Geraint Thomas looking forward to battle with Tadej Pogacar: "He is one of the strongest riders ever and it will be a great challenge"

INEOS Grenadiers come to the Giro d'Italia stacked; with a lineup including great climbers, a lot of experience and a very well rounded team led by Geraint Thomas who looks to make good use out of all these resources to counter the expected dominance of Tadej Pogacar.

“I don't think I'll start out beaten, otherwise I wouldn't be here. There's a lot of pressure, it's a different race compared to last year because we have a big favorite in Tadej Pogacar and we'll do everything we can to counter it," Thomas said in a press conference ahead of the race. "He is one of the strongest riders ever and it will be a great challenge, but the Giro is always full of dangers, there are also factors such as luck and bad luck."

Thomas is familiar with bad luck, but in both 2022 and 2023 he found his very best form at the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia respectively and finished on the podium of both. Despite being in his late 30's, his performance hasn't gone down one bit, and he followed a program such as the 2023 one ahead of the Giro which he hopes to see him reach peak form once again. Besides that, he believes the route is good for him.

"I like this route because there are so many timed kilometers," he tells. "Every Grand Tour is difficult, although maybe the climbs come at the beginning as in this case, and perhaps having these climbs at the beginning will take away a bit of the chaos that was there when the first weeks of the grand tours were full of flat stages . But in the end I don't think it will make much difference because in the Giro it's always about going fast at the end."

Thymen Arensman and Tobias Foss will be among the ones backing him in the mountains; whilst he can also count of brilliant rouleurs and classics specialists Filippo Ganna, Magnus Sheffield and Jhonatan Narváez to try and surprise or at least not be in loss against Pogacar in the more explosive days - including the gravel stage, a very dangerous day for the overall classification contenders.

“It was a start to the season in which I didn't race a lot. But I could see how there is a good atmosphere in the team, there are young and promising guys like Magnus Sheffield who is here next to me. This year I almost felt stronger in training but every year is different and the results always change," he concludes.