Netcompany-Ineos director of racing Geraint Thomas questioned the condition of Giro d'Italia favourite Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), following the Dane's slightly disappointing performance in the stage 10 time trial.

Speaking on his Watts Occurring podcast after the stage, he said: "Jonas, I expected more from him. Maybe he's been a bit sick or something."

On a stage where he was counted among the favourites, Vingegaard finished 13th, 2:59 behind winner Filippo Ganna (Netcompany-Ineos), and losing time to GC rivals Thymen Arensman (Netcompany-Ineos), Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) and Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla).

Thomas added: "Even on the mountains – don't get me wrong, he smashed everyone he won two stages – but the standards he's set, along with Pog [Tadej Pogačar]... if he was at his best, the gap to [GC rival Felix] Gall would be bigger. It just feels like that gap between Jonas and the rest is a lot closer [than you'd expect] on those mountain stages and today. He's not pinging.

"But, saying that," said the Welsh former Tour de France winner, "he's still leading out of the GC guys, still in a really strong position. Part of me thinks he's not been 100%."

Conversely, the stage was a superb one for Thomas's team, who fielded both the stage winner and the runner-up in Ganna and Arensman – the latter boosting his hopes for the GC, now lying in third place.

"Obviously Pippo absolutely smashed it, almost two minutes to second place who was Thymen. Which was good for us as he gained time on all the GC boys," Thomas said.

Assessing the rides of GC players, he praised the fifth-place ride Gee-West, and also the battling performance by maglia rosa Alfonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious).

"Just off the top of my head I think Derek Gee, he did a good ride," Thomas said. "If you're thinking expectations, above or below, I think he was solid.

"Fair play to Eulálio," he added. "They [Bahrain Victorious] should keep it for three days or so now really."

Missing out on claiming the jersey on the stage would have bothered Vingegaard less than his below-par performance and time lost to other GC players, judged Thomas: "I think he'll be like, ah it's fine, Bahrain can control for another three days."

While Thomas drove a Netcompany-Ineos team car behind Magnus Sheffield during the stage, Thomas had a very good idea of what the US rider was going through, he said, because he'd suffered through a recon ride with the team's big guns himself that morning.

Riding with Ganna, Arensman and others, who were all in aero finery, Thomas was on a road bike. He'd been promised a steady ride, he said, but it didn't quite turn out that way.

"Mate, it was the longest 42km of my life," he told Watts Occurring co-host Luke Rowe. "I was swinging the whole way round. Just riding to the start I felt like an imposter, like a big fan boy you know?"

Next time, perhaps Thomas will take the advice of fellow Netcompany-Ineos staffer Elia Viviani, who warned him that it would be hard going.

Tour de France winner, three-time world champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist Geraint Thomas joined Radio 1 DJ-turned celebrity endurance cyclist Greg James for a leg of his Big Ride on Tuesday.

James iswasexactly halfway through his 8-day long, 1,000-kilometre (630-mile) tandem-riding challenge, from Weymouth in England to Edinburgh in Scotland, raising money for Comic Relief, which supports a wide range of charities around the UK.

Thomas, 39, who spent most of his professional cycling career with Team Sky and Ineos Grenadiers, joined 40-year-old James on day five of his odyssey, pedalling away from Worksop towards the historic city of York. That's an imposing distance of 132km with plenty of lumps along the way, no small feat for an amateur cyclist – let alone one on a cumbersome two-person machine – but with the assistance of generous supporters, he scored a serious engine upgrade.

Earlier that morning, James' fellow Radio 1 DJs Matt and Molly had announced during an interview with Geraint Thomas that, providing an ambitious fund-raising target of £700,000 was reached, the Welsh rider would join James on the tandem steed he is using during the Big Ride.

At the time the announcement was made, £60,000 was still required, so £1,000 per minute needed to come in. In the end, over £100,000 was raised by the cut off, so Thomas duly saddled up on the back of the bike.

Previous co-pedallers on the bike during the challenge have included comedian Joe Lycett, but the Welsh cycling legend, who retired at the end the 2025 Tour of Britain, is also well-known for his wry sense of humour.

"The only problem is, I haven't been on a bike for about six months, I hope I’m not just going to be a dead weight for you…" quipped Thomas just before they set off.

At times during the shared ride, James was left looking a bit breathless. "That was so fast," he gasped when they stopped in Doncaster. "Did you enjoy it?" Thomas, who appeared fit despite his earlier protestations (we hear he's up for doing an Ironman), said he'd had a blast. “I was a bit nervous at first," he laughed. "I wasn’t sure how good you would be… but fair play.”

The lightweight steel-framed two-man steed the unlikely pair were pedalling has been custom made for James' 1.93m frame by British heritage brand Mercian Cycles. The British bike manufacturer, which has an 80-year history, has also supplied four standard road bikes to be ridden by his support crew.

James decided to continue with his challenge despite recently receiving some devastating news about the health of his father, who suffered a stroke during an operation. He is aiming to complete the challenge and reach the walled city Edinburgh on 20 March, which is Red Nose Day. You can follow his progress and donate here.

James is no stranger to endurance challenges. In 2018 he completed the 'Pedal To The Peaks' mission, cycling between - and then climbing - the highest mountains in England, Wales and Scotland: Scafell Pike, Snowdon, and Ben Nevis. And previously, in 2016, he completed five triathlons in five days.

It’s early evening when I speak to British dance music pioneer, Pete Tong, squeezed in the minutes on his schedule between a spin class and a sound bath in central London.

The room is scattered with cameras and laptops and notebooks lying open on their spines. But when I ask Tong about cycling, he’s transported somewhere different, eyes in the middle distance, remembering the chopper bike he’d ride around North Kent on as a kid, to the Specialized StumpJumper he’d tour round Richmond Park two decades later.

“Probably in the late 90s, I became aware of the rise of Lance Armstrong - that kind of just reached me somehow," Tong smiles, taking me through the timeline of his love affair with cycling.

"It's a bit like getting into cooking through Jamie Oliver. It was like the sport of cycling kind of came into my consciousness, and I started to take an interest in him and the Tour de France. I was going on these rides on my mountain bike, seeing people come by on their racing bikes in their lycra, and I just realised, what the f*** am I doing? I've got to switch.”

Tong is world-famous. Despite being the BBC’s longest serving DJ, with his own signature saying and dance orchestra, the 65-year-old is calm, thoughtful, relaxed. Whatever impact the decades of late-night sets and Ibiza partying has had on him, it’s impossible to tell.

He puts it down to cycling: “It’s kind of an antidote, really. It’s kind of meditative to get out on a bike, and know that because you were going to get out on a bike the next day, you couldn't go to the after party, so it kind of kept me sane."

Tong’s cycled in Ibiza, in the Cotswolds, all around his old London home, but the best place he’s ever cycled was - indisputably - California.

“I lived in West Hollywood, and I could go up onto Mulholland, going to Griffith Park, and then going out to Pasadena and into the mountains there,” he explains. “The riding is absolutely mind blowing. And that's the only thing I really miss about America. And obviously the weather - even in the winter, it’s a perfect cycling day: blue sky, cold-ish, but not too cold.”

Tong has cycled in more places than most people I know. A life of international travel allows that, but work comes first, and Tong still dreams of tackling Mont Ventoux and L'Étape: “I've just got to clear the decks and just make sure it happens somehow.”

But every summer, Tong’s two loves come together at Joyride Festival. The Ibiza weekender brings together pro riders, Michelin star chefs and wellness experts for a weekend of group rides and evening parties on the island. With tickets starting at £2,300, the exclusive event is beyond the bounds of many of us, but for Tong, it’s an opportunity to party with his heroes - and chase them up climbs too.

