Geraint Thomas: he can now lean into a well-deserved retirement
Never again will he wear that coveted yellow jersey, or light up the Champs Élysées on TV screens worldwide: star cyclist Geraint Thomas recently announced his retirement from the sport. He may have been a ‘normal bloke you’d go down the pub with’ (according to the feature), but he also had the innate determination, strength and talent to get off the bar stool and achieve in his career what no Welshman and only two other British cyclists have ever done: winning the Tour de France (in 2018), not to mention scooping an Olympic gold medal…twice.
I was invited to make his portrait for The Guardian’s ‘Big Interview’ in Monaco.
The Guardian Sport feature: ‘The Big Interview’
Something quiet, down-to-earth and straightforward does indeed appear to remain central to Geraint’s character, even after reaching such dizzy heights in his professional life. I photographed him in the sumptuously-named Roseraie Princesse Grace [Princess Grace Rose Garden], a small public park beside the Monaco heliport. Geraint’s look was far from ‘Monaco sumptuous’: he arrived for the shoot wearing a utilitarian white T-shirt, casual shorts and a leather string bracelet. He was perfectly punctual too – respectful of my schedule and mindful that he had to leave to pick his kids up from school 15 minutes later. If having performed for a film crew all morning had worn him down (not only had his retirement news broken, Geraint also had a well-timed autobiography coming out, generating plenty of press interest), he had the courtesy not to show it, as we efficiently ran through my portrait set-ups.
Under a giant tree (and, out of shot, under the watchful gaze of an officious gardener)
As the shoot had been arranged at the last minute, there’d been no time to arrange the permissions a professional photographer in Monaco normally requires, but I knew the gardens were not a police patrol hotspot. On my recce there that morning, I’d seen only a few senior Monégasques taking the air with their Monégasque dogs, and numerous gardeners working discreetly in the undergrowth. I had no trouble identifying a couple of quiet corners that would be suitable for my portraits. We would not be disturbed there, during the short time I would be spending photographing Geraint.
Or so I thought… Barely into the tenth minute of shooting, we had just arrived at a magnificent giant tree, just off the path on a lawn, whose trunk I’d spotted as a backdrop – beautifully textured (yet ‘normal’). I led the way up the bank with my photography bag, Geraint walked his bike onto the grass and his agent followed at the rear, kindly carrying my flash unit and umbrella on a stand. So I suppose it did look like a photoshoot, albeit a light one. Before I had a chance to switch on the light, a trio of green-uniformed gardeners were upon us. “Do you have authorisation to shoot here, Madame?” Apparently knowing the way Monaco’s photographer rules work, Geraint and his agent were moving away before I had a chance to complete my “No, I don’t” reply.
So when, after a brief exchange with Mr Officious Gardener, I gestured that they could come back, Geraint looked truly perplexed. “Can we really do the portrait here, without permission? How on earth did you manage that?!”
Being a normal yet determined photographer can sometimes bear fruit too… even in Monaco.
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