chris boardman there, the safeguarding officer for the chris boardman there, the safeguarding officerforhe british caving association. the pictures you can see that were taken over the last few days, as preparations were put in place. some of that also was the equipment used to pump some of the equipment used to pump some of the water that has been causing so many problems for this operation. the boys there, clearly those boys are young. the youngest i believe is 11 years old. if you think about it, we have heard how tight some of the chambers are and how narrow everything is. the size of them presumably would help with the manoeuvrability aspect of this rescue. we have another guest now to share their experience. we arejoined by their experience. we are joined by steve whitlock, who was part of the 200a expedition which resulted in six men being trapped in one of the biggest cave networks in mexico city, although he was not one of those trapped. he coordinated the rescue with a british diver, rick stanton, who was one of the first to actually find the children in that flooded cave in no

let's go to birmingham in the uk where chris boa rdman let's go to birmingham in the uk where chris boardmanafeguarding officer of the british caving association. all credit to these extraordinary divers who have completed what many were saying was mission impossible. this is an absolute extraordinary rescue. my admiration goes out to the thai navy seals and the cave divers from the us and uk who went out to thailand just as they did mexico in 200a to look for the children. really fantastic. we really saw that it was an international effort. people bringing in their skills from right across the globe, coming together to try to rescue these boys. very much so. the navy seals were expert divers and obviously they can speak thai which none of the international rescu e rs thai which none of the international rescuers could do, but the international team was in cage diving which is different to diving itself. we should remember as well that these boys didn't necessarily know how to swim, they had never really dived before, so that added to the complexity of this whole mission. absolutely. also th

we are nowjoined by chris boardman from the british caving association.s story as you have watched it unfold? this isjust absolutely fantastic news. i know that the timing is effectively perfect. they have been draining the cave for as long as they know the children have been there and they are acutely aware that the monsoon rains are due sometime today. they had to move and they have moved decisively, and i have so much respect for the rescue personnel, for the divers who have come from so personnel, for the divers who have come from so many personnel, for the divers who have come from so many nations, and the thai navy seals and for the children themselves who have stepped up to themselves who have stepped up to the mark. we know that they will not have had to dive the whole distance, not by any means, because of the drainage they were able to do. they will have been able to work and crawl some of the distance which will have made life easier even though it is very physical. my admiration is for the children and their rescuers. how safe is cave diving f

i think it goes back to chris boardman, he was the first one who won gold 20 years ago and then we had we've become extremely adept at it. i'm not quite sure all of this marginal gains stuff was actually real, a lot of it gains stuff was actually real, a lot ofiti gains stuff was actually real, a lot of it i think was psychological. the brits have got this extra special paint, we can't beat them! playing into those fears. people have done that in sport for years. it's absolute nonsense but people believe it, these are supermen and we can't beat them. but thomas was really going as a worker for chris froome, a very good one but he was very much second—in—command of team sky and he has ended up winning the race unless he ends up falling off his bike tomorrow which won't happened because there is a convention that you don't attack the leader. so he has effectively won. he has but i like that he took time to record a video for the 14—year—old daughter ofa video for the 14—year—old daughter of a previous coach that he had. you just think, what a lovely chap. incredible success story of this

the first minister of wales, carwynjones, former british cyclist chris boardman and fellow team sky memberome have all congratulated thomas on his achievement. olly foster reports. geraint thomasjust geraint thomas just about kept his emotions in check on the chanson yze, the british dominance of the tour continues but draped in the welsh flag, he knowsjust tour continues but draped in the welsh flag, he knows just what this big trimmings. —— chomps champs—elysee. big trimmings. —— chomps champs-elysee. it will take a while to sink in. it will be nice to get back into normality. you know, watch bbc breakfast in bed with a coffee. i will certainly enjoy the next couple of weeks. he had warned the yellow jersey for over half the tour. his fellow teammate chris froome realised last week as his legs let him down that the team man who had helped him to so many of his victories will also be taking his title. it was clear that he was the stronger rider in this year's tour de france. getting behind him was the natural thing for me to do. darren thomas has won olympic, and commonwealth gold medals.

a hugely popular winner — and it comes as no surprise to the former olympic champion cyclist, chris boardmanll, he is the most popular winner for years. first of all, he is the most popular winnerfor years. no disrespect first of all, he is the most popular winner for years. no disrespect to those of god —— to have gone before him. he has always laid down for someone him. he has always laid down for someone else, always sacrificing himself. the circumstances here, a crash on the first day, gave him a nominal lead which he built on land made his own. he could have won the final time trial. he has shown what he is capable of. he has shown glimpses for years. fantastic in the mountains. we had one bad day on the tour. everybody doubted if he could do it for three weeks. well, he can. he has had a phenomenal career on the track, two 0lympic he has had a phenomenal career on the track, two olympic gold medals, commonwealth medallist, numerous world championships as well. where does this stand in cycling for somebody to wear the yellow jersey down the champs—elysees? somebody to wear the yellow je