Geraint Thomas kicks off mammoth 12-hour Zwift rides as fundraising hits £80k

Geraint Thomas has officially kicked off his trio of 12-hour Zwift rides to raise money for the NHS.

Team Ineos rider Thomas has vowed to spend a whole day on the indoor trainer over three consecutive days, to help support the heath service during the coronavirus crisis.

At the time of writing, Thomas had been on the bike for around three hours but had already raised £80,000 with the total rapidly rising.

Winner of the 2018 Tour de France Thomas will spend 36 hours on the indoor training app Zwift in his garage in Wales, starting from April 15-17, with help from his wife Sara and baby son.

The epic rides are being broadcast on both the Team Ineos and Thomas's Facebook pages, so fans can watch, share and comment.

Money raised will go to NHS Charities Together – the national charity which represents 140 health service charities across the UK.

You can donate here.

Thomas said: “Like everyone around the country I have been humbled by the hard work, bravery and professionalism of the NHS. I was chatting to Sa to see what we could do to show our support for all the front line workers so - I’m doing the only thing I know how to do and getting on my bike! I know this is a hard time for everyone but I hope that people will be able to make even the smallest donation to a great cause. And if people are keen to join, sign up and ride with me."

Team Ineos held their first ever Zwift race over the Easter weekend, with Thomas, Chris Froome, Egan Bernal and Rohan Dennis all fighting it out on Alpe du Zwift with the support of their team-mates.

We have also seen some epic Zwift rides since the coronavirus lockdown started, including Astana’s Laurens De Vreese who spent 11 hours on the turbo trainer.

Riders can also ride with Thomas during his 12-hour ‘NHS Zwift Shifts’ but signing up on Zwift.