"He's not going to lay down and let his belly get tickled" - Geraint Thomas won't settle for podium at Giro d'Italia according to Luke Rowe

After his second-place finish last year at the Giro d'Italia, the second spot on the podium looks realistically like the best Geraint Thomas can hope for again in 2024. According to podcast partner, teammate and great friend Luke Rowe however, the INEOS Grenadiers leader won't give up without a fight.

Sitting third overall ahead of stage 11, 2:58 down on runaway leader, Tadej Pogacar, Thomas is just 18 seconds behind Daniel Martinez. According to Rowe however, the Maglia Rosa isn't yet guaranteed to finish on Pogacar's shoulders. "You can only look at previous Grand Tours. Has he had some bad days? Yes, he has," Rowe tells Eurosport. "At the end of the day, he's got two legs and two arms like everyone else in the peloton. And talking from an INEOS standpoint, you've just got to keep believing, keep chipping away at it."

Although Thomas has been solid without being spectacular so far, Rowe believes it's his compatriot's consistency that will benefit him most by the time the race reaches Rome. "Geraint is very consistent over 21 days. I think his worst day of this Grand Tour was the time trial and he finished 10th," the Welshman explains. "He needs to stay consistent. I don't think he has to do anything over the top, go for a Hail Mary… [although] I think he might do at one point. He's not a guy who is going to settle for second. He's won the Tour de France, so if at the end of his career he also has [another] second place [in the Giro] it's not going to change a lot."

"Geraint Thomas is still trying to win the Giro," Rowe concludes firmly but optimistically about his friend's chances of Maglia Rosa glory. "He's not going to lay down and let his belly get tickled, he's there to win the bike race."