Geraint Thomas considering riding Giro d’Italia in 2020 with Team Ineos’ Tour de France plans unclear
Ineos have the last three Tour de France winners at their disposal but Thomas may opt to ride the Giro instead
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Your support makes all the difference.Geraint Thomas is considering riding the Giro d’Italia in 2020 with Team Ineos’ Tour de France plans unclear.
The Welshman finished second in this year’s Tour de France after claiming the yellow jersey last year.
But with team mate Egan Bernal surely keen to defend his crown next summer, and Chris Froome seeking a fifth win in the three-week race in France, Thomas has suggested he is open to leading Team Ineos’ team at the Giro d’Italia instead.
“I’m going to wait at least until I see the courses, the routes for the Giro and the Tour and then go from there,” Thomas said.
“You’d think Egan would want to ride (the Tour) again, obviously, being the defending champ. Froomey, it’s his big goal, he wants to win five.
“I’m definitely not going to make a call until at least December training camp, sit down with the team. Obviously, we’ll be chatting to them before that anyway, but maybe make a call around then really.
“Even if I did the Giro, it would still certainly excite me and get me out of bed in the morning.”
Thomas previously lead the team then known as Team Sky at the 2017 Giro, but had his hopes of overall victory ended after a crash involving a police motorcycle.
Ineos find themselves in the curious position of having the last three Tour de France winners at their disposal.
And they may have to deploy all three in combination to ward off the challenge of Team Jumbo-Visma.
The Dutch team have added Tom Dumoulin for next season, meaning they may have two Grand Tour winners in their team for the Tour de France, with 2019 Vuelta a Espana champion Primoz Roglic likely to also be in the mix for the yellow jersey.
Jumbo-Visma’s Steven Kruijswijk was Thomas and Bernal’s closest challenger this summer, finishing third.
Ineos have also strengthened, though, with Richard Carapaz (winner of this year’s Giro) recruited from Movistar.
Thomas thinks that a three-pronged attack may be too much, and believes the team should stick with the two leader approach that has served them so well in the last two years.
“I think two does work and has worked for the last two years,” he said.
“As long as we keep that same philosophy. I’ll look at both the routes and see what motivates me and see what the other guys are thinking as well. And then just go from there.”
Ineos could, therefore, conceivably pair Carapaz and Thomas for the Giro and then Froome and Bernal in France.
Froome will make his return from a number of injuries suffered in a crash in June in Japan next month.
Thomas is pleased to see his team mate back fit.
“It’s great to see him back,” he said.
“I haven’t spoke to him recently. I had a missed call from him yesterday. But it’s great to see him back on the bike, just to be there and racing at Saitama, just to be riding around with those guys.”
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