Riding 36-hour indoor NHS fundraiser could be tougher than Tour: Thomas

2018 Tour de France champion previews the start of his 36-hour ride to raise funds for the NHS.

SHOWS: CARDIFF, WALES, UNITED KINGDOM (APRIL 15, 2020) (TWITTER/GERAINTTHOMAS86 - NO RESALES, MUST COURTESY: "TWITTER/GERAINTTHOMAS86") 1.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) 2018 TOUR DE FRANCE WINNER, GERAINT THOMAS, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE CONTINUES AS THOMAS SHOWS HIS GARAGE AND SETUP FOR THE CYCLING CHALLENGE) "Alright, so here we are.

Wednesday 15 (April), start of my first 12-hour shift.

I've got a special jersey as well, which represents Ineos' hand sanitiser project they're doing.

But yes, it's 7:20 now, just going heading into the garage.

It's actually a very nice day outside.

Thought I would just show you my setup quickly.

So, excuse the boxes and the rubbish.

It took me about 2 hours to put that up so I hope you appreciate it.

Right this is what I've got for 12 hours then.

So we've got this ready for the interviews.

That's George (Solomon) our media guy at the moment.

Look at that handsome chap.

And then obviously Zwift here, I've got my live feed webcam thing which is here.

And obviously there's Netflix for a bit of extra stimulation.

I've got my headphones for interviews, backup headphones, Garmin.

And all (inaudible) products down there ready to go." CARDIFF, WALES, UNITED KINGDOM (APRIL 15, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 2.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) 2018 TOUR DE FRANCE WINNER, GERAINT THOMAS, SAYING: "I'm a bit nervous about it.

This morning when I woke up, I was a bit like 'phwoah, what am I doing?'

But to see all the money coming in makes it all worthwhile, that keeps you going but I think it's more… mentally it's going to be just as tough really as the physical bit." 3.

WHITE FLASH 4.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) 2018 TOUR DE FRANCE WINNER, GERAINT THOMAS, SAYING: "I think, you know, I just saw all the stuff in the news and I have a few friends and family that are involved and yes just the sacrifice that everyone is making I think it's amazing and I really wanted to make a small difference myself and obviously I've got a bit of a profile so I wanted to try and use that and make the most of it and have a try and make as much money as we could.

And yes it's going really well and even though it's going to be hard and it's a big challenge but the thought of where the money is going and the people it's going to help, it's definitely worth it." 5.

WHITE FLASH 6.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) 2018 TOUR DE FRANCE WINNER, GERAINT THOMAS, SAYING: "Obviously it would be nice to get a massage but it's only me and my wife and I wouldn't really trust her massaging my legs but yes fair play like we've got a six-month old as well.

So, I was busy looking after him plus coming back and forth with a bit of food and drink for me but yes it's all good." 7.

WHITE FLASH 8.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) 2018 TOUR DE FRANCE WINNER, GERAINT THOMAS, SAYING: "Yes, I think because obviously we do a lot of training on the road anyway, like my longest ride is 8 hours 20 (minutes) but obviously on the open road it's completely different.

Like here you're kind of stuck in a fixed position on this bike and yes certainly your hands and your contact points, your undercarriage will be sore that's for sure and yes mentally as well but like I say you just try and think of the positives, think why you're doing it and yes just keep going." 9.

WHITE FLASH 10.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) 2018 TOUR DE FRANCE WINNER, GERAINT THOMAS, SAYING: "Oh, going up Alpe d'Huez and (Mont) Ventoux would be easier for sure yes, yes.

I think just it's more the mundane… it's just so mundane here, you know.

Obviously, I've got some things going on and a few interviews and I'm on Zwift and I can ride with people, but 12 hours just stuck in a garage is totally different to riding on the road.

At least going up Alpe d'Huez you've got all the hairpins and writing on the road and I don't know it's just completely different and so this is definitely a challenge in itself as well." 11.

WHITE FLASH 12.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) 2018 TOUR DE FRANCE WINNER, GERAINT THOMAS, SAYING: "I had a good chat to (Team Ineos head coach) Tim (Kerrison) at the start of the day actually and yes he was just telling me to keep fuelled because he was saying like even if you rode, if you want to get technical, like around 190-odd watts I'd still burn 8,500 calories in the day so I need to keep eating because obviously I've got to do it all again for the next two days as well.

