Rookie Queenstown pro cyclist Reuben Thompson rode last week with childhood hero, 2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas, after a chance encounter at an Arrowtown roundabout.
The Welshman, who’s also won three world champs and two Olympic golds on the track, was holidaying in Queenstown after competing in the Tour Down Under in Australia.
Last Saturday, Thompson, 21, who made his WorldTour debut at that event, was cycling towards Arrowtown’s Berkshire Street/Wiltshire St roundabout when he suddenly recognised Thomas coming from another direction.
‘‘I just said, ‘hey, G’.
‘‘It blew my mind, actually,’’ says Thompson, who knew Thomas was in town, but had never met him.
‘‘Then we spun along for 20 minutes together, he gave me his phone number, and then we teed up [another ride].’’
On Monday, the two rode together for about three hours, looping around Arrowtown and cruising up The Remarkables access road, where Thompson made a name for himself by winning that leg of the Tour of Southland in 2020.
Describing Thomas as one of his childhood idols — ‘‘just being an English speaker who won the Tour de France’’ — he says he found him ‘‘a bloody good bloke, actually … very relaxed, down to earth’’.
So did he pick up any pointers?
‘‘Not too much, he [told] some Tour de France stories, he’s big into his rugby.’’
Meanwhile, Thompson, who races for Europe’s Groupama-FDJ Continental team, says his first WorldTour race, in which he finished a creditable 23rd, was ‘‘a really positive experience’’.
Despite making “a lot of mistakes”, he says it was a “really good starting point”.
