Geraint Thomas to skip classics season citing poor form

The British rider had signed a new contract with INEOS Grenadiers but entered it with ambitions different then the ones he has had for the last few years, which have seen him turn into a Tour de France winner. In 2022, Thomas was eyeing a return to the cobbled classics, but he has now had a change of plans because of a rough start to the year.

“A decision with a heavy heart, but due to an injury this winter, my condition isn't good enough for the cobbled Classics. I only want to ride there if I'm good enough," Thomas said in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws. “Hopefully I’ll just get some consistency, that’s the key for me now."

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“For the last five or six years a Grand Tour has been my main focus but this year, not so much. It’s still an important part of the year but I’m not thinking Tour, Tour, Tour. I’m thinking about going to races and trying to take what I can from it. I want to be more aggressive and race for stages, maybe help the team on GC or go for GC myself, but I don’t class myself as GC now," Thomas added, speaking to VeloNews.

After an off-season where he had to deal with injury, Geraint Thomas started his 2022 campaign at the Volta ao Algarve in support of his teammates. Whilst Tom Pidcock returned from a break after a successful cyclocross season, Thomas wasn't the only one looking to just get racing kilometers in the legs, he nevertheless worked towards his team in the second stage to Alto da Fóia and showed competitive ability. Ineos finished the race with Hayter in fourth place and Daniel Martínez in third, but didn't manage to take a stage win.

He completed: “It’s more about how I approach races, and how I ride in them really. I’ll still train as hard as ever and be as successful as I can in those races but it’s not the be-all and end-all.” Thomas is set to return to competition at Tirreno-Adriatico next month, where he will have an idea of how his form is evolving after a less good start of the season.