Almost a yr after dropping 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 usually 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. Properly, I’ve actually simply had a extra constant preparation,” stated Thomas on the pre-Tour of the Alps press convention in Neumarkt/Egna.
“Final yr I had a problem with a urine an infection from Christmas which saved me on and off the bike till we discovered the actual reason behind 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 trip for the Welshman with solely 13 race days, however Thomas is raring to get caught into competitors after a lot of time at altitude within the Sierra Nevada.
“I’m actually wanting ahead to racing right here, it’s very best for the Giro,” Thomas stated, “And I’m excited to race now as a result of you possibly can prepare all you need, but it surely’s good to race.”
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5 powerful days of racing across the hills and mountains within the South Tyrol area begin in the present day from Egna with Thomas seeing all of the levels as prospects for GC motion alongside the powerful queen stage 4 from Laives to Borgo Valsugana.
“I must be able to hit the bottom operating, I feel it is all the time gonna be an excellent 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. Simply excited to get caught in.”
Thomas isn’t the one robust GC hopeful getting ready for the Giro d’Italia on the Tour of the Alps, with Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Hugh Carthy (EF Schooling EasyPost), Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Filippo Zana (Jayco AlUla) and Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) additionally right here.
Final yr’s winner Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek) isn’t current, nonetheless, and Thomas sees it as a really open competitors within the absence of the most effective climbing superstars Tadej Pogačar (UAE Workforce Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
“I simply suppose it is open, numerous good guys right here, robust groups. Will probably be an excellent arduous race to win and hopefully gratifying,” he stated.
“With out the so-called huge – nonetheless 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 away from bed day by day” and protecting issues thrilling in his 18th yr.
“To be sincere, I simply needed to do one thing completely different because it’s my 18th yr as knowledgeable and I must hold mixing it up a bit to maintain the enjoyment and simply one thing to maintain me on my toes, moderately than simply getting a bit monotonous,” Thomas stated of the double try which can see him tackle Pogačar at each.
“It is a actually huge purpose and I feel to be at my greatest in each is a tricky problem so we’ll see the way it goes.
“Initially of the yr, I believed 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 need to try to maintain onto that til July, and I feel Tom Pidcok may need gained Amstel – sound, that’s an excellent end result.”
