EXCITEMENT is building ahead of Welsh Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas’ final road race, which will see him ride through Monmouthshire and tackle the legendary Tumble not once, but twice, in the Lloyds Tour of Britain.

The riders face an 83-mile route from Pontypool to a summit finish atop The Tumble overlooking Abergavenny on Saturday, September 6, before racing a 69.8-mile leg between Newport and Geraint’s home city Cardiff next day, including Caerphilly Mountain.

Geraint said an emotional farewell just over a week ago to the Tour de France after completing his 14th appearance in the epic race just over a week ago.

After crossing the line on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, the 2018 winner, who also finished second in 2019 and third in 2022, posted: “OK, here goes. The Tour de France. Honestly, watching it on TV when I was a kid, it felt like something that happened in a different universe.

“I dreamt of racing it, of winning it, but I never for a second thought I would. Kids from Cardiff don’t ride the Tour.

“And then, in 2007, there I was on the start line. Now I’ve raced 14 of the flipping things.

“Winning it in 2018 changed my life and I will never be able to quite believe I did that.

“But honestly, just riding the Tour is the biggest pleasure of all. Experiencing the race, the country, the people, the fans, it’s something I’ll never ever forget or take for granted.

“A huge thank you to my teammates who’ve been there with me along the way, every single staff member who’s been on the journey, and to you all for following along.

“It feels very weird to think I’ll never race another Tour but I’m so proud to have done it 14 times. And, it turns out, kids from Cardiff do ride the Tour. Merci.”

But Geraint – who owns the St Tewdrics wedding venue in Chepstow, and namechecked the Blorenge as one of his favourite hill climbs in his book Mountains According to G – isn’t finished just yet, with a final ‘Rumble on the Tumble’ next month.

Stage five of the six-stage race starts from Pontypool Park in Torfaen at 11.30am on September 6, with the route snaking back through Pontypool later in the day after the first ascent of the Tumble, at around 2pm.

The route heads off towards Usk and Chepstow, taking in the first of five categorised king of the mountains ascents at Llangwm, averaging 4.7 per cent over its two miles.

From Chepstow, the race heads up the three-mile Itton Hill, the second climb of the day, and then heads on to Monmouth via Trellech, Mitchel Troy and Rockfield, before taking the Old Ross Road climb back to Abergavenny.

From Aber, the race heads to its first ascent of The Tumble, averaging over 8 per cent across its three miles, before a fast descent into Blaenavon and along the Afon Lwyd valley to Pontypool.

The stage then retraces its route to Usk, turning north via the Chain Bridge across the River Usk, to head back to The Tumble and the final, gruelling race to the summit finish after more than 2,330m of ascent, for an expected finish just before 3pm.

The race resumes next morning (Sunday, September 7) at 11.45am beside the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome of Wales in Newport.

And while the 69.8-mile final stage only features two categorised climbs (Mynydd Bedwellte and Caerphilly Mountain), the constant undulations add up to almost 1,750m of ascent.

The stage heads to Risca and Crosskeys, and on to the appropriately named Wattsville, north through Caerphilly County Borough and Blaenau Gwent to weave its way to Ebbw Vale, before returning via Tredegar and the Sirhowy Valley.

A two-mile climb takes the race onto the Mynydd Bedwellte and over into the Rhymney Valley, before ascending Gelligaer Common and an undulating section via Bargoed, Nelson and Ystrad Mynach, to Caerphilly.

Located with under seven miles of racing to go, the one-mile 9.7 per cent average gradient of Caerphilly Mountain will again prove decisive for the stage winner in Cardiff, with a fast run in, passing the Maindy cycle track, before the finish on North Road, alongside Bute Park, at around 2.45pm.

The Lloyds Tour of Britain Men begins on Tuesday, September 2, in Suffolk and takes in Milton Keynes, Central Bedfordshire and Warwickshire before hitting Monmouthshire.