Welshman and Ineos ready for duel with Tadej Pogačar, reports Adam Becket
Ineos Grenadiers are aiming for the “very top step” at this month’s Giro d’Italia with their leader, Geraint Thomas.
The British squad believe the 37-yearold, last year’s runner-up, can do “something very special” as he targets both the Giro and the Tour de France for the first time since 2017.
Thomas spent last week at the Tour of the Alps, his final race before the Italian Grand Tour, where he suffered in the icy rain and finished 13th overall, more than five minutes down on the winner, Lidl-Trek’s Juan Pedro López.
Speaking to Cycling Weekly, the Welshman said his lead-in to this year’s Giro has been “a lot smoother” than last season, when he had a urinary tract infection, missed 50% of his training, but still finished second in Rome.
“We did a camp in Sierra [Nevada, Spain], which was good,” he said of his recent preparations.
“I worked hard, chipping the weight and stuff off. I’m probably feeling a bit tired from that. Coming here [to the Tour of the Alps], it’s all about getting some good, intense racing. It’s just what I need.”
Thomas kept a low profile at the fiveday Italo-Austrian race. With his team often among the last to sign on each morning, he took shelter inside the team bus, sparing only a few minutes every day for fan selfies and media interviews.
According to one Ineos member of staff, a frequent slogan among the team at the race was that they had “bigger fish to fry”, with the Giro approaching. Thomas’s focus, it was clear, was on future goals.
“The whole plan is to just go there in the best shape I can,” the Welshman said, “race the race, and see what happens.”
A Slovenian elephant
Asked what Ineos expects from this year’s Giro, sports director Zak Dempster pointed to the “elephant in the room, the young kid from Slovenia that smashes everyone” – Tadej Pogačar.
Still, Dempster added, the team is “ambitious” and hoping for a good result. “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t aim for the very top step with him there,” he said. “The ambition is definitely to do everything we can to win it.”
The sports director explained that Ineos will take a “day by day” approach to the race, with the pink jersey in mind. “I don’t think it’d be a disappointment if [Thomas] doesn’t win,” he added. “What’s imp