“The first celebrity cyclist was Mark Cavendish,” Tong remembers. “We didn't really know what to expect. I just thought it was going to be a laugh when I first got told you get to cycle with him, and then you get to play some records. But we had the most amazing night. Mark Cavendish was in the booth with me the whole night. He grew up listening to me, and he was crying. And I was like, what the f*** is going on in here?! It was amazing.”

The following year, Geraint Thomas came out, followed by Peter Sagan. This summer, Wout van Aert will be coming to the island.

“I'm surprised, he's doing it, but I'm very pleased he's been allowed. I wonder what his team manager will think when he sees him at a rave."

The next wave of tickets for Joyride Festival will be available on the 30th January here - for events both on Ibiza and the Isle of Wight.

Geraint Thomas has described the Tour de France visiting Cardiff as "bonkers" after the Welsh capital was revealed to be part of the route of the 2027 race.

The former Tour winner, now director of racing at Ineos Grenadiers, is an ambassador for the Grand Départ next year, which will see the French Grand Tour visit Wales for the first time.

Three stages of the men's race will cross Scotland, England and Wales, before the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift has three stages in England weeks later.

Speaking on his podcast, Watts Occurring, Thomas said: "The Tour coming to the UK again for a start is amazing, but to come to Cardiff. That’s bonkers. That’s where we grew up, on those roads, dreaming one day of being on the Tour one day in a foreign land. France, all warm and sunny, and the crowds, and all these people on the climbs watching. A world away, a different planet.

"Fast forward 25 years, and it’s going up those same roads. I just can’t get my head around it."

Thomas, who retired in 2025 after a 19-year career, said he didn't consider riding on to make the Cardiff stage.

"We got a bit of a heads up a bit earlier, when we knew it was in the pipeline," he explained. "Even when I was still racing I was like ‘that would be so good to do’ but it was just so far away, there was no chance I’m hanging on until that.

"I was at the press conference for it, as an ambassador for it. I was there with the First Minister and [Christian] Prudhomme, and that was a bit strange as well. I’ve definitely crossed over to the other side now, I’m no longer an athlete any more."

The Grand Départ would be more special on Ineos Grenadiers, Thomas argued, name-checking recent arrival Oscar Onley, with the race set to start in Scotland, and Welshman Josh Tarling.

"For me with Ineos, obviously it’s a British team," he said. "It’s massive for the team. When it started in Yorkshire, just being British, being in Sky, that was huge as well. As long as people don’t feel overawed by it, I think it’s just something you’ve got to enjoy and laugh.

"Beforehand it’s great as well, it’s ramped up, whenever the Tour leaves France. It’s always extra special. When it was Copenhagen, that was mental."

Thomas's co-host, former teammate Luke Rowe, said it would be a "really tough stage". There will be eight categorised climbs on the Sunday, including six in the final 80km through the Bannau Brycheiniog, adding up to over 3,000m of climbing.

"There could be a bit of wind, it could split up a bit," he said. "I think it’s going to be a reduced bunch sprint. It’s the same finish as the Tour of Britain last year but a harder stage." Thomas, meanwhile, said it had a "[Milan-] San Remo feel to it".

Rowe added: "The Welsh are quite good at just embracing anything and they’re a proud sporting nation, they punch above their weight. I think they’ll go out and support it."

According to Thomas, it's going to be "insane" up the climbs on stage three. He recalled that when the Tour came to London in 2007, he couldn't "stop for a pee, because it was just people lined for 200km".

As for who the route suits, Rowe suggested a Welshman: "Top of my mind is Stevie Williams, if he gets himself back to full fitness... Why couldn’t Stevie Willaims win on his day?"

This time last year, things seemed fairly bleak for Ineos Grenadiers. The British team had just finished their worst year ever, with 14 wins in 2024; Tom Pidock had announced his shock departure to a second-division squad; and Luke Rowe had already left the only team he had ever ridden for, to be a sports director somewhere else. Add in the general downbeat mood, and murmurings over billionaire owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s commitment, and the future did not seem bright.

A year on, and things do seem brighter, and their new kit is orange, too. 2025 was not their worst season ever – in fact they doubled their tally of victories to 28. Geraint Thomas has stepped off his bike and into the backroom as the new director of racing, and the ship appears to be reasonably steady. The team have finally got a fully-fledged development arm, with 12 promising riders, and there are further link ups with American and British junior squads.

If Oscar Onley does move to Ineos, then they will finally have a proper GC rider, who could feasibly podium at a Grand Tour next year, and in Kévin Vauquelin, they have another exciting card to play too. TotalEnergies have come onboard as a significant sponsor, and there do not appear to be any more worries about Ineos Grenadiers’ existence, in the near future anyway. They can look further than just surviving in 2026.

Most of these are objectively good things. The development team, especially, is something that has been missing from Ineos’ structure for years, and could end up producing the next great thing in cycling. All the other top-end WorldTour teams have under-23 outfits: Visma-Lease a Bike Development, UAE Team Emirates Gen Z, Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe Rookies, and Lidl-Trek Future Racing to name a few.

It was odd, and counterintuitive, that Ineos existed for so long without a pipeline, and meant that they missed out on some young, developing talents who needed incubating before being thrust onto the WorldTour. Not every rider on the Racing Academy will work out, or at least won’t be the new Tadej Pogačar or Tom Pidcock, but one or two might, and that’s the point. You have to gamble to reap the rewards.

From a British point of view, it’s also welcome and warming that there are five young Brits on the new development squad, and Ineos will now have a relationship with camsmajaco too; identity is as important in cycling as anywhere else. If Ineos can bring through the next big British talent, rather than Visma, like with Matthew Brennan, or Picnic PostNL with Onley, then they will recover some of their likeability from these shores. They remain the only UK-registered WorldTour team.

However, this is no mea culpa, no complete reversal from last year. I was not wrong to criticise Ineos then. The team absolutely could be heading in the right direction now, but only time will tell if the right structures are in place to let the whole thing bloom. In Thomas and Dr Scott Drawer, the performance side seems to be in good hands, but there are quite a few cooks around the broth these days.

The return of Sir Dave Brailsford from the Tour de France onwards was welcomed, but his role remains unclear and undefined. He’s still not on the Ineos website, press releases give him no job title, but one can imagine that he is calling the shots, which could either be seen as a good thing, linking the team back to its glory years, or a less good thing, not letting it move on. The latter was complicated this year by the story around soigneur David Rozman, which linked Rozman to the doping doctor Mark Schmidt, who was convicted after Operation Aderlass. That has not been fully resolved.

The future of Ineos Grenadiers might have been sustained by the TotalEnergies partnership, but the two sponsors are an obstacle to them becoming suddenly likeable. The British squad are sponsored by two separate petrochemical companies. TotalEnergies, in particular, is not only one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, with associated climate emergency concerns, but has also been alleged as being complicit in war crimes in Mozambique in a 2021 incident, allegations which TotalEnergies "firmly rejects".

Ineos Grenadiers are not alone in the sport having sponsorship from controversial means, obviously, with this being the year Israel-Premier Tech were forced to rebrand. Separately, UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Bahrain Victorious are both teams with support from Gulf states that have poor human rights records, according to Amnesty. It is worth noting, although maybe I just need to understand that professional cycling in its current guise can’t be sustained by building companies, bike brands, and supermarkets.

Ineos does not have a women’s team, either, a state of affairs which seems set, even if their new partnership with camsmajaco will see young female riders involved in the performance set-up. Ineos are not the sole WorldTour squad with no women's team, but this is an article about them. It is not all sunlit uplands from here on.

