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With the route for the 2024 Giro d’Italia freshly revealed, consideration has already turned to who is likely to be battling it out for the pink jersey within the absence of reigning champion, Primož Roglič – who will likely be firmly focusing on the Tour de France along with his new workforce, Bora-Hansgrohe. Geraint Thomas could also be a type of trying to the Grande Partenza in Turin subsequent Might.
Learn extra: Top 10 GC riders we want to see at the 2024 Giro d’Italia
Tadej Pogačar has been tipped to start out the Giro d’Italia by teammate Rafał Majka, and Ben Healy (EF Schooling-EasyPost) has been mooted for a management place by team boss Jonathan Vaughters, however have been Thomas to line up, he would routinely begin as one of many scorching favourites following his near-miss this yr.
Giro d’Italia and Tour de France on the prime of Thomas’ wishlist
“The Giro is basic Giro actually,” Thomas commented on subsequent yr’s route on this week’s Geraint Thomas Cycling Club podcast. “It’s going to be tremendous robust.
“It might be good to return there after this yr, however then on the similar time, the Tour [de France] is kind of interesting.”
Along with his needs set firmly on profitable the Giro d’Italia this previous season, 2023 marked the primary time since 2012 – when he was focusing on the Olympic Video games – that the Welshman has willingly skipped the Tour de France with the intention to appease different priorities. He did not journey the Tour in 2020, however that was the workforce’s determination, definitely not his.
In distinction, it seems that the Tour de France will return to Thomas’ racing programme in 2024, with or with out the Giro d’Italia in his legs. Thomas spoke to in August of his need to return to the Tour and the 2018 champion has already begun to solid his thoughts on subsequent yr’s route.
“It finishes in Good, the final stage is a time trial from Monaco to Good. It’s a bloody laborious TT although,” Thomas mentioned.
Learn extra: Geraint Thomas would love Tour de France return
“These previous couple of days of the Tour, I believe stage 19 we end up some laborious climb, the Saturday is difficult after which the ultimate day is a mountain TT kind of. The sprinters will simply need to endure round for 3 days!”
When questioned how he loved this yr’s version, all through which he and teammate Luke Rowe would supply their occasional musings on the Watts Occurring podcast, Thomas was trustworthy that watching from house shouldn’t be their most popular methodology of viewing.
“It’d be nicer to be within the race subsequent yr I believe, for each of us, we’ll see how that goes.”
‘I really feel like I had three good weeks in 2023,’ admits Thomas
The motivation for Thomas to hit the bottom working in 2024 will likely be robust after his 2023 marketing campaign was stunted by a bacterial an infection all through the opening months.
“I believe I can look again and be tremendous happy [with 2023],” he mentioned. “As a result of the beginning was atrocious. I mainly had this UTI an infection – had no thought how – I bought it on the finish of the coaching camp in December and it stored coming again. Tour Down Beneath… New Zealand… LA.”
“We lastly discovered at first of March that it was a bit calcified stone in my prostate. It was good as a result of then I modified my saddle to alleviate a little bit of strain, had some stuff to ensure that [stone] was breaking down and I’ve been effective ever since. It simply signifies that mainly from coaching camp in December to March, I missed 50% of my coaching.”
Within the face of those setbacks, the Welshman may be very happy with his efforts on the Giro, which introduced him eight days within the chief’s pink jersey and second place general, simply 14 seconds down on eventual winner Roglič.
At first, there was little question a bitter aftertaste in Thomas’ mouth, on condition that he solely surrendered the race lead on the penultimate day time trial when Roglič claimed again 40 seconds and the veteran struggled with sodium bicarb.
However with the previous adage of time therapeutic previous wounds, Thomas displays positively on the Giro d’Italia as he heads into the winter.
“There was no consistency [in my training], so to then go to the Giro and find yourself second by 15 seconds, in the event that they’d advised me that earlier than the race, I’d have bit their hand off,” he admitted.
“To lose it on the final day was brutal, however if you step again from it and also you look, you may be actual proud of how I nonetheless managed to get in that form after the stop-start yr I had.”
If the Giro d’Italia was the excessive level of his season, the Vuelta a España was definitely the low level, with Thomas crashing a number of occasions and as he admitted himself, not having the legs to compete all through the three weeks.
Learn extra: Down but not out: What kept Geraint Thomas going at the Vuelta a España
After heading into the race with goals of the rostrum, Thomas got here away with only one top-10 stage inserting.
“I had a little bit of break day [after the Giro], two weeks possibly, began coaching once more, did all the things I may however on the Vuelta, it was one factor after one other. I haven’t really sat down with the workforce but, however we’ll sit down and debrief that to see what we expect we may do higher.”
Regardless of this disappointment, Thomas nonetheless is aware of he can compete with the easiest on the Grand Excursions, inserting second behind Roglič on the Giro and third behind Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar on the 2022 Tour de France.
Compete could also be too gentle a phrase; Thomas maintains the religion that he can beat the likes of Roglič and searching again on the Giro, why should not he?
“It’s a humorous one, it seems like I had three good weeks [this year], however at first of the yr that was my primary purpose, it was all in regards to the Giro. So it’s a yr I can look again on and be blissful about,” he posited.
“If I hadn’t had the run-in that I did to the Giro, I believe I’d look again a bit much less fondly. However I believe I most likely would have gained it as nicely, to be truthful – with out sounding like a dick. I believe if I didn’t have that an infection and missed all that groundwork, I undoubtedly would have been 15 seconds higher. Within the opening TT, I wouldn’t have misplaced as a lot time as I did after which right through, I’d have been that little bit higher.”
‘It has been good to get away’
With the 2023 Giro firmly within the rearview mirror, nonetheless, the main focus will now proceed to be on dotting the Is and crossing the Ts on his new Ineos Grenadiers contract and ticking over within the low season.
“I have to get the contract sorted first after which I can take into consideration the racing,” Thomas mentioned. Although his new deal shouldn’t be anticipated to pose any points and Thomas will be a part of Rowe and a handful of different Ineos Grenadiers riders in renewing their offers for 2024.
Learn extra: Ineos Grenadiers hasten contract renewals with several riders
Reluctant to spend an excessive amount of time reflecting on the Vuelta a España, Thomas as a substitute selected to poke good-humoured enjoyable at the advantages – or lack thereof – he has felt since heading into the winter.
“All people mentioned the Vuelta would get you thru the winter in fine condition and kind, however each journey I’ve executed, I’ve felt horrible!” he laughed.
“Immediately I did simply over three hours, I needed to cease for a muffin and a Coke after an hour and a half, I used to be blowing! The Vuelta did completely nothing for me mate,” he joked to co-host Fordyce, “[I was] horrible throughout and now I’m not even getting the advantages I used to be meant to be getting – eh, possibly it’ll are available in November!”
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