Geraint Thomas believes the Sky's the limit after eventful first season

By Nick Bull, Sportsbeat

AS he sits down, Geraint Thomas looks a relieved man.

FIGHTING TALK: Geraint Thomas defends Team Sky's first season and has high hopes for the next

"Russell's just been beaten. That takes the pressure off me," he happily admits.

 We're in central London, at an event organised by Team Sky's newest sponsor, IG Markets. Four Sky riders, including Thomas, are taking turns at racing against the public over a mile, with the challengers keen to defeat the pros.

Ben Swift was first up, and looked suitably tired at the end of his stint. Bradley Wiggins followed, and was almost beaten into second place by a deceptively-smartly dressed manager from the new sponsor. Russell Downing was on before Thomas, and promptly lost.

In many aspects, this is a rare occasion where the pressure is off the 24-year-old Welshman.

He knew signing for Team Sky would bring about great responsibility, particularly in the Tour de France. They pinned all their hopes on Wiggins at least finishing on the podium, but the plan fell short.

"Brad really struggled in the Tour, and as a team we didn't really have a back-up plan," said Thomas.

 "In Britain, it's such a big event, and after putting our hopes on winning the race, when things didn't work out the press started asking questions. 

"I think we all got wrapped up in the race. Looking back, I think other races were affected by that.

"We had a good season, if you ask me. The expectation was on Brad in the Tour, but if you look away from that we won a lot of races. Eddie [Boasson Hagen] took a lot of sprints, and Juan [Antonio Flecha] had a great spring. For a first year, we achieved a lot.

"The press looking at our year was always going to happen. We are a new team, but we had high hopes for the season and there was an expectation for us to do well.

"And while we delivered some of our goals, we missed the big one. I think the focus of ‘one rider, one race' is something we'll change for 2011."

Interestingly, he doesn't mention himself in that list, despite making a flying start to the 2010 Tour de France - finding himself in the young rider's white jersey in the first week.

He added: "It was always a goal for me to ride the Tour this year. Unlike in 2007 (where he was picked at short notice and suffered badly in the mountains), I had time to prepare for the race. I went there in much better shape.

"I rode well in the prologue, which was something I trained for specifically. And then I had a great day over the cobbles (on stage three)."

Arguably, it was the ride of his career to date. He dropped Wiggins, Lance Armstrong and eventual race-winner Alberto Contador, and found himself in an elite group with Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara and Andy Schleck of Luxembourg.

He was the given the call to contest for the stage victory, but was narrowly beaten by the current world road race champion Thor Hushovd.

All of a sudden, the man who finished second-last in his debut Tour was just 23 seconds off the race lead.

He doesn't comment when asked if that was the best day on a bike, but you get the feeling that coming with ten kilometres of taking the yellow jersey four days later at Station des Rousses is still something he thinks about.

"I was so close, you know, but that's the Tour," he ruefully states.

"I could feel the legs getting worse, and there was no way back from there."