The pace went up in the ascent to Bergamo Alta this Sunday with João Almeida putting up a strong pace, Thomas also hit the front in the descent but between the contenders only a couple of seconds were seen at the finish line. It was, like every other stage this week, a matter of saving legs for the Welshman. He finishes it in second place, with INEOS having given away the race lead to Bruno Armirail on stage 14 who took over 20 whole minutes on the peloton.
He however won't remain in pink when the race explodes, Thomas continues to be the leading figure within the GC contenders, but only 2 seconds ahead of Primoz Roglic. "To be in front of the main rivals is certainly a nice bonus. There's also team dynamics and how people are feeling. Yesterday (stage 14, ed.) I didn't want to burn all the team to keep the jersey. It's not just about me, we need the team to set me up, so we've all got to get into the last week as best as possible."
Without Tao Geoghegan Hart and Filippo Ganna, and Pavel Sivakov injured from several crashes, INEOS don't have the depth they started the race with. Nevertheless Laurens de Plus has been riding a terrific race in support of his leaders and Thymen Arensman is finally coming to good form, the team remains very strong. Primoz Roglic said he expected attacks on stage 15 but remained solely on the wheels, Thomas wonders the lack of aggression from the Slovenian.
"I'm surprised by it but who knows why? Maybe he's learnt a lesson from the last time he did the Giro. He went at it quite early and died off. Maybe he's suffering a bit with the crashes. It's one to ask him," Thomas commented. "Someone will have to attack sooner or later. I think the real GC battle will finally begin on Tuesday on Monte Bondone."
The final week of racing begins this Tuesday and the summit finish to Monte Bondone is likely to be the stage for the first real mountain battle between Thomas, Roglic and João Almeida who also closely tracks behind them. Stages 18, 19 and 20 will all be territory where gaps can be created. "Everyone is waiting for a number of reasons. One, as we saw today, is that the leaders are scared of being isolated without any teammates on the key climbs."
"The weather is also a factor. Saturday it was pouring with rain and 5°C at the summit of the Passo del Sempione (Simplonpass, ed.), today it was 25°C. Then, most importantly, everyone knows the final week is incredibly hard. We just have to wait a little bit longer to see the Giro d'Italia explode but I'm convinced it will be worth the wait," he concluded.
