. He has also been part of one of the race’s biggest breakaways, over the Col du Tourmalet, and was caught with just a few kilometres to go on the final climb to Luz-Ardiden.
"G is one of the strongest riders in the team,” said the team’s senior sports director Sean Yates. “You can say anything to him and he carries it out to perfection, he can do it all. He's always got the legs and we've seen it time and again this year - he's worth five men really and it's great news.
“He's fantastic to work with and this gives everyone another lift," he concluded.
As well as his growing prowess on the road, Thomas has been an integral part of British Cycling’s team pursuit squad, and was a member of the record-breaking Olympic championship team in Beijing in 2008.