When Geraint Thomas started his first Tour de France in 2007, the general classification leader he'll be supporting in 2025, Carlos Rodríguez, was only six years old. But as he looks to start the 14th and final lap of France at 39, the Welshman is looking to be as competitive as ever.
In his 13 Tour starts so far, Thomas has managed to bring home one yellow jersey, three podium finishes, three stage wins, and been part of six GC-winning squads, supporting Chris Froome and Egan Bernal to their respective victories.
Thomas said the difference between that first hit out 18 years ago as a fresh-faced 21-year-old and today is "night and day, to be honest," while conceding that never since has it got easier. The anticipation is all the same, though.
"Back then that I had no idea what to expect, it was just this whole new world, whereas now, 14th Tour, you do kind of know what to expect," said Thomas to the media, including Cyclingnews, on Wednesday evening.
"It doesn't make it any easier, but just a lot of experience, a lot of hard yards, and yeah, obviously my place in the team is probably different.
"Back then, I was the young British kid there, because it started in London but now hopefully I can help the boys navigate the Tour. But I'm still just excited and still looking forward to one last big lap."
Despite finishing on a Grand Tour podium as recently as last year's Giro, Thomas didn't mention any sort of GC challenge as he spoke to media on Wednesday evening, instead wanting one final day of glory on his farewell to cycling's biggest race.
He'll offer his experience to help Rodríguez for the majority of the race, looking to match or improve on the Spaniard's best of a fifth-place finish from 2022, while also operating as the team captain on the road.
"I'd love to just be competitive and go for a stage, I think a stage win would be amazing," said Thomas on a press call. "But you've still got to be in super great condition for that.
"Then obviously, being alongside Carlos deep into the mountains and helping him, as much as I can, really off the bike as much as on it, and he knows what he's doing anyway. But I think just playing that role in the team of just trying to share my wisdom."
Thomas was his typical jovial self three days away from the Grand Départ, joking about Rod Stewart and sarcastically remarking about the knee injury, or lack thereof, which he sustained at the Tour de Suisse – despite crashing out, he assured all is well physically.
"It was horrific, mate, I've just done incredible to get to this point, think I'm an absolute legend," he joked. "But no, in all seriousness, it wasn't that bad. It was more a precautionary thing with the team and the fact that I got my foot caught behind and twisted my hamstring and calf.
"I got some good training in behind the motorbike with my coach, Adrian, and did as best I could. It's frustrating because it obviously would have been nice to see exactly where I was compared to everyone else, rather than just training, because it's always different, but no issues now and all good from my side."
He hasn't thought much about the next chapter, which is set to be some sort of management role within the Ineos Grenadiers setup, which has been his home for 16 years as a rider, but knows that reflection on both his 2018 yellow triumph and whole career will be imminent.
"It's been an unbelievable career, but it's something that I still don't really think about. It's always been about what's coming, and I'll reflect on it once I'm actually done," Thomas said.
"It's been a hell of a ride so far, but there's still one more big chapter to come. So, get stuck into that, do all we can and reflect afterwards.
"Maybe behind the scenes we're talking about stuff, but at the minute, I'm just concentrating on just doing this race, and I'll worry about the afterlife, as Ed Clancy calls it, afterwards."
Thomas spoke on the press call alongside Filippo Ganna and Rodríguez, and several members of Ineos Grenadiers management. The Spanish rider is confident he can go well on GC even against the likes of Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, and Ganna, of course, setting his sights on the stage 5 time trial and chasing breakaways.
The team also provided an answer to why their team announcement came last of all the 23 teams starting the Tour, confirming that it wasn't because of the more hands-on approach taken by Dave Braislford, as he steps back into the cycling fold.
Instead, it was injury and illness that was causing the hesitation to confirm, with DS Zak Dempster confirming that Ben Swift had been due a place until late illness ruled him out. Swift has long been a close friend of Thomas', but won't be able to close out his Tour career alongside him on the road.
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