Back to the sport, though, and 2026 could be the start of something new for Ineos Grenadiers. With Onley, potentially, and Vaquelin on board, added to Thymen Arensman, Filippo Ganna, Josh Tarling, and the rest, perhaps it is time to start taking them seriously again. If not 2026, the development structure should ensure they’re heading in the right direction. Just don’t mention the “light grey” shorts.

This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.

If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com.

Ineos Grenadiers have announced the signing of Australian sprinter Sam Welsford on a two-year contract.

The 29-year-old, who has been at the Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe team for the past two seasons, won the first WorldTour race of this year when he took stage one of the Tour Down Under. He went on to add two more in this year's race, bringing his career total to six in the Australian stage race. He has also won the points classification there for the past two seasons.

So far he only has one Grand Tour participation – the Tour de France in 2023, where he managed a top-10 finish on stage 11.

“I’m really excited to become a Grenadier," said Welsford in a statement on the team's website. "I’ve always admired the team’s professionalism and the way they commit fully to a goal."

He added: “I feel like this is the exact right environment for me to keep progressing as a sprinter and to chase big results. I’m very hungry to contribute, to learn and to race with the kind of intent that this team is renowned for.”

Welsford will be working alongside former Ineos Grenadiers sprinter and new sports director Elia Viviani, the team says. His programme has yet to be announced, but he will presumably revisit the Tour Down Under next month and attempt to add to his tally there.

The team's new director of racing, Geraint Thomas, added: “We haven’t had many sprinters in the team in the past but when we have, they’ve been pretty successful, so hopefully Sam can continue that history.

"Having been given an early insight into what he’s capable of physically, we believe there’s still plenty to unlock with Sam," he added. "The team has shown how dialled we are in positioning our fast guys for the finish, and we’ll do the same to give him opportunities to win.

Thomas also paid homage to Welsford's team pursuit pedigree, something the Welshman will be able to relate to: “He’s got a great track pedigree – Olympic and multiple world champion in the team pursuit – so the way he’s used to working there will fit right into our team environment as well," said Thomas. "I’m super excited to see him get stuck in.”

Five Ineos Grenadiers riders have had their contracts extended, including two stalwarts, it was revealed on Friday afternoon.

Michał Kwiatkowski and Ben Swift are among the five that will continue to ride into 2026, along with Lucas Hamilton, Kim Heiduk and Brandon Rivera.

Kwiatkowski, 35, joined Team Sky in 2016, and the former world champion will continue with the squad until at least 2028. Meanwhile, Swift was part of the original Team Sky lineup in 2010, and has been at the squad ever since, apart from two years he spent at UAE Team Emirates.

In a press release, the former said: "“It feels natural to stay. I love the atmosphere, the people and the way we work. I’m not here to stay in my comfort zone, I’m here because this is where I push myself every day. I feel joy when things go well and I feel supported when they don’t. That’s cycling - one day you’re on top of the world, the next you’re fighting through a tough moment. It’s been an amazing journey so far, but it’s not over yet.

"This team has been my home for so many years, and I still feel the same hunger and motivation every time I pin on a number. What keeps me here is the people, the trust and the shared ambition to keep performing at the highest level."

Kwiatkowski had an interrupted season after suffering a knee injury at Strade Bianche; he has won Amstel Gold Race twice, Milan-San Remo, and two stages at the Tour de France in a decorated career.

Swift, 38, has become a reliable road captain at Ineos, after being a sprinter earlier in his career. "This team has been such a big part of my life and to head into an 18th season as a pro is fantastic," he said. "I still love the racing, the camaraderie and the purpose we all share. It’s a privilege to help guide the younger riders and play my part in the next chapter of the Grenadiers.

"Our team is on a real upward trajectory and I am looking forward to playing a role in that progression. I can’t wait to kick off the 2026 season and to get racing."

The press release says that he will "continue for another season", implying it might be his last. It has been reported elsewhere that Swift is in the process of his sports director qualifications.

Hamilton has a two-year extension, while Heiduk and Rivera have one more season.

Geraint Thomas, Ineos' newly installed director of racing, said: "It’s brilliant to have these five lads continue with us. They all bring something a bit different and they’ll be key to what we want to do next season.

"With Kwiato, he’s been part of the biggest victories in the team both on a personal level and also in a supporting role, so keeping him involved and having his experience in the rider group is hugely beneficial.

"Kim and Brandon have come on loads since joining the team. They’re just so solid - it doesn’t matter what the race is, they go there, are good and give their absolute best.

"Lucas only joined last year, but he’s a great character to have around with a typical Aussie spirit which we’ve always had to some extent over the years. He had a really strong Giro, impressed across a range of other stage races and will have plenty to contribute in the coming seasons.

"And then there’s Swifty. He’s the elder statesman now, but last season he proved exactly why experience counts. He did a bit of everything, across loads of races, and every single time he was just rock solid. Swifty sets the tone for the younger lads coming through and will play a big part in helping them get to know what bike racing is all about."

Ineos Grenadiers have announced three new signings for 2026: Kévin Vaquelin, Dorian Godon and Embret Svestad-Bårdseng.

Earlier this week, Daniel Benson reported that the team are closing in on signing Australian sprinter Sam Welsford, and that there is interest in signing Oscar Onley, too.

Geraint Thomas has been appointed as Ineos Grenadiers' director of racing, it was announced on Thursday morning.

The 39-year-old retired as a pro cyclist from the team at the end of his season, and it has long been trailed that he would be stepping into management at the squad.

He will work alongside Sir Dave Brailsford, who returned to Ineos in 2025, and Dr Scott Drawer, the performance director. There was no mention of the team's current CEO, John Allert, in the press release.

"This team has been my home since day one, and stepping into this role feels like a natural next step," Thomas said. "I’ve learnt so much from the people around me - fellow riders and staff - and I now want to continue building on our incredible past success into the future.

"I’m passionate about helping the next generation come through, to pass on that experience and keep pushing the team forward towards our mission of winning Grand Tours again. The Grenadiers will continue to race with purpose, humility and a commitment to excellence - and I’m excited to help shape that future."

According to the statement: "His appointment reflects the team’s long-term commitment to building from within, harnessing his immense knowledge of the sport and what it takes to win, for the benefit of his fellow Grenadiers."

Thomas has been at Ineos Grenadiers since 2010, when it was Team Sky, with his whole WorldTour career coming at the British squad. He won the Tour de France in 2018, and finished on podiums at Grand Tours on four other occasions.

Ineos won 28 races in 2025, up from their low of 14 in 2024, but have not won a Grand Tour since Egan Bernal at the Giro d'Italia in 2021.

In the press release, Brailsford said: "Geraint typifies what it means to be a Grenadier. He has lived and breathed elite performance throughout his career. He always set himself very ambitious goals and invariably went on to achieve them.

"He knows what the process takes, how to deal with the highs and lows of elite sport and his willingness to now share this and mentor others to do the same is a great asset for the team. The fact that he has stayed so humble and always maintained a great sense of humour are also great attributes to bring to his new role."

Director of racing is a role at the team which has previously been held by Steve Cummings and Roger Hammond; this season, there was no such role. Ineos are going through a staffing reshuffle, with sports directors Zak Dempster and Oli Cookson departing for Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe.

Ineos have signed Kévin Vaquelin, Dorian Godon, and Embret Svestad-Bårdseng for 2026, with question marks remaining over multiple slots in the squad.

Luke Rowe has said that he used to try and make "life hell" for convicted dopers in the peloton.

