Thomas takes all these chances and prospects quite calmly – definitely a quality of age.
“I don’t feel a lot of pressure of expectation to be honest. I just want to take the opportunity. A lot of people have already written me off. But last year I taught them otherwise. This is my bonus round, so to speak. I just enjoy riding my bike. It’s also the case that it’s only when your career comes to an end that you realize how lucky you are to be able to earn a living by cycling. And you also realize that this won’t go on forever. And that’s why you want to make the most of it. That’s what I’m here for now.”
That’s a good attitude to go into the Giro. Because it is the craziest of the three big tours. The mountains are often the steepest because the organizers are looking for excess. Added to this is the weather, with cold snaps, rainfall and the associated falls. Some favorites have already been eliminated, partly because of falls, partly because of colds, partly also because of Covid.
Thomas benefits from a wealth of experience
Thomas has learned to deal with it. The Covid wave in the peloton doesn’t make him panic.
“I think we need to be more aware of what we were doing when Covid was here, 2020 and 2021. We were in our bubble, wearing masks. As a team, we’re going back to that strategy again. And if everyone else does the same then you can stop the failures because every driver who has to go home is a massive loss.”
He also has his wealth of experience in falls, especially at the Giro. In the rating of the strangest fall victims here, Thomas even ranks quite far ahead. For example at the ninth stage of the 2017 Giro:
“The police bike brings down the whole Sky Team. Geraint Thomas on the ground. He looks injured and I don’t know if he can continue this Giro d’Italia…”
The police motorcycle was parked at the side of the road. The Sky team around Geraint Thomas could no longer avoid it. Thomas fell and lost more than five minutes that day. He tormented himself for a few days at the Giro, then he got out, physically battered and mentally drained.
In 2020 he traveled to Italy with the merits of a Tour de France winner. And again he fell, even more curiously:
It was a colleague’s drinking bottle that Thomas fell over. He lost more than twelve minutes that day. The next day he stopped playing. X-rays showed a fractured pelvis. The hard-boiled Welshman had nevertheless driven up to the finish line on the Etna volcano.
Peace and serenity in the Ineos team
Teammate Tao Geoghegan Hart finally won the 2020 Giro. In turn, he fell during this Giro and has already been eliminated. That’s why old master Thomas is the boss of the British racing team Ineos. He leads there with maturity, calmness and enjoyment of the job.
“The Giro is just beautiful. I had to come out with falls the last two times so I wanted to come back too. The third time might bring luck. I want to at least finish the race and enjoy it. And then of course see what I can achieve.”
Calm and serenity is currently the first racing team duty at Team Ineos. It used to be very different. When the racing team was still called Sky and dominated the grand tours, the will to win was pure. Everything had to be perfect. Marginal gains, the sum of minimal advantages, was the motto. In the meantime, however, the riders who have the talent for a Tour de France victory are under contract with other racing teams.
And Team Ineos looks more like an old rock band, with the experience of countless gigs in smoky bars. The role of backstage manager is held by Rod Ellingworth. The new racing boss grew up at pub races organized by his father. He himself wanted to be a firefighter for a long time before he finally embarked on a coaching career. He is also a model of serenity.
“At the Giro you never really know what’s going to happen. That’s why you have to keep your feet on the ground, take what you can get, and just work hard every day. That’s all you can do. And above all, don’t get too euphoric. That’s what I would say.”
Last big race in pink
Don’t get too euphoric, don’t overdo it, use your strength sparingly. After a few days of glory in the pink jersey, Thomas took the first opportunity to get rid of the jersey and thus be able to take it easy on his teammates. They let an escape group pull away for more than 20 minutes. Thomas defended this as a good decision.
He wants pink especially at the end of the race, which will probably be the last big tour of his career. He has now found his peace with the Giro, although he used to be plagued by bad luck here. A cycling history with many lows is coming to a mild end.