Geoff Thomas

International career In May 1991, Thomas won his first England cap when he was picked by Graham Taylor in a European Championship qualifier against Turkey in İzmir. He also represented his country against the Soviet Union, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia that year, and went on to win nine caps, his last coming against France at Wembley in 1992.

Leukaemia In June 2003, after a year in retirement, Thomas revealed he had been diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia, from which he later recovered. He won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award in 2005, after he raised over £150,000 for the Leukaemia Research charity by cycling 2,200 miles (3540km) in 21 days, completing the route of all 21 stages of the 2005 Tour de France a few days ahead of the race itself.

In 2005, he was voted in Palace's Centenary XI, and was then given a Special Achievement Award for his services to the club as captain in 2008.

In 2007, Thomas announced his intention to ride the Tour de France route again.

In 2008, he published a biography, Riding Through The Storm

In 2014 Thomas returned to Birmingham-based blood cancer charity Cure Leukaemia to help them raise £2 million in two years. As patron of the charity he rode in two cycling events in 2015. In June he led 300 riders including Mark Bright, John Salako, George Lineker, Ian Wright, Aidy Boothroyd and Jill Douglas from London to Paris. In July 2015 Thomas completed all 21 stages of the Tour de France route, one day ahead of the race itself. His aim was to raise £1 million from this event, a figure that one leveraged by Cure Leukaemia's model would be worth £10 million in potentially life-saving drugs for blood cancer patients. The 11-strong team completed the route and raised a substantial amount of funds; fellow cancer survivor Lance Armstrong joined the team for two stages.

In 2017 Thomas joined Doug McKinnon, Hayden Groves and James Maltin, and took on all three grand tours by to raise further funds for Cure Leukaemia.

Thomas was awarded an honorary doctorate by Birmingham City University on 8 January 2018 in recognition of his long-standing charity work and sporting achievements.

In March 2021, Thomas announced his intention to ride the Tour de France route again to raise further funds for Cure Leukaemia.

In June 2021, Thomas was awarded the MBE for his efforts in respect of cancer-charity fund raising.

Honours Crystal Palace FA Cup runner-up: 1989–90