The former Ineos Grenadiers rider, now a sports director for Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, said that riders who had served bans did not deserve to return to professional cycling.

Speaking on the Watts Occurring podcast, which he co-hosts alongside friend and former teammate Geraint Thomas, the Welshman discussed his feelings on the topic after being asked who was generally disliked in the peloton by a listener.

"You know who I did flick? People who had been [tested] positive and came back to the sport. I would just ride through them and go out of my way to do it," Rowe explained.

"If it's black and white and you've been done for something and they're next to me, I'm just going to ride through them. I don't understand why every rider didn't do this because then it would make their life hell.

"Because they don't deserve to come back in my mind."

By flick, Rowe essentially means being unhelpful to a rider in the peloton, deliberately so – not giving way in the peloton or blocking space, for example.

The 35-year-old would have ridden alongside various riders banned for doping, including Alejandro Valverde and Alberto Contador. He also rode for Team Sky for one year, 2013, with Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, who was banned over discrepancies in his biological passport in 2013.

"If they shout something, normally they don't 'cos they know they haven't got a leg to stand on," Rowe continued, "that's probably the only category of rider I was like, I don't give a fuck about them. You've cheated me. You've cheated the sport. Fuck you.

"Imagine [if] every rider had the same mentality. Imagine you got caught for drugs, you're cheating, [a] scumbag, [you] come back to the sport, you're on the start line with 160 riders and all of them treat you like shit which is all you deserve. You wouldn't want to be in that peloton for long.

"You could just bully them out the sport. Back to where they belong."

Earlier this month, Thomas said that Ineos Grenadiers didn't deal in a "great" way with the revelation that their head soigneur David Rozman had links to a known doping doctor.

The recently-retired Tour de France winner told The Guardian that he "wasn't surprised" that Rozman had links to Mark Schmidt, who was convicted after Operation Aderlass.

During this summer's Tour de France, Ineos Grenadiers confirmed that Rozman was to be interviewed again by the International Testing Agency (ITA) into allegations that he had close links to Schmidt.

Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli's 'Time to Say Goodbye' – 'Con te partirò' in Italian – is one of the best-selling singles of all time. You've almost certainly heard it, even if it was only when he performed it to Leicester City fans in 2016, the year the team won the Premier League, remember?

For a song about the sadness of farewells, it was a dreary choice, perhaps, to soundtrack such an uplifting moment. I've since found it playing on loop in my head, as the cycling world bids adieu to a generation of world, Olympic, and Grand Tour champions who are retiring this year.

According to ProCyclingStats, more than 50 pro riders, from across the men's and women's WorldTours and ProTours, have decided to finish their careers in 2025.

Some of the announcements have been more publicised than others. At one end, there's Geraint Thomas, whose Tour of Britain send-off attracted fans in their thousands. At the other, there's Alexander Kristoff, who clocked off with 98 pro wins and a DNF at Malaysia's Tour de Langkawi.

Here's a closer look at some of the riders who are calling it a day, as well as a list of all 33 men and 19 women retiring. Roll end credits.

Geraint Thomas

What more is there to say about Geraint Thomas? A double Olympic track champion, winner of the 2018 Tour de France, and a widely recognised top bloke, the Welshman is the highest profile member of the Class of '25.

Having come through the British Cycling Academy, Thomas joined his first pro team, Barloworld, in 2007, but it was with Team Sky, and its successor Ineos Grenadiers, that he made his name, part of the squad for 16 seasons. He is now expected to remain with the team in a senior management role.

Fittingly, the 39-year-old chose his home stage race, September's Tour of Britain Men, as his last. My colleague Adam Becket was among the crowds that gathered at Cardiff Castle to wave goodbye to the Welshman. He wrote on the day: "The celebrations will continue into the rainy Cardiff night, a 'few beers with the boys' promised. Thomas has ridden off, but his achievements remain. Diolch."

Ellen van Dijk

It often goes unnoticed quite how successful Ellen van Dijk's career has been. Over two decades, the Dutchwoman has won a staggering 70 times, including five elite European titles, a Tour of Flanders, and three world time trial championships.

Van Dijk is one of a few former world champions leaving the women's peloton this year; earlier in the season, her Lidl-Trek team-mate and 2015 road world champion Lizzie Deignan, as well as compatriot Chantal van den Broek-Blaak, winner in 2017, both too called it a day.

Best known for her time trialling abilities – "that's my big passion and my big love" – Van Dijk also retires as a former world record holder on the track, having broken the UCI Hour Record in 2022.

Marta Cavalli

Cycling fans will remember Marta Cavalli as 2022's Queen of Spring. That year, with no prior WorldTour wins to her name, she prevailed at Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne, also scoring top-sixes at Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Since then, though, the former Italian road champion's career has been rocked by injuries. She abandoned the 2022 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift after being struck at high-speed by another rider, and in 2024, crashed at an early-season training camp, before being hit by a car driver in July. She only raced five days that year for FDJ-SUEZ.

Joining Picnic PostNL in 2025 did not give Cavalli the impetus she hoped. "The last few years have been very difficult due to continuous ups and downs," the 27-year-old wrote on Instagram.

"After a year with peace of mind I can say I don’t feel part of this world anymore and it’s time to say goodbye to the group because here my work is done."

Rafał Majka

"To all the young talents coming up. This is the ONE you should look up to," wrote Tadej Pogačar on Instagram ahead of his team-mate Rafał Majka's retirement at this year's Il Lombardia.

For the past five years, Majka has served as a loyal mountain domestique at UAE Team Emirates, but was once a Grand Tour rider in his own right. In 2015, he finished on the podium at the Vuelta a España, his best Giro d'Italia placing is fifth (2016), and he has won the Tour's mountains classification twice, plus three stages for good measure.

This year was Majka's 15th as a pro, having stepped up with Saxo Bank in 2011.

The sprint kings

The sprinting Hall of Fame seems to have an unusually high number of inductees this year.

Among them are a generation's worth of Grand Tour stage winners: Alexander Kristoff, Arnaud Démare, Elia Viviani, Caleb Ewan and Giacomo Nizzolo.

It would take too long to list the hundreds of wins they've amassed between them, so I'll give you a headline result from each: Kristoff earned the first yellow jersey with his opening stage win at the 2020 Tour de France; Démare won Milan-San Remo in 2016; Elia Viviani is a former Olympic champion in the omnium; Caleb Ewan won on the Champs-Élysées at the Tour in 2019; and Nizzolo was European champion in 2020.

Three of the retiring fastmen also came commendably close to breaking a century of pro victories: Kristoff (98), Démare (97) and Viviani (90).

Retiring male pros

Retiring female pros

Geraint Thomas has said Ineos Grenadiers didn't deal in a "great" way with the revelation that their head soigneur David Rozman had links to a known doping doctor.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Guardian, published on Tuesday evening, the recently-retired Tour de France winner said that he "wasn't surprised" that Rozman had links to Mark Schmidt, who was convicted after Operation Aderlass.

During this summer's Tour de France, Ineos Grenadiers confirmed that Rozman was to be interviewed again by the International Testing Agency (ITA) into allegations that he had close links to Schmidt.

Reports initially came from German public service broadcaster ARD in June that Rozman, who has been at Team Sky, then Ineos Grenadiers from 2011, invited the German doctor Mark Schmidt to the team’s hotel during the 2012 Tour de France, which was won by Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins.

In 2021, Schmidt was handed a prison sentence of four years and 10 months as part of the Operation Aderlass case, which ruled he had orchestrated a multi-sport doping ring.

