"I’d love to help to bring this team back to where it deserves to be" - Is Geraint Thomas going to be INEOS Grenadiers' saviour?

Geraint Thomas is going to retire from pro cycling at the end of this year but he is not saying goodbye to the pro scene. He is set to remain at INEOS Grenadiers in a management role but not just that, he has very ambitious and strong words regarding what he wants to do with the team.

“I definitely want to stay in the sport. I’m speaking to the team now. Obviously Dave [Brailsford] is back, he’s a lot more involved so I’m pretty sure I’ll have a role within the team," Thomas said in an interview with Vive le Vélo. "I’d love to help to bring this team back to where it deserves to be.”

Thomas, a former Tour de France winner - and rider who helped the team to obtain many other Grand Tours - was part of 'Team Sky's' golden years and does not shy away from the fact that the team has not matched the evolution of other top teams in the sport.

In his words Thomas directly adressed that and said that he wants to help the team get back to the very top. In the 2020's the team has struggled to obtain top results in the Grand Tours (he himself was one of the best performers), but the current Tour de France is a good example of the struggle as Carlos Rodríguez entered stage 14 outside the Top10.

Thomas, one of the peloton's veterans, believes experienced riders (and future staff member) are necessary to guide an ever-younger team, now with several riders coming even straight from the junior ranks, who need a lot of guidance into the life of a pro cyclist.

“There used to be bigger riders, senior riders in the peloton who kept a bit of order, Bit but now it feels like it’s a game of chicken into every corner, every roundabout. I jokingly said the other day, even the Mafia have rules…”

The Welshman also responded to what was the biggest disappointment of his career, to which he replied the 2023 Giro where he entered the final competitive stage in the pink jersey but lost it to Primoz Roglic.

“Obviously, there’s disappointments along the way, like the Giro in 2023, when I lost it on the last day, by 14 seconds to Roglic in the time trial.” Thomas said. “But if coming second in the Giro by 14 seconds is the biggest hurt and gripe in my life, that’s not a bad life, is it," he concluded.