Tour de France: Geraint Thomas's vest raises £10k for charity

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Geraint Thomas put the gilet on for warmth before the opening time trial of the 2022 Tour de France

2 August 2022

Former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas has raised £10,000 for charity by auctioning off a vest he wore in this year's race.

The Welsh cyclist forgot to take off the gilet during the first stage of the 2022 tour in Copenhagen.

Fans then swapped the gilet between each stage all the way to Paris, documenting its journey on Twitter.

Thomas, who finished third in the tour, is raising money for his Cycling Trust charity, which helps young people.

More cash could yet be raised as the raffle runs until 31 August.

Fans took to social media to praise Thomas and the fans who transported the body warmer to Paris.

One wrote: "Well done G and all the gilleteers", while another commented: "It's had a great summer holiday."

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Thomas described the mistake of leaving the gilet on for the first stage of the 2022 tour in as "the worst half of a time trail I've ever done, it was so bad".

"It's still a bit raw at the minute, I'm still a bit angry."

Once the anger had subsided, the ex-tour winner decided to turn the mistake into a positive, by asking fans for their help in transporting it from stage to stage, culminating in the last leg of the race in Paris.