26/05/2024

"This might be the last time I race for GC" - Geraint Thomas honest about future after securing Giro d'Italia podium on 38th birthday

With 20 Grand Tours now under his belt since making his debut all the way back at the 2007 Tour de France, the now 38-year-old Geraint Thomas has secured the fifth podium of his career at the 2024 Giro d'Italia. The Welshman knows though, he can't continue challenging for much longer.

“I think this might be the last time I race for GC [general classification],” says the former Tour de France winner to BBC Sport Wales, having previously reiterated his plans to call time on his career at the end of the 2025 season, when his current INEOS Grenadiers contract expires. “But I’ve been saying that for a few years now and I’m still racing so who knows!"

"It's insane how talented he is" - Geraint Thomas lauds Tadej Pogacar as the best he's ever raced with

Having come within 14 seconds of the Maglia Rosa winner Primoz Roglic in 2023, Thomas was a lot further off this time around, finishing 3rd overall, 10:24 down on the dominant victor, Tadej Pogacar. "Certainly, I have to savour these moments now. I could retire in Rome tomorrow to be honest, but I’ve still got another year and a half left and I am enjoying it," he continues. “When you know the end is coming, you appreciate what you’re doing more because you know you’re privileged to do what we do.”

“Tadej’s just a different level and then it was a big fight for second and third,” reflects the Welshman. “I’m happy to get third. I was gunning for second, rode as best I could and gave everything every day, which is all I can ask for. A lot of people have talked about my age for a few years now and I’ve just thought ‘Nah, it’s an old cliche, it’s just a number’ but it really is. If you really commit to something and your mind is right, you can do it for a long time. But I’m feeling every one of those years at the minute! It’s been a long old three weeks.”

With plans to return to the Tour de France in just over a month and hopes of competing at the Olympic Games again later this summer, the double Olympic gold medalist still has plenty of goals left to achieve before he does eventually hang up his cycling shoes.