"I would have preferred him not to come but at the same time having him is fantastic" - Geraint Thomas excited about fighting with Tadej Pogacar at the Giro-Tour double
Cycling
Following the example of his younger opponent Tadej Pogacar, Geraint Thomas will also rise up to the challenge of completing both the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, possibly fighting for the highest ranks with the Slovenian.
But even just to face off against Pogacar is a huge motivation for the 37-year-old Ineos Grenadiers rider, he tells La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"It's Pogacar and I would have preferred him not to come, but at the same time having him is fantastic," he said. "Him taking part changes the race and his team will carry the weight of the race, but in the years to come he'll leave a huge legacy as one of the greatest ever. He's incredible, so just to be competitive with him and fight for the same thing is exciting."
"It's simply a huge challenge to be at my best for so long, and I've never done it before, but I like these new things," Thomas said about the Giro-Tour double he's planning this year. "They're the things that give meaning to your being as a rider."
"I thought, 'What do I have to lose?' I'll go to the Giro, get the best result there, then go to the Tour in the best possible shape," he said. "If it means racing for myself or helping Carlos Rodríguez in the mountains or on the flat, I still don't know, but that's also part of the fun."
"Sepp Kuss did three Grand Tours last year, which was an incredible job. The period between the Giro and the Tour will be important and then the road race at the Olympics is also in my thoughts."
"At the end of the day, so many things can happen, both good and bad, and I certainly know something about that," he concluded, referring to the Monte Lussari time trial last year. "We'll see. I'm enjoying the challenge."
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- yeah, that’s a more fair assessment. “reaching mathieu’s level” doesn’t mean you’re planning to replicate his whole career. the former IS doable, potentially. it’s just the latter that likely is not.OCexile25-12-2024
- That’s not entirely true. Every person follows their own development path and peaks differently. Remco and Primoz had hardly started cycling before elite level. Jonas was pretty much under the radzr until he unexpectedly had to take over responsibility at JV. Some guys only get real good in their thirties others have peaked mid-twenties. You can’t tell in advance how and upto what level they will progress, obviously his career might not have MVDPs length but nothing says he could not end up doing a few seasons at his level.Mistermaumau25-12-2024
- well, del grosso is 21 right now. when mathieu was a year younger than that, he was already winning elite level world championships, not U23. i think del grosso will be a very good pro for years, but if he was really going to be the next van der poel someday, he’d already have to be at that level right NOW. van der poel was showing signs of true greatness when he was 15-16. THAT’S what generational talent looks like.OCexile25-12-2024
- Yeah.... gear 😅.mikolajjj24-12-2024
- It shouldn’t be about expectations in the first place should it? Besides, if you look at everyone’s calculations as a whole they don’t add up in the first place. There’ll be 2-3 riders with a 50% chance, a dozen with 10 or 20% and dozens more with a 5% so we’re expecting at least 2 if not 3 winners. Remind me again who won before her? Says it all about using data to decide on participation.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- Ok, happy I’m not too interested in this team coz’ the account of what happened is really hard to follow.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- The UCI is worse than USA CyclingVeganpotter24-12-2024
- It's not like they wanted her to not win😅 She had an outstanding Olympics. But there's a reason why she wasn't expected to win the road race and that's ok. Things like this happen and it's great...better than seeing expected winners win.Veganpotter24-12-2024
- Bruyneel ? The man with a lifetime ban from cycling...why do you keep giving him and his doper mate, Armstrong, a platform?DJ24-12-2024
- yeah, agree. on the subject of being a “complete rider,” i do think that’s getting more interesting. mathieu seems to have decided he wants to get much better at climbing the the high mountain passes. he appears to be looking for new challenges, which should be interesting to watch. in most cases you’d dismiss a goal like that at age 30, but it’s mvdp. he’s never going to climb with the real climbers, but if he can improve enough it could open up stage wins when the parcours isnt just purely toothy and punchy.OCexile24-12-2024