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Teams & Riders Geraint Thomas

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Now I haven't really followed his preparation very well so I don't know why his shape isn't there, but if it was indeed a lack of motivation and not hard enough training, I struggle to see him reaching top shape for the giro. People are right he managed to get in shape for the giro before but that was before he ever won the tour. That was when he still had to prove he could even be a gt contender to get more leadership roles for the future. That has changed. Thomas is now a tour de france winner and if he wasn't motivated enough for the tour he won't be for the giro.

On another note, I also don't really see how the giro route suits him perfeclty, as some here suggest. Sure, there is a decent amount of time trialing but did anyone look at the rest of that route? That thing is f*cking brutal. If you don't bring your top climbing game you might as well not start.

Anyway, I've written it in another thread already, Thomas could absolutely win the giro if he can reach peak shape, but I'm just really not convinced he will.
 
Now I haven't really followed his preparation very well so I don't know why his shape isn't there, but if it was indeed a lack of motivation and not hard enough training, I struggle to see him reaching top shape for the giro. People are right he managed to get in shape for the giro before but that was before he ever won the tour. That was when he still had to prove he could even be a gt contender to get more leadership roles for the future. That has changed. Thomas is now a tour de france winner and if he wasn't motivated enough for the tour he won't be for the giro.

On another note, I also don't really see how the giro route suits him perfeclty, as some here suggest. Sure, there is a decent amount of time trialing but did anyone look at the rest of that route? That thing is f*cking brutal. If you don't bring your top climbing game you might as well not start.

Anyway, I've written it in another thread already, Thomas could absolutely win the giro if he can reach peak shape, but I'm just really not convinced he will.
He could barely scrape together form to salvage a podium in the final weak of the Tour last year. Also, when he did the Giro in 2017, he abandoned it first exit after crashing out of GT contention, whereas Landa stuck around to make something of that race.
 
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He could barely scrape together form to salvage a podium in the final weak of the Tour last year. Also, when he did the Giro in 2017, he abandoned it first exit after crashing out of GT contention, whereas Landa stuck around to make something of that race.

You know he managed to be second in the ITT after his crash, after which his injuries apparently worsened.

Also, saying that just because Landa could continue after crashing, and that would also mean that G automatically should be able to do that is a really, really poor argument... Almost as poor as that guy a few weeks back who said Contador was a better climber than Froome (or whatever it was) by saying that he had a faster time up a climb than Froome had up a different climb.
 
It's lame to compare Thomas and Landa in any way. Landa's got some job to do to grab #1 and #2 in tour and some olympic gold to begin with..
No, it's not lame at all. I don't see Thomas being much better than Landa. Apart from that Giro #3 (which should be at least #2, courtesy of Martinelli), Mikel Landa directly was involved in winning 3 GT titles (Vuelta 2015, Tour 2017 and Giro 2019), and I would go that far and say that without him those titles wouldn't had been won.
 
No, it's not lame at all. I don't see Thomas being much better than Landa. Apart from that Giro #3 (which should be at least #2, courtesy of Martinelli), Mikel Landa directly was involved in winning 3 GT titles (Vuelta 2015, Tour 2017 and Giro 2019), and I would go that far and say that without him those titles wouldn't had been won.

And Thomas wasn't involved in the Tour 2015 where he was 4th on GC after 19 stages?

Also, he finished the 2013 Tour with a broken pelvis tgat he sustained in a crash on stage 1 (not exactly something to do with your point but more with Red Rick's easy exit nonsense). He is not a softie.
 
Long-time Geraint fan, but objectively he's probably overperformed at the Tour considering his all-round profile and perhaps lack of killer instinct... With his age and the team having Bernal, Carapaz and Sivakov for the big stage races, maybe use the unique timing of this year to his opportunity - there's still 2 months until the 'spring' Classics, go up there and have a free hit at GW, RVV and PR. If it goes well then it it's something to build on to and aim for a Monument in the last few years of his career. If it doesn't go well then nothing major lost, take a few weeks off and get back into Grand Tour super-dom training mode.
 
That third week of the Giro is brutal, but there is always a strong chance that some of that will be cancelled due to weather. And as the field currently stands, Thomas probably has a better chance than Wiggins....well, I'd much rather be going up against old Nibali than against peak Nibali.
 
And Thomas wasn't involved in the Tour 2015 where he was 4th on GC after 19 stages?

Also, he finished the 2013 Tour with a broken pelvis tgat he sustained in a crash on stage 1 (not exactly something to do with your point but more with Red Rick's easy exit nonsense). He is not a softie.
Yeah but he wants to be at the Tour, not the Giro. It more evidence to my point than the contrary really.

You don't get 2nd in a hard 50 minute ITT and then suddenly you're completely unable to finish races. Unless you want to tell me that ITT was already a sign how hurt he was and he woulda shoulda coulda beaten Dumoulin there. Wasn't the first time a Sky leader took the easy way out of a Giro to be a domestique at the Tour again.
 
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Yeah but he wants to be at the Tour, not the Giro. It more evidence to my point than the contrary really.

You don't get 2nd in a hard 50 minute ITT and then suddenly you're completely unable to finish races. Unless you want to tell me that ITT was already a sign how hurt he was and he woulda shoulda coulda beaten Dumoulin there. Wasn't the first time a Sky leader took the easy way out of a Giro to be a domestique at the Tour again.

Who would have beaten Dumoulin by 3 minutes, minimum.
 
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I know I'm crashing your mathematic discussion again with some nonsense stuff about looks, but really when I watched that video-message I had to wonder what his hair would have looked like in six weeks had he gone to the Tour. Obviously then there would have been no time to get a hair cut.

Riders looks are discussed sometimes on this forum, just not usually when it comes to British riders.
 
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That third week of the Giro is brutal, but there is always a strong chance that some of that will be cancelled due to weather. And as the field currently stands, Thomas probably has a better chance than Wiggins....well, I'd much rather be going up against old Nibali than against peak Nibali.

In Thomas favour he's much better than Wiggins on punchy finishes/hilltop stages/tricy stages. He's more explosive and usually he doesn't lose time.
Till the Piancavalo stage the route suits him to a T and he can be in pink going into the final week. Don't know which part of the Etna they're climbing this year though.
Also, I expect Sky to be one of the strongest teams(Trek level and probably a little worse than Astana with Vlasov going nuclear) with the likes of Sosa?, Tao, Dunbar and Dennis.
 
I'm not sure it's a lack of motivation -- I think every rider in the pro peloton is as motivated as they can be, even Rohan Dennis -- but more of matter of preparation and Thomas's general level. He absolutely outperformed in 2018, and maybe even in 2019, at the Tour. Now he's 2 years older than in 2018, I doubt that he's going to find that level again.

Even Nibali isn't likely to win a GT again; same with Contador as he aged. I'm not compared GT to those guys, but just to say that he hit a peak in 2018 that was a bit of lightning in a bottle. He was a bit off the pace in the 2019 Tour -- not much, mind you -- and so far this year, even a bit more. That could be down to lockdown training, but more likely age.

I happen to rate him very highly as a person and rider, and would love to see him pull off a Giro. Without Evenepoel he's got a good chance of a podium, which would in my mind count as a win.
 
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EB has been shown to be lacking without a rider of Geraint or Froomes experience to guide him, little wonder he looked so gobsmacked when he was told he had won it last year. With Froome leaving and sadly Inneos no longer have Nico or Rob. If Geraint wins the Giro and his lead in with the Tirreno is looking quite good, I suggest things have worked out quite well for him and quite rightly so IMHO.
 

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