S13 Ep159: KM0: A Trip To Maindy Flyers, Where It All Began For Geraint Thomas

The Cycling Podcast

News, Sports, Sports News

4.7 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 29 December 2025

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This episode is KM0 is free for everyone to listen to thanks to the support and generosity of our Friends of the Podcast subscribers. You can get an annual subscription at thecyclingpodcast.com which will give you access to an archive of more than 330 special episodes released since 2015.

The final stage of the 2025 Lloyds Tour of Britain marked the end of an era for British cycling. It was the final road race of Geraint Thomas's long career, taking the Welshman on roads he has ridden since he discovered cycling as a child. The stage began at the velodrome in Newport that has been named after him and finished in his home city of Cardiff.

On the run-in to the line, the peloton passed the outdoor velodrome at Maindy where Geraint's journey began. From riding laps of the track as a youngster he went on to win world and Olympic titles and the 2018 Tour de France.

At the start of the year, Lionel Birnie took a trip to Cardiff to meet the people who founded and built the Maindy Flyers, a club created specifically for children and teenagers to learn how to ride and race. When the club was founded, 30 years ago, there were very few clubs in the UK that truly welcomed children. In a way, the Maindy Flyers ruffled feathers and showed what was possible if young talent was encouraged and nurtured.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Kilometre Zero by the Cycling Podcast.
0:16.0	The final stage of the Lloyd's Tour of Britain in September marked the end of an era for British cycling.
0:21.4	It was the final professional road race of Geraint Thomas's long career and the people of South Wales
0:27.4	turned out in force to say thank you and congratulations to their hero.
0:32.6	The weather didn't play ball of course. It rained heavily as the teams arrived at the
0:36.5	Newport Velodrome, a velodrome which was renamed the Geraint Thomas National Vellodrome of Wales
0:42.0	in 2018, shortly after he won the Tour de France. My name's Lionel Bernie and Graham
0:48.1	Wilgoth and I were there to witness the final race of Thomas' career.
1:19.0	After the team presentation in the track center, the peloton lined up to give Thomas a guard of honour before the rollout for that final stage.
1:24.8	The last one of his long and glorious career. The rain even eased up briefly for him.
1:29.0	The stage went from Newport following roads that Thomas knew like the back of his hand, the ones he's ridden on all of his life, and it took him into his home city of
1:35.1	Cardiff, passing the place where it all began, the outdoor velodrome at Mandey.
1:41.1	When Gailant Thomas first discovered cycling, the Newport V Velodrome didn't even exist. That didn't
1:46.1	open until 2003. But Garaint discovered cycling in the mid-1990s and something special started there
1:54.3	at Mende. A cycling club was created exclusively for young riders. The Mande Flyers was not the first or only junior
2:02.6	cycling club in the UK at that time, but it was one of a small handful that catered just for
2:08.1	young riders at a time when children and teenagers weren't really catered for by the UK's club
2:13.8	scene, certainly not in the way that the Mandy Flyers set out to. At the start of the year,
2:19.8	on a cold winter's night, I travelled down to Cardiff to meet some of the people who've been
2:23.9	involved with the Mandy Flyers since the very beginning in the mid-90s. This is a place where Garant
2:29.3	Thomas discovered cycling. He saw young riders on the track after he'd finished a swimming session at the
2:34.8	sports centre next door. The bikes whizzing round the bowl caught his eye and he decided he wanted to have a go. Yes, please to meet you Lionel.
	...

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