Geraint Thomas ‘not 100%’ ahead of Giro d’Italia, Ineos star insists it is ‘not necessarily a bad thing’

Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) admits he is “certainly not 100%” heading into the Giro d’Italia, but suggests it could play to his advantage as he aims to peak in a brutal final week.

Speaking to Eurosport ahead of this year’s opening Grand Tour, the Welshman opened up about his “stop-start” season which saw him require antibiotics for a repeat infection earlier in the year.

The peloton has changed significantly since Thomas won the Tour de France in 2018, with Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), Primoz Roglic, Jonas Vingegaard (both Jumbo-Visma) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) emerging as the GC heavy hitters.

Two of those riders – Roglic and Evenepoel – are the runaway favourites to lead the general classification at the Giro, which starts in Fossacesia on Saturday.

Thomas is under no illusions of the challenge ahead of him but believes his stunted build-up could allow him to shine in the final week, which features four brutal stages in five days before an expected procession around Rome.

“Purely because the whole run-in to it is just totally different. The run-in to the Tour that year was faultless, I was feeling good, training went well, I was winning races and that was that.

“This year, it’s been really stop-start since December. I’ve been on and off antibiotics and missed around 12 days of racing. I’ve had to stay strong mentally and just focus on what I can control and do my best.

“That’s what I’ve done and I feel like I’m in good shape for sure, but I’m certainly not 100% going into the start.

“But it’s not necessarily a bad thing with the way the Giro is, especially with that last week. Out of the last five days [before the Rome procession] four of them are big GC days. Big mountain days.

“So it’s set up for the best chance for me to do well but we’ll see how that goes.”

Evenepoel touches down at the Giro on the back of defending his title at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, while Roglic has topped the GC at Tirreno-Adriatico and Volta Ciclista a Catalunya in 2023.

On his likely rivals for the maglia rosa, Thomas said: “Remco and Roglic, what they’ve done… for sure they are the big standout favourites and the ones everyone will be watching and talking about.

“But I think the peloton in general has got better… every team is getting stronger every year and the racing is getting more competitive. It’s certainly going to be a tough race.”

Ineos’ vice-like grip on the Tour de France has diminished in recent seasons, forcing the British-based team to look to the Giro to claim Grand Tour success.

Thomas is impressed with Ineos’ line-up in Italy as Thymen Arensman, Laurens De Plus, Filippo Ganna, Salvatore Puccio, Pavel Sivakov and Ben Swift hope to propel their GC hopefuls into pink.

“You’ve got Tao who’s won it before, and the likes of Ganna in the team,” said Thomas.

“Thymen was sixth in the Vuelta last year, he’s a super talented young guy. We’ve got Pavel Sivakov who has been there or thereabouts in the last few years as well.

“It’s a strong team and obviously the GC is the main goal, and we’ll always have one eye on that, but I think with stages as well there’s a lot to go for.

“I think we can go there really optimistic and excited about the opportunities that will come.”

Thomas has previously suggested 2023 could be his last year in cycling, meaning the Giro could represent his last hurrah at a Grand Tour.

“It’s my 17th year as a professional and I am starting to feel quite old now,” he added.

“I don’t really think about much but when you’re rooming with 18 and 19-year-olds you do start to think… There’s still life in me yet though.”

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