Geraint Thomas

I never thought I would grow up writing a book.

I rode for Maindy Flyers, a local kids' club from Cardiff. We started travelling across the country doing races, but Manchester was the first stage race I did.

I have come to see what the Tour is about, and it has been harder than I imagined. You don't realise what it is like until you actually compete.

It's hard to put into words, really, how proud I am and great it is to represent Wales because, in cycling, it's a little-known country, so it's nice to put it on the map.

The last thing I want to do, even in the off-season, is traipse around shops looking for clothes: it's not my thing.

In a stage race, you can have bad luck or make a mistake, and it's not the end of the race. You have more opportunities.

You get into such a routine of trying so hard each day and racing between 180 and 220 km., and as soon as you stop, it's weird, but you start to seize up. So it's easier if you keep the body ticking over. You just feel better for it come race day.

You will have ups and downs - but believe anything is possible. With hard work, it can come off.

I get moody when I'm tired or hungry. My missus says I get moody... but not with other people. But I can get grumpy.

I regret not paying a bit more attention to Welsh lessons at school. My Welsh is pretty ropey, as back at my school, people didn't take Welsh lessons seriously. My dad can speak it, so I wish he'd taught me some growing up.

I want to do marathons; I want to do an Ironman.

I miss the BBC when I'm away. I'm away so much that it's a pleasure just walking back through the door and sitting on the sofa to watch some rubbish TV.

When you're eating salad and quinoa while training, all you want is a burger. In the cycling season, when I'm doing 30-odd hours of exercise a week, I'm dreaming of burgers and curries that I'll have at the end of the season.

I don't mind it when people come up to me and say, 'Well done.' That's lovely. The bit that's weird is stuff like... I've had a load of eBay people hounding me. Just sort of getting you to sign stuff which they can then sell.

Brits love an underdog, don't they?

I just love riding my bike - no more so than at home in Cardiff and in South Wales on the roads where I started out, riding with my mates who I grew up with.

I like riding for five or six hours, then sitting on the sofa staring at the TV. It's my normal.

I'm a big fan of Anthony Joshua.

I was fortunate to be born when I was. There's been a massive rise in British cycling since I joined the junior programme when I was 17. It all started in 2004 when Chris Hoy won gold for the 1 km. time trial in Athens; when one person starts doing well, they take everyone with them.

Life's not fair, I guess.