Geraint Thomas expects he’ll have the chance to race for a stage win at this year’s Tour de France, where he will support his Ineos Grenadiers teammates in their GC bids.
The 38-year-old, who won the yellow jersey in 2018, will line up in his 13th Tour on Saturday, returning to his former domestique role at the race. This time, Thomas will ride in support of Carlos Rodríguez, his team’s outright leader, and Egan Bernal, who is also hoping for a strong GC showing.
Speaking at a press conference outside Florence on Wednesday, Thomas said Ineos will be “looking to be aggressive in the right ways” over the next three weeks.
“I’m super excited to be here,” he said. “I missed it last year, doing a different programme. I did miss it. It’s the biggest bike race in the world. To be here with these guys, looking to be aggressive in the right ways, try and win some stages, and perform in the GC obviously, it’s exciting for me and what I dreamed of as a kid.”
Asked by Cycling Weekly if he expects to be given licence to hunt for stages himself, Thomas said: “I think I’ll get the opportunity to go for a stage, but I think that can also benefit the guys riding GC as well.
“Potentially, I could be up the road and not necessarily have the legs for the stage, but then you’re up the road to help in other ways, you know? I think the two can work well together.
“Let’s be honest, there are other teams that have more of a weight to take of the race than us, and bigger favourites. I think we can race differently as well. It’s not like we’re going to just pull on the front one by one until there’s one guy left, because that’s just not going to happen.”
Thomas’s last stage win at the Tour came in 2018, when he triumphed in the yellow jersey on Alpe d’Huez.
Although he is under contract at Ineos until the end of 2025, he said he is aware that this year’s edition of the race “could be my last”.
“I’ll just be focused on the race and what we’ve got to do, to be honest. I think I’ll look back once it’s all done,” he said. “In the back of my mind, yeah, it could be my last, but I’m not thinking about that.”
The Welshman has not raced since placing third at the Giro d’Italia in May, and comes to the Tour off the back of a two-week altitude camp with the team in the Alps.
“I definitely did some good work,” he said of his recent training. “Whether I did too much or not enough, I won’t know until we get going here. To this point, I’ve done everything I can to be in the best shape and help the guys.”
The Tour de France begins this Saturday 29 June in Florence, Italy.
