Geraint Thomas on return to cycling and season ahead after illness - 'It's been stop-start since December'

Published 21/03/2023 at 13:33 GMT

Former Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas says his mind is on getting some racing in his legs this week as he made his return to cycling after two months out due to illness. Thomas is competing at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya this week, having suffered with a suspected infection over the last two months. He is targeting the Giro d’Italia, which takes place from May 6 to May 28 on Eurosport.

'We've got a strong team' - Thomas on his and Ineos' goals for Giro d'Italia

Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) has admitted he has had a “stop-start” season so far after being forced to pull out of multiple races due to illness.

Thomas suffered an infection in January at the Tour Down Under and subsequently missed the Volta ao Algarve and Tirreno-Adriatico.

He made his return on Monday at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, which forms part of his preparations for the Giro d’Italia in May - one of the three Grand Tours that will be live on Eurosport and discovery+.

Giro d'Italia

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“I’m happy to be back and looking forward to a big week,” Thomas told Eurosport.

“It’s been stop-start since the December training camp. It’s just all about working hard now. I’ll go to altitude after this.

“There is still quite a bit of time until the Giro, plus the last week of the Giro is certainly hard, so we will take it as it comes.”

Thomas has had a disappointing run at the Giro after crashing out in his last two appearances in 2017 and 2020.

The opening Grand Tour of the year is not on his mind, though, as he simply looks to get some racing under his belt.

“[This week is] just about working hard, getting a good workload in and getting some racing in the legs,” he said. “Yesterday was a bit of shock to the system but I kind of expected that.

“At the moment it’s still about racing as best as I can and I’ll think about the Giro afterwards. I’ll worry about this week first, then worry about the rest of the year after that.”

Dave Brailsford was made director of sport for the Ineos Group in 2021 and appears to be focusing more on football with his role at Ligue 1 side Nice.

Brailsford has overseen the team’s rise to the top of cycling, when they were Team Sky before becoming Ineos Grenadiers, with the trio of Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Thomas winning the Tour de France six times between 2012 and 2018.

Asked about whether there have been any changes inside the team, Thomas answered: “It hasn’t changed too much, just the fact I’ve got a bit older and we have a lot of young riders now.

"We have a strong team for the Giro and will go all-in there and see what we can do there.

“Rod [Ellingworth] is the general deputy manager, so to speak, and Dave is still there in the background. Not much has changed really.”

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Stream the 2023 cycling season, including the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, live and on-demand on discovery+, the Eurosport app and eurosport.co.uk

Giro d'Italia