Thomas, who represented the club 249 times and captained them to the 1990 FA Cup final, returned to south London to promote his upcoming Tour de France cycle on behalf of Cure Leukaemia.
He went to Copers Cope to talk with former teammate Mark Bright, tour sponsor and shareholder and former Co-Chairman Stephen Browett, Vieira and the first-team squad. He also presented Wilfried Zaha with his Player of the Month award.
Thomas received an MBE in March for his charity work, striving to pass the £5million fundraising mark this year following his leukaemia diagnosis in 2003.
He will lead a team of 19 amateur cyclists as they complete the Tour de France route one week ahead of the professionals from Saturday, June 24th to Sunday, July 17th.
By cycling all 21 stages of one of the toughest endurance events on earth, the team aim to raise more than the £1.1million they did last year for national blood cancer charity Cure Leukaemia, the official charity partner of the Tour de France in the UK.
Speaking with Palace TV at Copers Cope Road, Thomas said: “There are a number of reasons why I’m doing the Tour de France again this year. One is one of the guys taking part said the only reason he’d take part is if I did it. I said last year that it was my last, but then we shook hands on him raising a figure of £100,000.
“And also there was the sad loss of Geoff Hill, who was a really good friend and big Crystal Palace fan, head of ITN news, and his loss really hit me hard. He was just about to come on board as a trustee of the charity and had great plans, but unfortunately he lost his battle. I hope to raise money this year in his name.”
To support Geoff and the Tour 21 team, please consider donating here.
You can also support Cure Leukaemia by shopping the GT8 Range in the Club Shop here.