"It wasn’t great, the way the team dealt with it," Thomas said. "But it’s a tough one if you get a doctor that’s been in cycling for a while. I’m not saying they’re all dodgy, by any means, but if someone’s been in the sport 15 years, the possibility of them having some sort of link [to a drugs’ cheat] is pretty high.

"It’s been tough, all these things happening over the years with the team. But, as a rider, all you can do is worry about yourself and the next race."

At the Tour, Ineos initially refused to comment on the allegations, before confirming that Rozman had been invited for a follow-up interview by the ITA.

A spokesperson for the team said in July: "Both David and the team will of course co-operate with the ITA and any other authority. The team reiterates its zero-tolerance policy and is unable to comment further at this time."

Asked if he was surprised by the revelation, Thomas said: "I wasn’t surprised that he knew some doctor that ended up being a bit suspect. But just because you know someone doesn’t mean you’re guilty. I was surprised at how quickly it blew up and the bad press he was getting."

When it was put to him that legitimate questions were being asked of Ineos, Thomas replied: "Yes, but I think it could have been looked at without it all coming out. I think if you looked at other teams as intensely, then there will be lots of questions about them. It shows we’re held to a different standard than a lot of other teams."

The 39-year-old is expected to join the management team at Ineos Grenadiers following his retirement.

The Tour de Suisse, one of the key warm-up races for the Tour de France, has announced a major overhaul, aimed at becoming sustainable.

Perhaps the biggest change will see the men's event reduced from eight to five days. However, the women's and men's WorldTour races will now be held at the same time (the women usually race in the preceding week to the men).

In addition, the women's race will be boosted from four to the same five stages as the men – and, crucially, they will all start and finish in the same place.

Both events will be held from June 17-21, 2026.

The aim was parity between men and women, as well as "financial robustness" and greater visibility, said Hans-Peter Zurbrügg, chairman of TDS organiser Cycling Unlimited.

Race organisers say this will mean a better deal for both fans and the media trying to tell the story of the race.

Tour director Oliver Senn said in a statement: “Without a new concept, the future of the Tour de Suisse as a cultural asset and brand would be at risk in the medium term. We are deliberately focusing on a model that places even greater emphasis on women’s cycling."

He added: "The strong interest from TV viewers, roadside fans, and digital communities confirm: cycling is booming – and the Tour de Suisse enjoys a deep bond with the Swiss public."

The men's edition of the Tour de Suisse has been running since 1933 – that's 15 years longer than the more popular Critérium du Dauphiné – and is regarded as one of the biggest non-Grand Tour stage races of the year. The women's race was held once in 2001 before starting up again in 2021.

Its illustrious honours list includes some of cycling's biggest names – Eddy Merckx, Sean Kelly, Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas on the men's side; Lizzie Deignan and Demi Vollering on the women's.

This year's women's race saw home rider Marlen Reusser (Movistar) lead from start to finish after breaking away with Vollering on stage one and defending a slender lead all the way to the final day, which she won solo.

In the men's race this year, Joāo Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) slowly hopped his way up the GC as the race got lumpier and more mountainous, finally grabbing the lead and the overall win on the final stage mountain time trial, which he won decisively.

Geraint Thomas has said that Dave Brailsford has “got his hunger back” in his attempt to turn Ineos Grenadiers back into a Grand Tour-winning team, as Thomas himself prepares to assume a newly-created management role at the team.

Brailsford returned to the team for this summer’s Tour de France after several years away working at the OGC Nice and Manchester United football teams, as per his head of sport role at Ineos Sport.

Though Ineos won two stages of the Tour through Thymen Arensman, Brailsford refused to speak publicly about his return, especially after reports emerged linking the team’s head carer David Rozman with the banned doping doctor Mark Schmidt.

Nevertheless Thomas – who retired in early September at the Tour of Britain – has reported that Brailsford has made an immediate impact in his return, and that he’s determined to see the British team back competing for the sport’s top honours.

Speaking exclusively to Cycling Weekly as part of a magazine article in the September 25 edition that prefaces the release of his autobiography, According to G, Thomas said: “I always give honest feedback [to the team] about what I think, and especially nowadays with Dave coming back in.

“His last few years [with the team] he was fatigued from it all and he went away and did his football thing. But he’s got his hunger back from cycling and seeing the team as it is he wants it back winning the biggest races.

“He’s gone through a lot, a lot’s changed for him, but that hunger, fight and passion is still there. He’s pushing everyone on again to keep moving forward.”

Thomas confirmed that he is expecting to move into a management role at Ineos, but revealed that nothing is yet finalised; Ineos are notoriously slow at signing contracts. “Talks are going well, but it’s just about making sure everyone is happy with everything that it involves,” Thomas said.

“It has dragged on a bit now. I was preparing for the Tour, then it was the Tour, then I had a break before the Tour of Britain. It could have been a quicker progress but hopefully in the next few weeks it will be sorted.”

The prospect of overseeing racing operations and simplifying matters is what excites the 39-year-old about his expected new job. “I’ve got a lot of knowledge and experience about bike racing and how to work towards goals,” Thomas said.

“I'm a big part of a big team, and I want to help them. If it does all happen, learning from Dave will be a massive part of it all, taking it all in, observing it all, learning as much as I can, continuing to grow, having more responsibility in the team.

“You see it in cycling and in other companies that it can be really corporate and ABC when real life isn’t like that. You’ve to get in it, live in it, deal with people, rather than doing what the textbook says to do.

“The newness of it, pushing myself out of my comfort zone, is what appeals to me. I just want to grow, to continue to be better. Going into something new is a bit daunting, but it’s also what I want to do. I might not like it, but it's an exciting time.”

It has been suggested that Thomas will be trained up to be Brailsford’s eventual successor, but the former Tour de France winner refused to confirm or deny that. Either way, Brailsford and his long-time coach Rod Ellingworth will be the two men he seeks to emulate. “I wouldn’t try to copy Dave or do what Rod did, but take the good bits from everything I’ve seen,” he said.

“It’s the way of doing things differently, of pushing and challenging each other. It’s why we were so successful in the 2010s, because me, Richie Porte and Chris Froome were training with each other every day.

“I wanted to take Froomey’s crown, and he wanted to keep me down. If that’s done in the right way, it can be really good, as we saw. Bringing that similar mindset and mentality back to the team, with both the staff and the riders, is how I see part of my role.”

“In Newport today, there is a 97% chance of rain, tapering off towards mid-afternoon” ran the weather report for Sunday’s final stage of the Tour of Britain from Newport to Cardiff. But the crowds were not put off, sheltering under the shallow overhang of the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome of Wales as they waited for a seat to watch the Welshman sign onto his last professional race. In the press room, fans craned their heads through the misty window, “that’s Geraint Thomas!” drifting through the cracked pane, before he took his final loop around the velodrome to the soundtrack of ‘The Vengabus’.

The hubbub continued at the finish line, as crowds of fans donned masks of Thomas’ face, or draped themselves in the Welsh flag, red dragon roaring. “This is not a normal crowd for the Tour of Britain,” I was told at intervals throughout the day.

To put what I saw on the streets of Cardiff plainly: people love Geraint Thomas. One man had come with his toddlers in tow, pushing along a double-buggy flanked by a 7 year-old in a Geraint Thomas mask. He’d met Thomas in London and wanted his kids to get one final glimpse of the cycling superstar. “To come from Maindy as a young lad and then win the Tour de France as well is incredible,” he told me.

Thomas, claimed by the whole of Britain for his cycling prowess, is acutely celebrated here, in the corner of Wales he grew up in. The final stage of the Tour of Britain was designed to see off rider, beginning after the velodrome named after him, past his parent’s house and the pub he had his first pint in.

