Teams & Riders Geraint Thomas

[rick james]

Re:

Long live the new Team Sky king. Hopefully he will be captain next year aswell. But Brailsford worries me after his pro Froome interview today on Eurosport hardly mentioned Thomas.

what got said? you go a link?

 

[DanielSong39]

Must admit I was waiting for him to tank at some point to allow Froome to win
He must be thanking his lucky stars for Dumoulin (and Roglic), otherwise the other guy wins

 

[del1962]

Re: Re:

G to do Tour/Vuelta double now?

Let’s wait until after ITT

Depends on whether Tour/Vuelta was in the plans from the get go, and seeing as Bernal was originally gonna go there, I doubt Thomas was meant to do both.

In any case, Thomas has been in scintillating form since June, Vuelta turnover is short, he's never been the most consistent GC rider over longer periods, he'll probably drown in media attention, yadayadayada.

I highly doubt he'll go to the Vuelta, and even if he goes, I doubt he can top 5. I think the Worlds are a better target for him.

Don't think he should and don't think he will do Vuelta, almost certain he will do Tour of Britain, not sure as leader though.

 

[Tank Engine]

Re:

Dunno how strong the Welsh national sense is, but (by all accounts) the first Welsh Tour winner, and the first GT winner from the UK to actually be born in the UK.

The second Welsh winner of the Tour ..... after Nicole Cooke

 

[Tank Engine]

Re:

He started the final TT too fast and blew up on the final climb though. Small improvement point for the future

Or ... according to a post-race interview, he started off quickly, slid going into a corner and decided to play it conservatively and ensure that he would win the tour, rather than going for the stage win. He said that he felt really good today.

I've supported G for many years, so I'm now

In terms of the racing, G raced to win, was where he had to be each day. All the other GC contenders lost time due to mechanicals, crashes or in the TTT and so after his attack on Stage 11, he already had a defendable lead over everyone else. For that reason, and the strength of Sky, the racing could clearly have been better. G may well have been the strongest on the Alpe, but without the strength of the Sky team I think the racing in the last 2 Pyrenean stages would have been pretty much man on man between 3 riders of very similar strength.
I think stage 17 was a good idea which didn't quite work out due to Sky's strength. Stage 19 was good, but could have been great without Bernal (nothing against Bernal of course).

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yeah, he was strong regardless.

I found it interesting that referring to the pyrenees stages he said it was good for him Tom was his main adversary since he had the same style of riding and not the explosive attacks he doesn't like. He said without Dumoulin he would have probably closed down gaps in the same manner. Unwillingly Dumoulin became the extra Sky rider

 

[brownbobby]

Wouldn't have been my first choice but a fully deserving winner

Loved the post stage interview, genuine raw emotion and humility...none of it false. Great to see

 

[brownbobby]

Re: Re:

Long live the new Team Sky king. Hopefully he will be captain next year aswell. But Brailsford worries me after his pro Froome interview today on Eurosport hardly mentioned Thomas.

Of course Froome is still the big dog. He won three GTs in a row and just podiumed the fourth. If he hadn’t just won the Giro, he’d almost certainly have won this Tour. If Thomas was a less advanced age for a first time GT winner, he’d be seen as the next guy in line, Sky’s leader for a few years in between Froome and Bernal. But there’s no evidence Froome is slipping yet in his failure to do the impossible and Bernal is already on the cusp of being ready, so there just isn’t an interregnum in the team for a guy one year younger than Froome to fill.

If Thomas stays he will either target the Giro or get co-captain status at the Tour, with Froome as unofficial plan A. That’s what five years of racing dictate.

In that case it’s better to ride for another team and target the Tour. A team dedicated only for you and no booing.

I don't think so; for starters I don't think Thomas would be likely to win the Tour with anyone other than Team Sky.

Secondly, time isn't on his side for getting anywhere near record equalling 4 or 5 TDF's, so I think in terms of his legacy adding a Giro or Vuelta trophy to the cabinet would be just as atractive as maybe one more Tour.

Maybe even one of the monuments?

 

[Leinster]

Re: Re:

Long live the new Team Sky king. Hopefully he will be captain next year aswell. But Brailsford worries me after his pro Froome interview today on Eurosport hardly mentioned Thomas.

Of course Froome is still the big dog. He won three GTs in a row and just podiumed the fourth. If he hadn’t just won the Giro, he’d almost certainly have won this Tour. If Thomas was a less advanced age for a first time GT winner, he’d be seen as the next guy in line, Sky’s leader for a few years in between Froome and Bernal. But there’s no evidence Froome is slipping yet in his failure to do the impossible and Bernal is already on the cusp of being ready, so there just isn’t an interregnum in the team for a guy one year younger than Froome to fill.

