Ineos announce Giro d’Italia staff to help Geraint Thomas’ GC bid

Ineos Grenadiers have introduced their roster for the 2024 Giro d’Italia, with former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas set to spearhead their GC ambitions. 

Thomas returns to the Giro one 12 months after dropping the maglia rosa on the penultimate day. But after a a lot much less disrupted run-in, free from an infection as was the case in 2023, he’s eyeing one other crack on the general.

The Welshman wasn’t in prime kind at his remaining pre-Giro race on the Tour of the Alps, but it surely was no totally different from his earlier preparations. Thomas follows the old-school technique of simply peaking for the most important races and has completed so to nice impact all through his 18-year profession. 

A Thirteenth-place end on GC got here with out fear for the 37-year-old and after being on the assault on stage 5, Thomas believed he was effectively on observe to be at his finest come May 4 when the Giro kicks off.

“My preparation has gone effectively and I’m feeling in an important place forward of the beginning. We have a robust line-up and there’s a good bond with this group,” Thomas stated. “We know what we have to do and are all feeling tremendous motivated to get the job completed and ship.”

He’ll have heavy pre-race favorite Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) to cope with because the Slovenian makes his debut on the Giro and appears to return to the highest step of a Grand Tour podium for the primary time since, amazingly, July 2021.

“Obviously Tadej Pogačar is the pre-race favorite and has a robust staff round him, and that adjustments the dynamic of the race a bit,” Thomas stated in a staff press launch. 

“But that additionally means all eyes will probably be on him over three lengthy weeks of exhausting racing. Our plan is to be aggressive, take the race on and search for each alternative so as to add strain and take time.” 

Thomas, who’s trying the Giro-Tour de France double in 2024, can have his work reduce out for him if he’s to get on the rostrum once more. But he has sturdy help in Thymen Arensmen, who might trip for his personal ambitions having completed in sixth on the Giro final 12 months and in the identical place on the Vuelta the 12 months prior.

Tobias Foss, Filippo Ganna and Ben Swift additionally make up a part of the eight-man squad after racing the Tour of the Alps alongside Thomas the place Ineos received the primary stage and appeared to finish their remaining preparations for the Giro’s begin on May 4. 

Former ninth-place finisher on the Giro, Foss will make his Grand Tour debut for Ineos having taken his first win for the British squad on the Tour of the Alps.

“In Geraint, we now have one of the skilled riders within the peloton to guide the cost to Rome. He is a confirmed winner, an excellent bike rider and an important chief,” stated DS Steve Cummings. “In the overall classification, we now have three riders who’ve all completed within the prime 10 at this race so we go into it feeling assured within the depth and expertise throughout the group.”

Ganna will look to take his seventh and eighth Giro stage wins and first at his dwelling race since 2021 on the levels 7 and 14 time trials, alongside using for Thomas and probably chancing his hand in breaks and bunch sprints.

The remainder of the staff contains of riders who took half within the cobbled Classics, Jhonatan Narváez, Connor Swift and Magnus Sheffield. Swift and Sheffield will each be making their Giro d’Italia debut alongside it being the 22-year-old American’s first look at a Grand Tour.

“Last 12 months we actually saved the group collectively they usually largely simply raced purely collectively, whereas this 12 months we’ve had a little bit of a distinct strategy,” Ineos DS Zak Dempster instructed Cyclingnews on the Tour of the Alps.

After finishing the Tour of the Alps, the British aspect headed to Monte Grappa to finish an important recon of the 18.2km climb which will probably be tackled twice on stage 20. Dempster additionally instructed Cyclingnews that the squad solely had the Oropa stage 2 summit end and stage 1 finale left to recon forward of the race’s begin in Venaria Reale.