Geraint Thomas outlines Tour de France plans for Ineos Grenadiers - 'I'll be there to help Carlos'
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Published 25/06/2024 at 20:07 GMT
Geraint Thomas has been outlining his expectations as he prepares for a 13th Tour de France. The Brit won the race back in 2018, before finishing second 12 months later. Now 38, expectations of topping the podium are low. But after being selected for Ineos Grenadiers, he says there is no reason why he cannot win a stage, while also revealing he'll "be there to help" team-mate Carlos Rodriguez.
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Former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas says his main role at this year's race will be to assist team-mate Carlos Rodriguez.
The 38-year-old Thomas has been selected as part of the Ineos Grenadiers squad for the event, which gets underway on Saturday, June 29.
The first stage is between Florence and Rimini in Italy, while it concludes in Nice on July 21.
Thomas won the race back in 2018, and has had two further podium finishes in the subsequent years.
He will not be the main man for Ineos this year, and speaking on his 'Watts Occurring' podcast, Thomas has revealed what his main duties will be.
"I'll be there to help Carlos," he said. "I think he's all guns blazing for this. And [I'll] just look for a stage at some point, but mainly there for the team.
"But obviously at the same time, I'm not going to just sit up and lose minutes straight away. But no stress, just get into the race and see how I am.
"I've done a lot of good work. Part of me is thinking 'maybe did I do too much?' But you don't really know until you get into it.
"[Laurens] De Plus is going well. He's going to be in the mix as well. I can't see him losing too much time. And then obviously Egan [Bernal] and Tom [Pidcock] as well."
The Tour could be seen as something of a last hurrah for Thomas, who has not been selected for the Team GB Olympic team in Paris this summer, but will carry on into next season with Ineos.
There is life left in those 38 year old legs yet, as shown by his third-place finish at the Giro D'Italia earlier this year.
And although Thomas is not expected to repeat his heroics of six years ago, he has not given up hope of winning a stage.
"It's just one of them," he added. "Just get into it. You know what the Tour is like; so much can happen in the first week.
"We'll just see where we are come the first rest day and go from there.
"For me, it might sound a bit of a cop out, but it's basically do everything I can until Saturday to be in good shape and then just get stuck in. See what happens!"
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discovery+ is the streaming home of the Tour de France this summer, with live coverage running June 29 to July 21.
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