If Thomas stays he will either target the Giro or get co-captain status at the Tour, with Froome as unofficial plan A. That’s what five years of racing dictate.

In that case it’s better to ride for another team and target the Tour. A team dedicated only for you and no booing.

I don't think so; for starters I don't think Thomas would be likely to win the Tour with anyone other than Team Sky.

Secondly, time isn't on his side for getting anywhere near record equalling 4 or 5 TDF's, so I think in terms of his legacy adding a Giro or Vuelta trophy to the cabinet would be just as atractive as maybe one more Tour.

Maybe even one of the monuments?

No way Thomas wins this Tour, or any other, riding for any other team than Sky. You just have to look at the record of other Sky Super Domestiques who've gone on to other teams; Porte and Landa for 2 examples will probably both watch G riding up and down the Champs in yellow tomorrow and think "$hit."

As this year's winner, G has earned the right to start next year's Tour a) wearing number 1 and b) as at least his team's co-leader, whoever that team may be. But at the same time, Froome has also earned the right down the years to be at least equal co-leader of Sky next year.

It would be amazing if Thomas were to go to Flanders or Roubaix next year, as reigning TdF champ. Better again were he to win.

 

[oldcrank]

SuperG set to join Kubler, Koblet, Hinault and our Brad,
but too bad the Tour no longer finishes on a velodrome.

 

[dastott]

Haven't seen winners' interviews like that before. Respect.

I wonder what next for G in 2018? Target World's in RR and/or TT? He would be among the favorites for either.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Froome has already ticked the boxes for the Vuelta and Giro, The prime ambition would be to join the 5 TDF club for both him and Sky
If G stays with Sky, he will either do the Giro Vuelta or Plan B at TDF. I think now he has anything left to prove w.r.t TDF. He should do the Giro Vuelta provided the parcours is to his strength or capitalize on the TDF success for more money. This might be his first and last TDF win
I am sure that Porte and Landa are feeling extremely envious after the win
Also Trek might be cursing themselves not waiting for him.

 

[Tank Engine]

Re:

Yeah, he was strong regardless.

I found it interesting that referring to the pyrenees stages he said it was good for him Tom was his main adversary since he had the same style of riding and not the explosive attacks he doesn't like. He said without Dumoulin he would have probably closed down gaps in the same manner. Unwillingly Dumoulin became the extra Sky rider

Exactly. After the Alpe d'Huez stage, I was wondering how Tom D could win this Tour. Tom seemed to think that he wouldn't gain time on both riders in the same stage. There have been criticisms of Tom for chasing Froome's attacks. I did think about the possibility of giving Froome some rope and then attacking G hard, so that the two Sky guys can't ride together. The obvious problem with this solution is that Tom D, just like G, is a diesel climber (also Bernal would have been a factor). In the end, Tom D dealt with Froome, but G reacted immediately to any move by Tom. In the Pyrenees, Tom was probably as strong as G, but had a weaker team, was not as fresh and to win had to break away from G. Given the circumstances, Tom rode a great race.

 

[maanderx]

Re:

Anyhow, since he's British and from Sky normal logic and progression doesn't apply. I guess he'll probably podium TDF ........

From 2013.

 

[Blanco]

Re:

Haven't seen winners' interviews like that before. Respect.

I wonder what next for G in 2018? Target World's in RR and/or TT? He would be among the favorites for either.

Yeah, he won so many races of similar type..

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re: Re:

Haven't seen winners' interviews like that before. Respect.

I wonder what next for G in 2018? Target World's in RR and/or TT? He would be among the favorites for either.

Yeah, he won so many races of similar type..

To be fair he wouldn’t have been far away in the Olympic RR had he not been caught out on that descent like some others were.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Nice progression btw:

2007 (140/141)
1 Alberto Contador Vlag van Spanje Spanje Discovery Channel 91u 00'26"
140 Geraint Thomas Vlag van Verenigd Koninkrijk Verenigd Koninkrijk Team Barloworld + 3u 46'51"

2010 (67/170)
1 Contador Alberto Astana 89:16:27
67 Thomas Geraint Sky Procycling 25 1:59:26

2011 (30/165)
1 Evans Cadel BMC Racing Team 200 500 86:12:22
30 Thomas Geraint Sky Procycling 50 1:00:48

2013 (140/169)
1 Froome Christopher Sky Procycling 200 500 83:56:40
140 Thomas Geraint Sky Procycling 25 3:43:34

2014 (22/164)
1 Nibali Vincenzo Astana Pro Team 200 500 89:59:06
22 Thomas Geraint Team Sky 90 59:14

2015 (15/160)
1 Froome Christopher Team Sky 200 500 84:46:14
15 Thomas Geraint Team Sky 16 150 31:39

2016 (15/174)
1 Froome Christopher Team Sky 200 1000 500 89:04:48
15 Thomas Geraint Team Sky 16 75 150 28:31

2017 DNF

2018 (1/145)
1 Thomas Geraint Team Sky 25 80:30:37

From 2nd last to 1st. What a journey!

