Ditching Gent-Wevelgem
Ditching Gent-Wevelgem
Being blown off your bike isn’t always a sign of toughness, but what you do after that definitely can be.
Earlier in the season, Thomas was battling it out in the Gent-Wevelgem one-day semi-classic as one of the favourites having already won E3 Harelbeke. The notoriously ‘robust’ Belgian weather was playing a big part in the race, with many riders struggling to stay upright and pedal forward in the face of driving rain and howling winds.
‘Super G’, riding in an elite group at the front of the race, was one of the riders who ended up being blown clean off his bike by a rogue gust and found himself at the bottom of a roadside ditch.
Once again, this would have been the final straw for most – indeed, of the 200 starters of this year’s G-W, only 39 made it across the finish line – but no self-respecting Welsh rider would throw the towel because of wind and rain, and the man from Wales managed to not only reach the finish line, but snag himself a podium place in the process.