The 2018 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award was won by cyclist Geraint Thomas, who beat racing driver Lewis Hamilton and footballer Harry Kane in the public vote to lift the coveted trophy. Kane had been favourite to win the award after captaining England to their first World Cup semi-final since 1990 and winning the Golden Boot with six goals.
Cardiff-born Thomas, then 32 and a Team Sky rider, won two stages of the Tour de France and wore the Yellow Jersey for the final 11 stages, eventually winning the general classification by 1′ 51″ from his nearest rival, Tom Dumoulin of the Nederlands. Thomas was the first Welshman and just the third Briton to win the Tour de France, but the sixth British winner in seven years after Bradley (now Sir Bradley) Wiggins in 2012 and Chris Froome in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017.He was also the first rider in the history of the Tour de France to win at the iconic Alpe d’Huez while wearing the Yellow Jersey.
Aside from winning the Tour de France, on his ninth attempt, Thomas also had an admirable record as a track cyclist. At the UCI Track Cycling World Championships, he won gold medals in team pursuit in 2007, 2008 and 2012, while at the Olympic Games he won gold medals in the same event in Beijing in 2008 and in London in 2012.
Thomas had already been named BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year, but appeared to be genuinely shocked to receive further acknowlegement of his achievements. Receiving the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award from the previous winner, Sir Mo Farah, he said, “I really should have thought about what I was going to say.” However, he later added, “I take great pride in representing Britain and Wales. It has been a great year for British sport and long may it continue.”
Thomas became the fifth Welshman to win the award, after Dai Rees, David Broome, Joe Calzaghe and Ryan Giggs. Coincidentally, he also became the fifth cyclist to do so, after Tom Simpson, Mark Cavendish, Sir Chris Hoy and the aforementioned Bradley Wiggins.