Geraint Thomas and Ben Swift pay tribute to teammate Luke Rowe: ‘The era we’ve been through is special’

It is a testament to the longevity of all three riders within Ineos Grenadiers that neither Ben Swift nor Geraint Thomas could remember their first time racing with Luke Rowe under the auspices of Team Sky.

For Swift, that moment came just a few months into Rowe’s neo-pro year at the 2012 Glava Tour of Norway, a race in which the Welshman actually placed seventh on stage 3, helping his teammate Edvald Boasson Hagen to second place on the day. Swift may have sported a face of bewilderment when asked about the race, but the 36-year-old was well aware that Boasson Hagen would have been at the head of proceedings.

“Jesus, bloody hell no,” was his first response when asked if he remembered the race. “I don’t, no, that’s a long time ago that! We’ve done many many races since then, it was probably wet and wild and Edvald probably won. He [Rowe] was probably a good bit of luck.”

Rowe was something of a good luck charm in his first professional outings alongside his childhood friends. Boasson Hagen managed not only a stage win in Norway, but also took a clean sweep of the points jersey, young rider’s jersey and the general classification. As for his first race alongside Thomas, that came in the 2013 Tour Down Under where his more established teammate got his chance at leadership and finished third place overall.

“I didn’t know he was in that race,” the man running in second place at the Giro admitted. “But just in general he’s always been good to have around. As I have said many times, we go back years so we know each other really well.”

Both Thomas and Rowe have been ever-presents at Ineos Grenadiers since they joined the team as youngsters (Thomas began his career with Barloworld), with Rowe on course to end his career as a one-team man until the end. The 34-year-old had planned to see out his contract until the end of 2025 before hanging up his cleats, but a recent concussion has brought forward his planned exit.

“I’ve had an amazing career and I have absolutely no regrets. But the last eighteen months have been testing in different ways and with this latest crash and resulting injury, it just feels like now is the right time to bow out, head home to Wales and spend a bit more time with my family," Rowe said when the decision was announced.

Read more: Luke Rowe announces retirement a year earlier than planned

The strength of the bond between all three riders dates back to a youth spent racing both against and alongside each other on the British domestic scene. Thomas and Rowe met one another at the Maindy Flyers Cycling Club in Cardiff, and Swift was soon knocking about with the pair at races up and down the country.

Some 15 years on from the launch of Team Sky, which fell under the Ineos Sport ownership in 2019, Rowe looks set to end his career having been a part of five Tour de France-winning teams. But for all the success he has enjoyed since he joined the team in 2012, it doesn’t seem as though the 34-year-old has changed a bit from the boy who would run riot on the streets of Cardiff on a BMX bike with Thomas.

“He’s probably more immature now than when he was a kid,” quipped Swift. “Nah, he’s good. We’ve grown up together and it’s hard to differentiate how he is today than from a youngster, we’ve been through each other’s hardest times together, some good times as well and he’s just the same old Luke, you know.

“The first time we met each other, I was definitely under 10 and he’s younger than I am. He’s one of my childhood friends, you’re quite fortunate in this sport to meet a lot of people but it’s not often you meet some lifelong friends and some of your best friends.”

The rise of British cycling at the heart of Rowe’s legacy

For Swift, the last few seasons must have felt like a homecoming, having departed for UAE Team Emirates between 2017 and 2018. Back as part of the British team since 2019, the former Milan-San Remo runner-up pointed to the growth in British cycling as a lasting legacy for Rowe and his generation of Grenadiers.

“There is a group of us with which it has been quite a special journey, we’ve been part of that core group that has helped develop British cycling into what it is today,” he said. “For him to be a part of that and not only a part of it, the role he has brought to the team and to the races has been as a road captain.”

As the road captain, Rowe is in charge of his teammates during a race, when communication over race radios between riders and the team car can be unreliable, to say the least. With his wealth of experience, a noted reputation for good positioning in the peloton and an applauded leadership ability to match, the Welshman has been the perfect man to teach the team’s young riders the ropes and help his team leaders to victories.

Read more: Last season would have been horrible without Luke Rowe, says Josh Tarling

The highlight of Rowe’s time with Ineos Grenadiers might well be the 2018 Tour de France, in which his lifelong friend Thomas won the yellow jersey. It was a high point for Team Sky and the team that had been developed under the stewardship of Dave Brailsford. It was to be the last Tour de France won by a British rider, some eight years - and six victories - after Brailsford first voiced his ambitions to win the Tour with a Brit.

“We kind of started with myself, Cav and Ed [Clancy] and then it slowly built with Swifty and [Ian] Stannard just behind,” remembered Thomas. “Luke was just at the end of that and as you see now today, it’s totally different, you’ve got British riders all over the place. He’s certainly a big part of that because he was a big part of the Tour teams and with British Cycling with the Worlds.”

“The era that we’ve been through is special,” added Swift. “I remember growing up and watching one or two whereas now our WhatsApp group with the British pro riders is massive. That is quite special and Luke has been a vocal part of that as a leader.”

What next for Rowe?

As for what might be next for Rowe, the Welshman still has ambitions to race again this season and has set his sights on the Tour of Britain as a fitting farewell. The 34-year-old will end his career having ridden eight Tours de France, two editions of the Vuelta a España and with two professional victories to his name - including the opening stage of the Tour of Britain in 2012.

But Swift hopes that his teammate might be able to add to that tally before the year is out.

“He’s been part of multiple wins, he’s been part of my wins, I’ve never been with him when he’s won so we need to turn that around - hopefully we can pull that off!”

Read more: Luke Rowe: I don't want to be one of those riders who fizzle out

The 36-year-old tipped Rowe for a sports director’s position in the future and assured GCN that this would not be the last we see of Rowe in the sport and whilst Thomas stopped short of revealing that Ineos Grenadiers had offered the retiring Rowe a position beyond this year, the maglia rosa hopeful did offer his prediction on his podcast partner’s next steps.

“I think he’d be great at that, he’s denying it at the moment but I think he might end up there. He’s doing quite a lot of commentary and stuff now, he’s well into the pods, he’s keen to pod all the time now! He’ll keep himself busy for sure.”

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