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Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) is back in action on Monday at the Tour of the Alps, the five days of mountain racing in Austria and northern Italy, providing his final stepping stone to the Giro d’Italia, with the Corsa Rosa likely to help him make a decision about racing on into 2024.
The Welshman turns 37 during the Giro d’Italia but appeared ready for what would be the 18th Grand Tour of his career at the Tour of the Alps team presentation.
His 2023 has been affected by a series of illnesses that needed antibiotics but he travelled to Austria for Monday’s first stage directly from an altitude camp at Sierra Nevada.
“For me personally, the Tour of the Alps is just what I need: five hard days of racing,” he told the media at the Tour of the Alps, including Cyclingnews.
“I can freshen up afterwards and still have time to do some work. I think the Tour de Romandie is too close to the Giro mentality more than anything, It can mean a long time away from home.
“It was good to get racing again at Catalunya and then we were up at Sierra Nevada, which is a new one for me and so we trained on new roads. We had a good group, goods atmosphere. Now I’m looking forward to racing.”
Ineos Grenadiers have selected most of the Giro d’Italia squad for the Tour of the Alps, with Tao Geoghagan Hart, Thymen Arensman, Pavel Sivakov, Laurens De Plus, Salvatore Puccio and Ben Swift on the start list. They will be joined by Filippa Ganna for the Giro d’Italia, who will target the time trials, with Luke Rowe amongst the riders on a long list.
Directeur sportif Matteo Tosatto has indicated that Geoghagan Hart and Arensman are Ineos Grenadiers’s GC riders for the Tour of the Alps, allowing Thomas to work on his form for later in May.
“For me it’s about getting some good racing in the legs and working hard,” Thomas confirmed.
“I’ll take some opportunities for sure if they come. Also up for helping the boys out and seeing what we can do as a team.”
Thomas opted to ride the Giro d’Italia in 2023 after seeing the very limited time trials and steep climbs in the Tour de France route. He twice finished the Giro d’Italia in his early career but crashed out in 2017 and 2020.
In 2017 a stationary police motorbike sparked a crash and left him battered and bruised, while in 2020, he was unfortunate to hit a rolling bidon on stage and fractured his pelvis.
Thomas won the Tour de France in 2018 and was third last year, proving his credentials as a Grand Tour…
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