Geraint Thomas has penned a new three-year deal with Team Sky, taking the Welshman through to the end of the 2021 season with the team.
The recent Tour de France winner announced his decision to extend his stay with Team Sky to a hoard of fans outside the team bus ahead of the final stage of the Tour of Britain, last Sunday in London.
Addressing the crowd, Thomas commented that 'it's been a great journey for me with Team Sky and obviously the last few months have been crazy,
'It’s working really well for me here and I’m excited about what’s still to come,' adding, 'It really is one big happy family where my relationship with Team Sky is concerned, so I couldn’t be more delighted.'
In announcing this decision, all rumours of Thomas's potential departure from the team became quashed. Following his Tour victory, it was reported that the 32-year-old had spoken to other teams regarding a potential move.
One of those teams was CCC, the Polish shoe brand replacing BMC Racing in the WorldTour. CCC's sports director Piotr Wadecki even confirmed that the team had offered the rider a contract with the promise of Thomas being outright Grand Tour leader.
However, Thomas has decided to stay with the team in which he has spent most of his professional career, much to the delight of Team Sky's team manager Dave Brailsford, who also commented on the decision.
'He’s been with us since the start of our journey and he’s continued to develop and improve year-after-year. He’s worked tirelessly for such a long time to improve. He’s made sacrifices to get to the top of the sport – and it’s all proved to be worth it,' said Brailsford.
'He’s achieved his dream of winning the Tour, but there’s so much more ahead for him. He has the pride, passion and commitment to continue to go from strength-to-strength and we’re delighted that it’ll be with us.'
While Brailsford is delighted now, he may be ruing the selection headache that he will be caused by Thomas and Chris Froome next July.
Thomas will likely head to the Tour with the view of defending his title while teammate Froome will be on the hunt for a record-equalling fifth yellow jersey.
Unlike rivals Movistar, Team Sky tend to not be in the business of multiple team leaders at the Tour meaning that Brailsford will ultimately have to decide between the two riders as to who will have the team's support.
As for Froome and Thomas in the short term, their season's came to an end on the streets of London yesterday as both confirmed they would skip the World Championships at the end of the month in order to begin focussing on 2019.