Diagnosis of Leukemia
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 in 21 days, completing the route of all 21 stages of the 2005 Tour de France a few days ahead of the race itself.
On 6 April 2006, the players from the 1990 final all took part in a re-run of the match, in aid of Leukemia Research, at Selhurst Park. Manchester United won the game 3–1, including goals from Neil Webb (2), Ian Wright, and Mark Robins.
On 16 March 2007, a "Geoff Thomas Foundation Charity XI" took on a team of celebrities in the first ever match at the new Wembley Stadium, with Mark Bright and Simon Jordan scoring the goals in a 2–0 win; and, three days later, a Palace team similar to the one of the previous year took on a Liverpool team of the time, a re-run of the epic semi-final game that saw Palace win 4–3 in extra-time. The re-run again took place at Selhurst Park, and this time finished 1–1 with Phil Babb opening the scoring, and Bright scoring for the second time in three days to level things up.
At present, Thomas is in the process of establishing "The Geoff Thomas Foundation", a charity that will raise funds for the treatment of cancer.
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, Geoff Thomas announced his intention to ride the Tour de France route again.
In 2008 Thomas published a biography, "Riding Through The Storm", and has toured a number of book stores meeting fans and talking about his campaign (covered on Crewe blog)
- "My Fight Back to Fitness on the Tour de France":
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