The 2025 Lloyds Tour of Britain Men will honour Geraint Thomas’s career with a finish in his home city of Cardiff, it was announced on Wednesday.
As first reported by Cycling Weekly last month, the six-stage race, set to take place from 2-7 September, will close with a finale in South Wales. Stage five will finish with a double ascent of The Tumble, a steep, 5km climb near Abergavenney, before a final day ode to Thomas.
Starting at the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome in Newport, the sixth stage will pass by the Maindy Velodrome, home of Thomas’s first cycling club, the Maindy Flyers, before finishing in Cardiff city centre.
The race is expected to be the Ineos Grenadiers rider's last competition before he calls time on his professional career that has lasted 19 years.
Speaking earlier this year on his podcast, Watts Occurring, Thomas said a send-off in Cardiff would be a fairytale ending to his career.
"If you could pick anything then it would be finishing on home roads and the Tour of Britain is exactly that," the 2018 Tour de France winner said.
"Rod [Ellingworth], who's my old coach from the [British Cycling] academy, then obviously he was part of [Team] Sky for so many years, he's the race director there as well. So I've asked him to pull a few favours, possibly go into Wales for the final stage, possibly Cardiff city centre outside the castle, that would be awesome."
The official announcement means that all the start and finish towns of this year’s Tour of Britain Men are now known.
The race will begin on 2 September in Suffolk with a stage between Woodbridge and Southwold. Stage two will then be an out and back to Stowmarket, before Milton Keynes sends the riders off on day three, on their way to Ampthill.
Stage four will start in Atherstone and finish in Burton Dassett Hills County. The final two days will then see the race shift into South Wales.
Commenting on the Welsh finale, Caroline Spanton, CEO of Beicio Cymru, Welsh Cycling, said it would make a “fitting tribute to one of Wales’ most iconic athletes”.
“To see the peloton pass places like Maindy Velodrome and The Tumble, and to welcome the race into Cardiff, is especially poignant in what is expected to be Geraint Thomas’ final professional road race,” Spanton said.
“Our heartfelt thanks go to the Welsh Government and local authorities whose support and investment have made these stages possible.”
Full details of the race route are expected to follow in late July.
