Nearly a yr after shedding the Giro d’Italia on the penultimate day, Geraint Thomas is gearing up for his return to the Italian Grand Tour on the Tour of the Alps after a extra constant preparation, with out interruption from sickness.
In 2023, Thomas’ early season was disrupted by a urinary tract an infection (UTI) which prevented him from coaching recurrently and the reason for which wasn’t labored out till spring.
“I’m feeling fairly good, barely forward of what I used to be final yr. Well, I’ve definitely simply had a extra constant preparation,” stated Thomas on the pre-Tour of the Alps press convention in Neumarkt/Egna.
“Last yr I had a difficulty with a urine an infection from Christmas which saved me on and off the bike till we came upon the actual explanation for it in March.
“This yr has been much more constant and clearly, I would not say I’m one million miles higher however I simply really feel like I’ve had a greater run in, smoother.”
It’s been a sluggish build-up this outing for the Welshman with solely 13 race days, however Thomas is raring to get caught into competitors after plenty of time at altitude within the Sierra Nevada.
“I’m actually wanting ahead to racing right here, it’s supreme for the Giro,” Thomas stated, “And I’m excited to race now as a result of you’ll be able to prepare all you need, but it surely’s good to race.”
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Five robust days of racing across the hills and mountains within the South Tyrol area begin right now from Egna with Thomas seeing all of the levels as prospects for GC motion alongside the robust queen stage 4 from Laives to Borgo Valsugana.
“I have to be able to hit the bottom operating, I feel it is at all times gonna be a brilliant arduous race and it appears fairly punchy this yr,” he stated.
“I see the climate is meant to get a bit worse however that’s all good prep for the Giro anyway. Just excited to get caught in.”
Thomas isn’t the one sturdy GC hopeful making ready for the Giro d’Italia on the Tour of the Alps, with Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Hugh Carthy (EF Education EasyPost), Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Filippo Zana (Jayco AlUla) and Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) additionally right here.
Last yr’s winner Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek) isn’t current, nevertheless, and Thomas sees it as a really open competitors within the absence of among the best climbing superstars Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
“I simply suppose it is open, lots of good guys right here, sturdy groups. It will likely be a brilliant arduous race to win and hopefully pleasing,” he stated.
“Without the so-called massive – nevertheless many you wish to put in that bracket, two, three, 4, no matter – clearly it is a bit extra open so we’ll see what occurs.”
As he heard mid-press convention that teammate Tom Pidcock had gained the Amstel Gold Race, Thomas echoed his emotions about doing the Giro-Tour de France double that it was “getting him off the bed every single day” and retaining issues thrilling in his 18th yr.
“To be trustworthy, I simply needed to do one thing totally different because it’s my 18th yr as an expert and I have to maintain mixing it up a bit to maintain the enjoyment and simply one thing to maintain me on my toes, fairly than simply getting a bit monotonous,” Thomas stated of the double try which is able to see him tackle Pogačar at each.
“It’s a extremely massive objective and I feel to be at my greatest in each is a tricky problem so we’ll see the way it goes.
“At the beginning of the yr, I assumed I’d attempt to go a bit extra regular within the build-up as a result of I did not wish to be flying in March and should attempt to maintain onto that til July, and I feel Tom Pidcok might need gained Amstel – sound, that’s a very good end result.”