Geraint Thomas 'rolling back the years'. Primoz Roglic is 'vulnerable' – Robbie McEwen on Giro d’Italia drama

ByBen Snowball

Updated 23/05/2023 at 18:03 GMT

The 2023 Giro d’Italia burst into life on Stage 16 as Joao Almeida and Geraint Thomas chiselled time into the third GC big-hitter, Primoz Roglic. Almeida won the stage as Thomas returned to the leader’s pink jersey, with Roglic left in damage limitation mode after being unable to follow. Thomas, who turns 37 on Thursday, leads Almeida by 18 seconds in GC with Roglic in third at 29”.

Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) is “rolling back the years” and showing form similar to when he won the Tour de France in 2018, according to Eurosport expert Robbie McEwen.

The Welshman soared into the maglia rosa on Stage 16 after finishing second behind Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) as the pair combined to expose cracks in Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma).

Although Almeida comfortably saw off Thomas in the sprint finale to take victory and maximum bonus seconds, it was the Ineos star who moved back into pink – two days shy of his 37th birthday.

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“It was rolling back the years for Geraint Thomas… from seeing him when he won the Tour de France, we haven’t seen that in a few years,” McEwen said on The Breakaway.

“But this season he’s looked a lot sharper, and has that extra couple of percentage points it takes to be competitive at the very top.”

Illness and injury blighted the start of his 2023 season with Thomas admitting to Eurosport he was not 100% heading into the Giro. But despite that, he looks the favourite to leave Italy draped in pink after a turbulent opening fortnight that saw Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) abandon due to Covid and Ineos co-leader Toa Geoghegan Hart fracture his hip in a crash.

On the final climb up Monte Bondone, Thomas chose to stalk Roglic, forcing the Slovenian's team-mate Sepp Kuss to close down an attack from Almeida.

“Geraint was trying to put pressure on Jumbo-Visma. I spoke to [Ineos DS] Oli Cookson this morning and he said ‘we need to put pressure on them’. And that’s why Geraint sat behind,” explained Adam Blythe at the finish.

“If Roglic wants to win this race he can’t just rely on Geraint which in my opinion he’s been doing a little bit this race, the whole team [Jumbo-Visma] has been reliant on Ineos.

“G came back and was like ‘if you’re not going to do it, let’s hit you’. It’s brilliant to see.”

Thomas leads Almeida by 18 seconds in the general classification with Roglic limiting his losses to sit 29 seconds back in third.

However, he has just four team-mates left in Italy after Pavel Sivakov followed Tao Geoghegan Hart and Filippo Ganna out of the race, leaving him thin with two big mountain tests still on the menu before a tough individual time trial.

“The way G is going, Ineos can sit back - 'If you want to bring the race to us, let’s go'," added Blythe. "They don’t really have to control, they can watch. It’s brilliant.”

Jumbo-Visma tactics questions

Jumbo-Visma tactics questioned on Stage 16, Roglic is ‘vulnerable’

Jumbo-Visma kept the breakaway on a leash throughout Tuesday’s stage as they looked to tee up Roglic for the stage win. But when Almeida attacked from a five-strong group of GC hopefuls, and then Thomas jumped across, Roglic could not respond.

“What I find really curious is that Jumbo-Visma ride with a team on the front for most of the day, looking to set up Primoz Roglic to start the GC battle. In the end, he couldn’t get the deal done,” said McEwen.

“He’s been saying to us ‘I’m not that well, I don’t feel that great’. However they [Jumbo-Visma chiefs] let the team ride all day – and then it's confirmed it’s not the Roglic we recognise and he gets dropped.

“Why on earth would you do all of that work? It’s almost like his team want to find out how bad or good he is!

“Now we know there’s a chink in the armour and that will probably embolden riders like Geraint Thomas and Joao Almeida to go on the attack at the very next opportunity.”

McEwen also highlighted a potential problem for Roglic, suggesting his right knee was kicking out an angle on the final climb – potentially a problem picked up in the crash that ended Geoghegan Hart’s race on Stage 11.

“He looked a bit crooked on the bike and that takes away some of your efficiency and power. I’ve never seen him like that before and points to someone carrying a slight injury. He’s vulnerable.”

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Stream the 2023 Giro d'Italia live and on-demand on discovery+ and eurosport.co.uk

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