“I can remember him from way back when he used to ride all the valley roads, the Bwlch and all the rest of it,” another fan, Mark, tells me during the race.

“He’s someone who really deserves where he is, and all that he’s achieved. He’s a good bloke, and a real hard worker. He’s an inspiration, especially for all the kids.”

It’s impossible to say how many people have picked up bikes because of him. The Team Sky buzz alone must have ensnared a generation of young riders, and cemented a familiarity with road racing in British culture more generally.

“I started cycling about eight years ago, and it was probably because of him that I started, and I’ve loved it ever since,” Deian says in front of the race’s live-stream. He’s in his late forties, and has come out with his band of pals to see off his hero in Cardiff. As soon as I ask about Thomas, his friends walk off, groaning, “see you in twenty years.”

Deian’s off, unperturbed: "When he won the Tour de France in 2018, and he came back to Cardiff, he lived sort of down the road and I’d see him every now and then. There was one night in particular when I was walking past a restaurant in Pontcanna in Cardiff, and he was sitting there with Luke Rowe and I paid for their meal without them knowing, and they ran out afterwards,[...] and I had a photo with them. So yeah, it’s a massive day for him, and for all the people here.”

I ask Deinan what it is about Geraint that has made him such an inspiration. “[It’s] just the true grit that he’s shown. I’ve read a lot about him, the fact that he trains harder than anyone else, pushes himself harder than anybody else, and the fact that he cycled with a broken pelvis, and just his determination…I think it’s a lesson to us all. If you think you’re down on your luck, just keep on going.”

The accolades continue to flood in. “He’s such a likeable person. He just comes across so ordinary,” Gwenda said, looking into the middle-distance, smiling. “All the way through his career, [he’s been the] same person, ever since I saw him in the Beijing Olympics, just the same Geraint [laughing].”

For others I talk to, the Geraint-effect is only just beginning. Katie started following pro cycling after watching the Tour de France with her dad over the summer. “Once he’d explained all the tactics and how it all worked, it got really exciting and interesting [...] I only heard about [Thomas] during the Tour de France because everyone was talking about this happening and the end of his career and stuff. He’s everywhere!”

What Thomas' fans have given him, he has given back. With record crowds drawn to Cardiff last weekend, the Tour of Britain will have also drawn in very real monetary gains for the city, too. Last year, the final stage in Northamptonshire drew in £3.6 million in attendee spending. With a double-whammy of sporting events in Cardiff on Sunday, after the 10k run just hours before the riders raced under the Lloyd's Tour of Britain arc, it's hoped that Thomas' farewell race will secure the future of the Tour (and will have inspired a cohort of new fans) for a few years to come. But, to bring it back to the man of the hour...

"Oh he's a legend isn't he," Paul gushed before the start of the race, as he looked ahead to Thomas' final performance. "An absolute legend."

What do Will Smith, Fontaines D.C., and Geraint Thomas have in common?

The trio have all played Cardiff Castle this summer, with the latter ending his career just outside its walls on Sunday afternoon, at the end of stage six of the Tour of Britain Men. Smith and the Irish band might not have had their own beer labelled for their events, this can being Mic Drop.

The rain, torrential at the start of the day, even paused for a moment as the 39-year-old crossed the line for a final time after a 19-year career. Along with thousands of fans, it was almost as if the weather was paying homage to the former Tour de France champion, two-time Olympic gold medallist, and everything else. Read out on stage, his palmarès is almost comical, given its length and breadth. There's the Tour, the Olympics, the Tours de Suisse and Romandie, Critérium du Dauphiné, Paris-Nice, National Championships, Commonwealth Games, podiums at the Giro d'Italia and Tour, and of course E3 Harelbeke.

It is not an understatement to say that he is one of the greatest Welsh sportspeople of all time, one reflected in the thousands of fans that greeted him in Cardiff on Sunday, and the presence of Wales' First Minister, Eluned Morgan. It was not overblown, it was deserved.

Amid the squeal of the disc brakes, the roar of the home crowd, the endless requests for signatures and selfies, it all finished for the Ineos Grenadiers rider where it began, on the roads of Cardiff.

It was scripted to be like this of course, the Tour of Britain organised so the race would pass Thomas's parents' house, past the Maindy velodrome where he first raced a bike, outside the castle, that symbol of Wales.

It didn't matter that he finished four minutes behind the race winner, Olav Kooij, nor did the race really matter; it was all about him.

"Thank you, that's all I can say. Diolch," Thomas managed on stage, bringing the curtain down on his professional career.

He has never been the most verbose, but it was clear that the moment had cut through, had got to him. All week, all year, the Welshman has been followed by his looming retirement, but here it was, finally happening.

The Tour of Britain, Britain's biggest bike race as it is, doesn't always attract the large crowds it deserves, but here, in the centre of Cardiff, there were almost overwhelming numbers of fans, all here to say farewell to their favourite rider.

At the start in Newport on Sunday morning, supporters were queueing up in the pouring rain to get inside the team presentation, there were people crowding round an open window into Thomas's final press conference, itching to catch a few words; it means so much.

"We watched a little montage on the bus now, and I felt myself already starting to choke up a bit" he explained pre-stage. "Macs [his son] and Sara, my wife, met us on the way in, so they were there. It was nice, but it's just so surreal. I think, like most stages this week, I've kind of forgotten that I have to do a bike race because it's almost like a celebration before the start, and then you get going, you're like, oh jeez, I've actually got that racing to do now. It’s definitely gonna be emotional."

It was emotional, with endless tributes paid to him. Thomas broke down on S4C, the Welsh broadcaster, and seemed on the verge of tears on stage at the end, but held himself back. "I'm not going to say too much because I think I'm going to break down again," he said. "Next question."

Beicio Cymru had given out over 11,000 masks of his face. "I've seen so many things in my face is a bit freaky to be honest," Thomas said. "No, I appreciate it so much."

"I think I feel really lucky," Thomas said before that final ride. "I kind of feel like I've been lucky my whole career with how things have panned out. Being in my prime for the home Olympics, the years I've had and finishing here and deciding to stop this year and and then have this weekend. The fact that the Tour of Britain's in September and I can do it as my last race is, it's all kind of aligned, it's unbelievable, really. I never expected that at all.

"It's stuff of dreams. It’s also strange that it's finishing because it's been my life since I was a junior. You're always thinking of the next race. You're always working towards something. So not to have that tomorrow morning will be strange. It’s the right time, for sure. I definitely don't regret it but it doesn't take away that it's weird."

Next, it's likely he will continue working for Ineos Grenadiers: "I’ve got a lot of knowledge as a rider, and I feel I can help the boys a lot, but there’s a lot of other stuff behind the scenes. That’s on the cards. It’s not definitely happening yet, but I’d love to continue with the team."

However, there is also a sense of liberty, as well as a bit of trepidation over what's next.

"I feel like I’ve got a lot of freedom to try other things, a few different sports, like triathlon or padel, and skiing. That freedom feels nice," Thomas explained.

"I’ll definitely still ride, I still enjoy riding my bike, I just won’t be pressing lap and doing efforts and that stuff," he continued. "I’m just going to enjoy it without the pressure and the thought of losing weight in the back of my mind. It's going to be weird, because all the routine will be gone.

"I’ve never been to prison, I don’t know what it’s like, but I guess you kind of get used to the way of every day, a certain running order. I’m guessing it could be quite like that."

Now, the celebrations will continue into the rainy Cardiff night, a "few beers with the boys" promised. Thomas has ridden off, but his achievements remain. Diolch.

