The show goes on 👌 That's right, you've got me for another two years 🤣 @INEOSGrenadiers has always been my second home and I'm still loving racing my bike so I never thought about doing anything else. Now to decide what to race next season... 👀
"Pogacar is one-of-a-kind. I think he’s the best of them all" - Geraint Thomas compares cycling's elite new guard
CyclingFriday, 27 October 2023 at 09:59
Now aged 37, Geraint Thomas can be considered one of the peloton's elder statesman. Having been in and around the biggest races for over 15 years though, he's seen a lot of development and change within the men competing for Grand Tour success.
The supposed new guard of cycling are the likes of Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel and whilst Thomas has shown he can still compete with these, finishing third at the 2022 Tour de France and second at the Giro d'Italia earlier this year, the Welshman is in awe of their qualities. “Froomy (Chris Froome ed.) was also a special guy. But Pogacar is one-of-a-kind. I think he’s the best of them all because he’s so diverse," says Thomas, lauding praise on the Slovenian in conversation with The Guardian.
But why does Pogacar stand out to Thomas, compared to two-time, back-to-back Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard and former Vuelta a Espana winner and two-time Rainbow Jersey wearer Remco Evenepoel. "He can do it all, from one-day racing to the Grand Tours," Thomas explains. "All three are outstanding and it’s a privilege to be racing with them and competing against them to an extent.”
Having recently signed a two-year contract extension with the INEOS Grenadiers, Thomas is showing no signs of letting up. “In one of my first pro races I was riding with Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich," he recalls. "I went on to race Fabian Cancellara in the Classics and Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali in the Grand Tours. I’ve raced with some big guys.”
Nevertheless, he realises he's fighting a losing battle in an attempt to continually compete against the next generation. "I have periods where I go 100% but then I have time where I completely switch off, I don’t even think of cycling and I eat and drink whatever," he concludes. "They have a different mentality now. They’re constantly thinking about biking. You can’t do that for 20 years as it’s pretty intense. They’re going to have shorter careers while I am happy to keep going a little while longer.”
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- Oh Lordspock12319-12-2024
- Interesting suggestion, fo you think testing Tadej’s (or Bolts’ or so many others’) parents would have given us a preview of his potential then or what criteria do you have to pick parents with?Mistermaumau19-12-2024
- Even amateur teams suffer this sort. But this is also largely due to the precarious sponsorship, in very few sports do you find kit with so many sponsors having to be integrated and changing so regularly.Mistermaumau19-12-2024
- I think it’s pretty obvious what was responsible for destroying interest that used to be there.Mistermaumau19-12-2024
- This has been stated repeatedly, MVDP for CX, road and if it already counts, gravel. Lavreysen for track. I expect as a cycling fan you’ve heard of them?Mistermaumau19-12-2024
- The same thing was said when Tadej announced that he would ride the Giro: "he goes to Il Giro because he knows he can't win the Tour". Always negative speculations. Maybe Primoz, near to the final of his career, simply wants to try this experience.
maria2024202419-12-2024 - If Valentino Rossi could never win during his period of dominance, and massive personality, then Pogacar not winning isn't a massive surprise. Cycling isn't a Premier League global sport......only one event reaches the mainstream every year - and that's not good enough.wipperman9519-12-2024
- I don't think it's only a British thing; the biggest talents aren't usually drawn to CX. Where are all the top Italian, French, Spanish, Slovenian CX riders? Apart from Belgium, and Netherlands, it's not really a target for up and coming cyclists - as there's no career unless you move to Belgium. Other countries can't support a proper professional series, like an international sport should be able to do. Lets not forget, since 2016, British riders have won plenty of World championships; with Pidcock, Richards, Tulett & Backstedt all winning more than one..... And, there was a time when Belgium didn't rule the roost in CX; that was Switzerland, but since the advent of XC MTB, their top off-road talents race there instead of CX - and the 2nd raters not good enough for XC MTB, race CX.wipperman9519-12-2024
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- What super dutch talent are we talking about?awp18-12-2024