So, it will be easy just to sort of over do it today and then have it knock on the next couple of days and then it just really would be not very fun so.

But it's a nice challenge, it's good to sort of… it's something different as well for me like mentally.

Like obviously it's really hard and it's going to take a lot but it's completely different to what I normally do so that's a nice change as well." 13.

WHITE FLASH 14.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) 2018 TOUR DE FRANCE WINNER, GERAINT THOMAS, RESPONDING TO QUESTION ABOUT DISRUPTION TO CYCLING SEASON DUE TO COVID-19, SAYING: "Yes, it's tough.

I think… I was in France until towards the end of March and I was training really well and just sort of staying positive and thinking of the next races but then as the weeks went on they were getting cancelled, came back here and I had a little break because I'd done quite a lot of training but it's just tough mentally to sort of stay really switched on 100% because you don't know exactly what one you're going to be racing next.

We're still staying positive and assuming we're going to get back to racing at some point so you still need to try and maintain a bit of fitness but there's no point in trying to continue to improve all the time because you just don't know when we're going to be back racing yet." 15.

WHITE FLASH 16.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) 2018 TOUR DE FRANCE WINNER, GERAINT THOMAS, SAYING: "Phwoah, I don't know, it's tough like obviously yes we're used to… it's what we're used to as well and we're used to riding out on the road and nice climbs and you know nice scenery and then suddenly you're stuck.

Well we're lucky in the UK we can still go out on the road but in France, Italy and Spain they've been stuck indoors the whole time and have had to ride the turbo (bike) for nearly like 45 days or something so that is tough but you know I think it's just a horrible situation for everyone but I guess we all know why we are doing it and it's for, obviously it's for the right reasons so hopefully we can all sort of start getting back to normal soon." BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (FILE - JULY 5, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 17.

THOMAS HEADING FOR TRAINING AHEAD OF 2019 TOUR DE FRANCE 18.

TECHNICIAN PREPARING BIKES 19.

VARIOUS OF THOMAS TALKING TO TECHNICIANS CARDIFF, WALES, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - AUGUST 9, 2018) (BARN MEDIA - ACCESS ALL) 20.

THOMAS RIDING THROUGH CARDIFF IN CELEBRATIONS AFTER 2018 TOUR DE FRANCE VICTORY / FANS LINING THE STREETS CHEERING 21.

CROWD 22.

THOMAS WALKING TO FRONT OF STAGE / CROWD CHEERING / THOMAS HOLDING WALES FLAG BEHIND HIS HEAD STORY: Team Ineos rider Geraint Thomas expects his 36-hour shift on an indoor bike to be tougher than the Tour de France but worth the effort to raise money for Britain's National Health Service (NHS) workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 33-year-old Welshman, the 2018 Tour winner, began the first of his three 12-hour stints on the online virtual cycling and running platform Zwift from the confines of his garage in Cardiff on Wednesday (April 15).

"Going up Alpe d'Huez and (Mont) Ventoux would be easier for sure... it's just so mundane here," Thomas told Reuters TV.

"Obviously, I've got some things going on, a few interviews, I'm on Zwift and I can ride with people, but 12 hours just stuck in a garage is totally different to riding on the road.

"At least going up Alpe d'Huez you've got all the hairpins and writing on the road... this is a challenge in itself." Thomas said that he was "a bit nervous" about riding for 36 hours, the equivalent of several stages of the Tour.

"This morning when I woke up, I was a bit like 'phwoah, what am I doing?'

But to see all the money coming in makes it all worthwhile," Thomas added.

"I saw all the stuff in the news and I have a few friends and family that are involved and, yes, just the sacrifice that everyone is making I think it's amazing and I really wanted to make a small difference myself." Cycling's governing body UCI announced on Wednesday that the Tour, initially due to be held from June 27-July 19, would be staged from Aug.

29-Sept.

20.

Speaking before the official announcement, Thomas said the disruptions to the cycling season this year were tough.

"I was in France until towards the end of March and I was training really well and staying positive and thinking of the next races," he added.

"But as the weeks went on, they were getting cancelled, came back here and had a little break because I'd done quite a lot of training... it's just tough mentally to stay switched on because you don't know exactly what (event) you're going to be racing next." (Production: Tim Hart)