British champion speaks about the race so far, the prospects of defending Bradley Wiggins’ lead, and the upcoming British Championships
After a strong finish to the Classics season, Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) took a break from racing. He returned at the beginning of May for the Tour de Romandie and, while his results there were disappointing, it laid the groundwork for a good performance in the Bayern-Rundfahrt at the end of the month.
Thomas began the German race well, then took second place on stage three from a small breakaway group. Fifth place in the next day’s time trial put the Welshman in the leader’s jersey, which he managed to hold until the end of the race.
His Bayern victory marked an important milestone for Thomas, it being his first at that level on European soil.
“It was great to get that result,” he told us, “because it’s kind of been on the cards for a while now. It’s not something I was necessarily worried about, but it’s always nice to get that first win out of the way.”
Not only was it a boost to his morale to get his first victory though, but it has given him confidence as he heads towards the big races of the summer, including the defence of his National champion’s jersey.
The British champion started the Critérium du Dauphiné strongly, and finished in seventh place in the stage three time trial. His teammate Bradley Wiggins took second in the stage though, and now leads the race; VeloNation caught up with Thomas on the evening afterwards.
VeloNation: You just finished seventh in the Dauphiné time trial; how did it feel for you?
Geraint Thomas: Yeah, it was good. I’ve been going quite well recently and obviously it’s a massive race, the Dauphiné, it’s the last big race before the Tour, and I just wanted to come here and race hard; and today I just wanted to get stuck in and see where I was in relation to Brad and [stage winner] Tony Martin.
I’m pretty happy how it went really. I think I was a minute and a half –maybe a bit more – behind Tony and so it’s not to bad really [it was 1’36” – ed]. I felt good during the day as well, I’ve definitely learned more again, and it’s nice to get a top ten.
VN: A lot of riders had some quite heavy rain to cope with, was your own race affected much?
GT: It was drizzling when I was on the flat roads going into the second climb, and I had a wet descent, so I just took it easy; I knew I wasn’t in for the win so I wasn’t going to risk everything just to make up a couple of seconds.
It was wet, but I just took it steady.
VN: Bradley Wiggins is now in the yellow jersey; that must be pretty good for morale in the Sky team.
GT: It’s great for the team; Bayern was really good and it’s just a roll-on from that. Four of us from Bayern are here now and so the atmosphere on the team was good coming here.
Yesterday we messed up a bit; we were at the back when it split, but the way we gelled together quickly and committed to getting back was really good. It was a bit of a mess up – well, it was a mess up – but I think it gelled us a bit more.
It was good to see the reaction and we managed to come through that relatively well and then obviously today myself, Brad and Eddy [Boasson Hagen] were in the top ten. It’s just a great day for the team.
I think we’ve definitely got a strong team here now and with Brad getting yellow for sure morale’s high and we’re looking forward to trying to defend it, well, all the way really; definitely for the next two days and then we’ll see how the climbs go.
VN: You’re now in sixth place overall; will you look to keep this high placing, or is it all for Brad?
GT: No, it’s just nice to be there for now, but I’m here just to work for Brad. Tomorrow, hopefully, shouldn’t be too bad; well, it’ll probably be chaos now, after I’ve said that!
It should be pretty event-free really; it should be a sprint, you’d think. But after tomorrow we’re definitely going to have to do quite a lot of riding.
VN: The fact that the Sky team managed to close that gap so apparently easily on stage two must have given you some confidence that the team can work well together to defend Brad’s lead.
GT: Yeah, definitely. We were joking after the stage that it was the best sort of team time trial training we can do before the Tour! But it definitely gave us confidence, the fact that we reacted to it all together and were all committed.
Obviously it’s going to be tough defending the jersey, the Dauphiné’s a big race. A few people have said they’re not too bothered about it, it’s all about the Tour, but deep down everyone wants to do well if they can.
For sure, it’s going to be hard to defend it but, like I said, we’re all going well and we’re just going to get stuck in and do our best, and hopefully that’ll be enough.
