Geraint Thomas raises £360k for the NHS while riding 1,200km on Zwift

Geraint Thomas raised a staggering £360,000 for the NHS as he rode for 36 hours on Zwift over three days.

The Team Ineos rider set himself the remarkable endurance challenge in support of the health service during the coronavirus crisis, with all money donated going NHS Charities Together to support health workers across the country.

On Wednesday (April 15), 2018 Tour de France winner Thomas set off on the first of three 12-hour shifts on the indoor trainer from his garage in Wales, as fans joined in the ride on virtual training platform Zwift.

Thomas rode 1,220km over the course of the three days and at the time of writing he had raised £361,400 for charity.

In an Instagram post after the challenge, he said: “Who knew I could go on such an adventure in my garage.

“Thanks to every single one of you who donated, rode with me on Zwift or sent some support – and of course to every key worker out there doing an amazing job.”

You can still donate to Thomas’s fundraising here.

During the ride, Thomas broadcast live on Facebook and answered questions from fans, while he also managed to fit in a few conversations with fellow pro riders like Luke Rowe and his former team-mate Wout Poels.

The coronavirus lockdown has spawned some mammoth indoor rides, with the challenges only getting more extreme.

Astana’s Laurens De Vreese kicked things off early with an 11-hour 368km ride, but Willi Smit (Burgos-BH) raised the bar and rode 1,000km in a single ultra-distance ride in April.

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Smit, a former Katusha-Alpecin rider who now races for Spanish ProTeam Burgos-BH, spent 37 hours in the saddle to complete the enormous challenge he set himself.

Even more impressive, the South African completed the ride at 2,000 metres above sea level at his home in Andorra and without the benefit of a fan to cool off, as he wasn’t able to purchase one during the coronavirus lockdown.