 

[Scarponi]

Nice progression btw:

2007 (140/141)
1 Alberto Contador Vlag van Spanje Spanje Discovery Channel 91u 00'26"
140 Geraint Thomas Vlag van Verenigd Koninkrijk Verenigd Koninkrijk Team Barloworld + 3u 46'51"

2010 (67/170)
1 Contador Alberto Astana 89:16:27
67 Thomas Geraint Sky Procycling 25 1:59:26

2011 (30/165)
1 Evans Cadel BMC Racing Team 200 500 86:12:22
30 Thomas Geraint Sky Procycling 50 1:00:48

2013 (140/169)
1 Froome Christopher Sky Procycling 200 500 83:56:40
140 Thomas Geraint Sky Procycling 25 3:43:34

2014 (22/164)
1 Nibali Vincenzo Astana Pro Team 200 500 89:59:06
22 Thomas Geraint Team Sky 90 59:14

2015 (15/160)
1 Froome Christopher Team Sky 200 500 84:46:14
15 Thomas Geraint Team Sky 16 150 31:39

2016 (15/174)
1 Froome Christopher Team Sky 200 1000 500 89:04:48
15 Thomas Geraint Team Sky 16 75 150 28:31

2017 DNF

2018 (1/145)
1 Thomas Geraint Team Sky 25 80:30:37

From 2nd last to 1st. What a journey!

He skipped the breakout Veulta all riders of his caliber normally have

 

[Bardamu]

Was it in 2015 or 2016 that he rode in 4th place until a crash because of Barguil and that he lost 20+ minutes some days later? He already looked very strong that Tour.

 

[Singer01]

Re:

Was it in 2015 or 2016 that he rode in 4th place until a crash because of Barguil and that he lost 20+ minutes some days later? He already looked very strong that Tour.

That doesn't fit the narrative.

 

[Singer01]

Re: Re:

Haven't seen winners' interviews like that before. Respect.

I wonder what next for G in 2018? Target World's in RR and/or TT? He would be among the favorites for either.

Yeah, he won so many races of similar type..

He never won a 3 week grand tour before either.

 

[roundabout]

Re:

Was it in 2015 or 2016 that he rode in 4th place until a crash because of Barguil and that he lost 20+ minutes some days later? He already looked very strong that Tour.

He lost time 4 days after the crash and was not looking like he was in any way hindered in the 2 previous difficult stages.

 

[dastott]

Re, Innsbruck RR. Considering he has just won the Tour as the strongest climber with the best finish, and his decent one day pedigree, he would logically be among the favorites IF he can peak again. It’s quite far away though...

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

Was it in 2015 or 2016 that he rode in 4th place until a crash because of Barguil and that he lost 20+ minutes some days later? He already looked very strong that Tour.

He was 4th, helped a lot by a very anomalous day and then crashes from certain favourites. He was actually 6th when the crash happened, but moved up the next day after Bertie and TJ crashed. He lost time not as a result of the crash, which he was unharmed by, but totally running out of steam in the last few days. Still quite a big step up, though, from that to winning the Tour.

[quote="dastott":2pdx4kme]Haven't seen winners' interviews like that before. Respect.

I wonder what next for G in 2018? Target World's in RR and/or TT? He would be among the favorites for either.

Yeah, he won so many races of similar type.. [/quote]
Well, until two years ago he was considered a classics specialist, and he has done very well in a lot of one day races. Him winning the Worlds is a lot, and I mean a lot, more likely than him winning the Tour. And now he's won a Tour.

 

[rlntlssly]

Re:

Re, Innsbruck RR. Considering he has just won the Tour as the strongest climber with the best finish, and his decent one day pedigree, he would logically be among the favorites IF he can peak again. It’s quite far away though...

Yeah, strong climber, decent sprint, some idea of how to do one-day racing. He's pretty much the prototype for a course like this.

Nibali (health permitting), Valverde (form permitting), Martin, Wellens, Alaphilippe, maybe Van Avermaet -- it's an interesting field. An open race for once -- i.e. one where Sagan almost certainly can't win.