Geraint Thomas never looked for the limelight. A loyal domestique for most of his career, the Welshman often rode in the service of others, pulling into the wind at Grand Tours and collecting bottles for his team-mates. When opportunities arose for him to lead, though, he made sure to take them.

This Sunday, Thomas called time on a 19-year career as one of the greats of British cycling. Across those two decades, he won 25 times on the road – most notably the Tour de France in 2018 – and enjoyed success on the track, too.

Here are five of his most significant victories, ranked according to our own nostalgic taste. (We probably all agree on number one, though, right?)

5) Beijing Olympics 2008

Twenty-two years old and fresh-faced, Thomas’s first major victory was one of his biggest: Olympic gold in the team pursuit.

At the Beijing Games in China, more than 5,000 miles as the crow flies from his hometown of Cardiff, Thomas was part of a quartet with Bradley Wiggins, Ed Clancy and Paul Manning that smashed the Danes in the final, and kickstarted a golden era in team pursuiting for the Brits.

On his Olympic debut, Thomas and his team-mates broke the world record twice on the way to the title; once in the semifinal, and then in the final. He would go on to successfully defend the gold medal four years later in London, again breaking the world record twice.

4) British National Championships (2010)

It was a Team Sky 1-2-3 in the road race at the British National Championships in 2010, Thomas leading the results ahead of Pete Kennaugh and Ian Stannard.

The race played out like a Classic. Having whittled down the field, the three team-mates charged towards the final lap of a circuit in Lancashire, where their team boss, Dave Brailsford, pulled alongside them in a car to congratulate them. Stannard was dropped soon after, leaving Thomas and Kennaugh to jostle to the finish, the Welshman opening up his sprint first to take his maiden elite victory at 24 years old.

“Life couldn’t be much better,” Thomas said afterwards. “The Nationals is something that everyone dreams of, myself included, and it has always been in the back of my mind.”

The following week he travelled to the Tour de France, where he raced for the first time in the national bands.

3) E3 Harelbeke (2015)

Never before in the almost 60-year history of E3 Harelbeke had a Brit won the race.

Thomas, winner of Paris-Roubaix Juniors in 2004, was part of a breakaway move with Zdeněk Štybar and Peter Sagan, the rider who would go on to win the World Championships later in the year. Inside 5km to go, the Welshman charged up a flyer, attacking on a nondescript residential road in Belgium. He then ducked into the wind and ploughed ahead to the line.

The victory, in the end, was resounding. Twenty-five seconds separated Thomas and Štybar in Harelbeke. The Team Sky rider's opportunistic nous revealed another tactical feather in his hat. History was made for Great Britain.

2) Tour de France stage one (2017)

There was perhaps something homely about the rain in Düsseldorf during the Tour de France’s German Grand Départ in 2017. Thomas may not have known the banks of the Rhine River well, but the wet roads of the route that lined them were akin to those of South Wales. They suited him to a tee.

The Tour that year opened with a 14km individual time trial. Home hopes were pinned on Tony Martin, who was the world time trial champion at the time. Faced with such testing conditions, Thomas revealed afterwards that he “didn’t know what to expect”. His tactic? “I just went out there and rode hard.”

What that earned him was his first Grand Tour victory – a narrow five seconds ahead of Stefan Küng in second, and Martin eight seconds adrift – as well the coveted yellow jersey.

Thomas went on to keep the jersey for three more stages. Little did he know what would follow in 12 months.

1) Tour de France stage 12 - Alpe d’Huez (2018)

“Alpe d’Huez, man,” was about all Thomas could muster in the stuffy Alpine air of 19 July 2018. At 32 years old, the Team Sky rider had just taken the biggest victory of his career, and the one that would become forever tied to his legacy.

Stage winner the previous day to La Rosière, Thomas had earned himself what many thought would only be a stint in the yellow jersey. On his team, too, was defending champion Chris Froome, who would surely take over later in the mountains. Thomas couldn’t hold on, could he?

Alpe d’Huez would bring the testing ground for that question. Pitched at 1,860m altitude, the mountain’s 21 hairpins made it one of the Tour’s most feared climbs. To win there is to write your name into legend, each rider earning a plaque bearing their name on a bend.

Towed by his debutant team-mate Egan Bernal, Thomas climbed unscathed through the hairpins. He then came into the finale alongside Tom Dumoulin, Romain Bardet, Mikel Landa and Froome, with one left-hander to take them onto the finishing straight.

It was here that Thomas’s racing instinct kicked in. With 200m to go, he swung wide to the right-hand side of the road, whipped around Landa, and took a jump on the pack. Hands gripping the drops, he then rose out of the saddle and kicked away. His now iconic celebration, fists clenched by his side, marked the first victory ever by a rider wearing the yellow jersey at the Alpe’s summit.

“Can we just go to Paris now?” Thomas said afterwards, but continued to pledge his allegiance to riding for Froome. Whether he meant it or not is now trivial. The record books tell us Thomas would go on to win the Tour, with less than two minute’s advantage over Dumoulin. Froome came third.

As he took to the stage in Paris, a yellow jersey winner, Thomas managed the occasion with his usual relaxed demeanour. “Vive le Tour,” he smiled to the crowds, then held out his microphone and dropped it on the floor.

Honourable near-misses

Across his career, Thomas made a habit of winning major stage races. His palmarès counts overall victories at the Critérium du Dauphiné, Paris-Nice, Tour de Suisse, Tour de Romandie, and, of course, the Tour de France. But it wasn’t only his wins that showed his class.

Five times the Welshman finished on the podium of Grand Tours. After his yellow jersey triumph in 2018, he placed runner-up to team-mate Bernal the following year. Still, even more impressive was his third place in 2022, when he finished behind Tadej Pogačar and winner Jonas Vingegaard.

At the time, Thomas was 10 years older than his podium companions, but doggedly tapped out his own rhythm to stay in contention. “I made it look easy, didn’t I?” he later joked to Cycling Weekly.

Less than 12 months on, at the 2023 Giro d’Italia, Thomas came within seconds – 14, to be exact – of winning a second Grand Tour, ultimately losing out to Primož Roglič. The 37-year-old’s runner-up place made him the oldest podium finisher in the race’s history, beating his own record from the year before.

Geraint Thomas has lived his long pro cycling career in an understated manner that is almost entirely at odds with the glory and fame he has enjoyed over the course of its 20-odd years.

But it looks like he will more than make up for that in retirement. Not content with a Lloyds Tour of Britain Men stage that is pretty much dedicated to celebrating his career and a huge party afterwards, not to mention custom bikes and jerseys, the Welshman has also launched a raffle with an extensive prize list, including a Pinarello F7 bike fitted with Shimano Ultegra Di2 and worth £7,000 ($9,400).

It's worth pointing out, of course, that the 2018 Tour de France winner has had all this arranged for him, rather than by him. And in any case, who would begrudge this popular rider a career celebration?

In the case of the raffle, it's also for a good cause.

Thomas is currently riding the Tour of Britain – set to be his final pro race – and the 'Final Race Raffle' is being run by the Geraint Thomas Cycling Trust (GTCT) to mark the occasion. The Trust will use proceeds to help get more children riding bikes.

Tickets cost £5 each, and the prize list includes that Pinarello F7 as the top attraction, while runners-up could win:
- two pairs of signed SunGod cycling glasses
- a pair of Quoc shoes (one of only two pairs ever made)
- a signed Kask helmet in Ineos livery
- a signed Ineos Grenadiers bundle

The raffle will end at 23:55 on Monday September 8 (or when the last ticket is sold) and the draw made the following day. Tickets can be bought online here.