VN: After a strong Classics campaign you had some time off, but when you came back at the Tour de Romandie your results look a little disappointing. How did you feel going there?
GT: I asked to do it at the start of the season because there was a short prologue and I thought it would be quite good to give that a bash. But, looking back, I don’t think it was a mistake doing it, but after the Classics I had two weeks off and I just shut down a bit.
That’s when you do things that you don’t normally do, you know, you go walking round the shops; just be a normal guy for a week and had a bit of down time mentally. I still rode my bike, but I wasn’t training, I was just riding for the fun of riding.
So, at Romandie, I struggled a bit when I got there, but it was definitely good because that’s what started whole next phase. It was a good five days of good, hard racing and suffering. Then obviously I went to the training camp in Tenerife, which was really good because we basically just rode our bikes and lay on our beds, because there’s not a lot to do out there.
So that was great, performance training-wise, and then I went to Italy and got a few more bits of training; then obviously I went to Bayern and it was great to get that result; because it’s kind of been on the cards for a while now. It’s not something I was necessarily worried about, but it’s always nice to get that first win out of the way.
It was a nice boost to the confidence, really.
VN: You weren’t at the Giro d’Italia yourself but, while there weren’t many super results for the Sky team there were some standout performances like Davide Appollonio’s best ever result, Peter Kennaugh riding strongly throughout the race, and Russell Downing finally getting the chance to ride, and finish a Grand Tour. Did you feel any sort of morale boost from this?
GT: Obviously, I’ve spoken to Pete and Russ a little bit. Pete was getting stuck in, in the first week and showing himself, which was really good for him; and obviously Downing had a bit of bad luck but still managed to finish, which is really good.
Especially with the fellow Brits, like Pete, who’s young and I’ve seen him in the academy and then seen him do well; it definitely sends a good vibe around the team.
For myself anyway, when I see Swifty winning or Stannard doing a good ride, especially because I’m really good mates with them, it definitely boosts you and it gives you that confidence as well; you just want to do the same.
It’s through the team, if somebody wins, or just a good ride – for myself anyway – I feel a buzz from it.
VN: The National Championships are coming up in two weeks time; you’ve said that the course doesn’t look as tough as last year’s. Do you think you can defend your jersey?
GT: Yeah, it’s definitely less selective. I think it’s definitely more of a course where everyone can race on it: the Brits that are based in Britain, and the pros. I think it’ll definitely be a good race.
Obviously, the Nationals is always a bit strange how it pans out; it’s not like pro racing or anything, it’s just totally different.
So, yeah, I definitely think it’s going to be hard racing, and we go there trying to win it I’m sure – with somebody from Sky. But at the same time, everyone from the team wants to win it as well.
I think we definitely won’t work against each other, but there won’t be one leader or anything; we’ll all have a free rein, so it could be an interesting race!
VN: Strictly speaking, the Nationals is supposed to be an individual event and so you’re not supposed to race as a team. Will that work out at all?
GT: Yeah, but obviously that’s racing isn’t it. If there’s a Sky rider up the road and, I don’t know, Rob Partridge attacks and I go with him, I’m not going to pull too much.
But, like I said, even though we’re in there as a team, we all want to win it, so when it comes down to the line it’ll be every man for himself.
VN: Mark Cavendish is going to race this year, after missing last year’s event, does the less selective course mean that it’s a good one for him? Can Ben Swift take him on at the finish?
GT: There’s a perception that Cav can’t climb, but when he’s going well he definitely can; so if he’s going well he’ll for sure be up there and he’ll be hard to beat. It’s up to us to get rid of him really.
But Swifty’s had a good season so far and he’s climbing really well, and he’s obviously got a great sprint on him. So those two, for sure, will be amongst the favourites.
In part II of our interview with Geraint Thomas, to be found here, we discuss the upcoming Tour de France, his feelings about the leaked “Index of Suspicion”, and some upcoming events, where fans will get the chance to ride with him.