Geraint Thomas secured his biggest road victory in the Paris-Nice race on Sunday but there could be much more to come for the Briton who is developing into another Team Sky-shaped grand tour champion.
The Welshman, who like Bradley Wiggins made his name on the track, showed his improving climbing ability at last year’s Tour when he finished 15th overall after riding mainly to help team leader Chris Froome.
In the week-long Paris-Nice race, he beat seven-time grand tour champion Alberto Contador by four seconds after surviving the Spaniard’s onslaught in the final hilly stage, showing great composure and resilience.
He still has a lot to learn to become the third Briton to win the world’s greatest race, however, after Wiggins in 2012 and Froome in 2013 and 2015.
“One step at a time,” said Thomas, who also won the week-long Tour of Algarve last month.
“This year is all about one-week races. I think riding with Froomey, living near him (on the French Riviera), I learnt a hell of a lot. His record speaks for itself.”
Thomas has been following a path similar to Wiggins’, starting his career on the track, with both men clinching the team pursuit Olympic title in Beijing in 2008.
He finished his first Tour de France in 2007 in 140th position – out of 141 finishers.
But Team Sky, which he joined in 2010, started his transformation into a one-day classic rider although several coaches and sports directors lauded his ‘huge engine’, hinting he had the qualities to become a grand tour rider.
The development started last season when Thomas lost considerable weight – at least eight kilos – and the all-rounder now believes he could mount a Tour challenge in two years, just before Froome’s contract with Team Sky comes to an end.
“I’m happy where I am at the moment,” the 29-year-old said.
“This year, next year I’m really going to learn what it is about, leading a team. I’m like a sponge, soaking up as much as I can.”
“Even if he’s attached to the classics, he’s been yearning for something else since last year,” Team Sky sports director Nicolas Portal said.
So instead of trying to win Paris-Roubaix, the ‘Queen of the Classics’ in May, Thomas will be in Tenerife attending a Sky training camp.
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Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
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COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
Keep it fun and engaging
Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.
“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.
His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.
He also recommends books that teach the importance of money management for children, such as The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric Edelman and Jean Edelman.
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Sam Smith
Where: du Arena, Abu Dhabi
When: Saturday November 24
Rating: 4/5
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.