Geraint Thomas to back INEOS Grenadiers' goals for 2024 Tour de France: "Win some stages, and perform in the GC obviously"

At 38 years of age, Geraint Thomas will for the first time in his career start the Tour de France after having completed the Giro d'Italia. It is a new challenge in the career of the veteran who has won this race in the past, but starts off in a domestique role this time around.

"I'm super excited to be here. I missed it last year, doing a different program. I did miss it. It's the biggest bike race in the world. To be here with these guys, looking to be aggressive in the right ways, try and win some stages, and perform in the GC obviously, it's exciting for me and what I dreamed of as a kid," Thomas said ahead of the race in a press conference, in words collected by CyclingWeekly. "I think I'll get the opportunity to go for a stage, but I think that can also benefit the guys riding GC as well."

Thomas, like in 2023, raced the Giro d'Italia, achieving the perfect preparation plan that landed him twice on the podium. This time around however, he started putting in the work soon after arriving in Rome, so as to have strong form ahead of the Tour where he will be supporting riders such as Carlos Rodríguez and Egan Bernal. "I definitely did some good work. Whether I did too much or not enough, I won't know until we get going here. To this point, I've done everything I can to be in the best shape and help the guys."

He himself could be a weapon to use for INEOS Grenadiers, if he reaches strong form into what is a mountainous race. "Potentially, I could be up the road and not necessarily have the legs for the stage, but then you're up the road to help in other ways, you know? I think the two can work well together," he continues. "Let's be honest, there are other teams that have more of a weight to take of the race than us, and bigger favourites. I think we can race differently as well. It's not like we're going to just pull on the front one by one until there's one guy left, because that's just not going to happen."

With UAE Team Emirates and Team Visma | Lease a Bike taking on lead roles at this year's race, INEOS can sit in the wheels whilst the two main teams battle, saving their weapons which also include Tom Pidcock and Laurens de Plus who was fifth at the Criterium du Dauphiné. An interesting team with lots of quality, experience, and Thomas who will be eager to start his 13th Grand Boucle.

"I'll just be focused on the race and what we've got to do, to be honest. I think I’ll look back once it's all done. In the back of my mind, yeah, it could be my last, but I'm not thinking about that," he concluded.