The GTCT says its aim is to get 5,000 kids riding bikes by 2028. It gave out its first grant in 2022 and has so far helped 32 community groups and individuals across England and Wales.

The Tour of Britain Men finishes on Sunday, with a stage from the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome in Newport to Thomas's home city of Cardiff, which will take in the Maindy Velodrome where he began racing as a youngster. Cardiff will also host a party for 4,000 people

“It will be an amazing way to finish," he said. "It certainly feels like the right time."

Yesterday morning, Geraint Thomas started his final professional race. A huge and highly emotive moment at the end of a momentous career spanning 20 seasons. When he finishes the Tour of Britain Men on Sunday in his home city of Cardiff, there are unlikely to be many dry eyes around the place.

And that, really, is the way it should be. Perhaps more than many careers, being a professional cyclist begins as a dream and becomes an identity, and a way of life. Retirement is, understandably, often a wrench. But not always.

Take Dutch rider Ide Schelling. He announced this week that he would retire and he makes no bones about it: he can't wait.

What's more, at 27, the XDS-Astana rider is retiring in his prime.

Why? Because he has had enough.

"I'm all fine – I'm feeling great," he said on the De Grote Plaat podcast. "I'm here to announce that I'm retiring as a WorldTour rider. And that I'm no longer as in love with the world and life as I once was. For me, this is a very normal and logical decision. But I know that many fans, fellow riders, and cycling followers don't see it that way, so I thought: 'It's a good time, a good decision to talk about this openly and for longer than 15 minutes.'

The biggest problem, says Schelling, is that the level within the peloton has risen so much that he often feels unable to compete any more.

He told De Grote Plaat: "I'm not so in love with the world anymore. A lot has changed in the peloton since I turned pro in 2020. All those changes have also caused the level to rise so much that I sometimes feel like I can't compete any more."

Schelling, who has won stages in the Tour of Slovenia and Itzulia Basque Country, added: "My engine isn't that big. But you need that big an engine these days to compete in a final. It's fast the whole race, from start to finish.

"I did win that stage in the Tour of the Basque Country [2023] with fresh legs," he said, "but I never finished that race because that last stage was so gruelling."

It's no secret that today's cycling champions are younger than ever. Tadej Pogačar, with his first Tour de France victory aged just 21 is the prime example. But he is not alone. Remco Evenepoel, Tom Pidcock and Isaac del Toro – they have all won major races at the sort of tender years that used to be part of a kind of unwritten pro cycling apprenticeship.

But whereas once riders in their late twenties were bossing the bunch and winning the big events, now they are often just trying to keep up with their younger peers – as Schelling's example shows.

"Racing and being a pro brought me more then I could ever imagine, but times change," wrote Schelling on a social media post announcing his retirement. "I slowly felt more and more disconnected with the life as a pro cyclist and the racing on the highest level. So I've decided to take a step back and explore a new phase in life.

Still to this moment I love riding my bike, training, discovering new places and racing," he added. "I don't know what the future has in place for me yet, but I'm sure I'm ready for a new chapter."

Schelling will officially retire at the end of the season.

Geraint Thomas started this year’s Lloyds Tour of Britain Men on Tuesday for what will be his last ever professional race with Ineos Grenadiers. Fittingly for a Welshman’s swan song, the race will finish where Thomas’ cycling started, in Cardiff, Wales.

The bike every person from Wales alive must be hoping he can ride home to one final victory after a decorated 17-year career, is a custom-painted version of his trusty Pinarello Dogma.

Running his usual Shimano Dura Ace Di2 groupset, with matching C60 deep section carbon wheels, shod in ultra-light Continental GP5000 TT rubber, he’s hoping Suffolk County Council have fixed the potholes around Woodbridge where the race departs from.

His gearing is pretty conventional, with no need for a compact chainset for the stages around Suffolk in the coming days, which are pan-flat and fast.

His familiar Moist cockpit is enhanced with white bar tape, set off by metallic gold paint, which presumably he’s not worried about getting too dirty before he arrives in Cardiff, aboard this very special Welsh Dragon-adorned Dogma. The saddle is a Prologo Nago R4, with carbon rails.

Whether you hail from Wales or not, the paint is pretty spectacular, featuring a matte dark green base with red and gold gloss details, set against a stunning white backdrop. The paint scheme appears production-ready, featuring gold details such as the ‘4nm’ and ‘5nm’ instructional decals on both the saddle clamp and rail hardware, which are likely unnecessary for professional mechanics who have been working on this bike all season. Perhaps there will be a limited release for the public, depending on how the race concludes.

The top tube features highlights of Thomas’ career, including, of course, his 2018 Tour de France victory. It matches well with his special edition Ineos kit for this week, which has been specially designed to pay tribute to the 39-year-old.

For a man who has had some of his biggest successes on Pinarellos through his 15 years with Team Sky then Ineos, the final race bike is a fitting present.

For a man who had only slept for five hours, Geraint Thomas cut a relaxed figure at the start of his last professional race, the Tour of Britain Men.

The Ineos Grenadiers rider, victim of a delayed flight, touched down in Stansted Airport in the early hours of Tuesday morning. He arrived to the start of stage one in Woodbridge smiling, flanked by his team-mates, and cheered by the crowds, who gathered to wave off the Welshman’s 19-year-career.

“I'm really looking forward to it,” Thomas said ahead of the six-day race. “I wasn't sure if I was going to get here yesterday, with the flights and stuff, but happy to be here now. I'm buzzing.”

The problem stemmed from a fault with the plane, he explained. “And then the storm came in, so the other plane to take us couldn't get in, and there were flights being cancelled all over the place,” he said. “I was thinking, ‘Uff, [it] could be tight here.’ But luckily, the flight finally went around midnight, I think, so I went to bed at two. [I got] five hours or so [sleep]. So it could be worse. It's not so bad.”

Predictably, Thomas was the most in demand of all the riders at the team presentation. His arrival on the podium triggered roars from the fans, a number of whom waved large cardboard cut-outs of the Ineos Grenadiers rider’s head.

After signing on, Thomas returned to a welcoming mob at his team bus, where he posed for photos, signed a fan’s cuddly toy, and high-fived a toddler. He was among the last to make it to the start line.

“The main thing is enjoying it, really making the most of it,” he said. “Obviously, we've got a strong team here, so I’ll do my bit for the boys. I'm not really in the shape to win myself, but we've got some good guys here to perform.”

This week’s Tour of Britain is the Welshman’s 10th, in a career that has counted two Olympic gold medals and a Tour de France yellow jersey. To commemorate his two decades in the peloton, Ineos Grenadiers are wearing custom-designed Welsh jerseys at the race, while Thomas is riding a specially painted bike, with a gold dragon design across the frame.

“It's a bit mad, actually, the amount of effort the team's gone into with the jersey and the bikes and stuff, but obviously with the organisers as well, making their finishing Cardiff. It's going to be a special week,” Thomas said.

Waiting for this final race, he added, has been like being a child when “Christmas seems so far away”.

“It's certainly been a year of lasts, really, but now the last again, a bit more significant,” he said. “Suddenly it's here: the last week of racing. I'm going to try and enjoy it.”

After an opening pair of stages in Suffolk, the Tour of Britain Men will travel west to its conclusion in Cardiff on Sunday, where a homecoming stage is planned for Thomas. Afterwards, he will attend a farewell party with 4,000 fans at the city's castle.

Asked how he feels about retiring, the 39-year-old said: “It feels like the right time, so I'm happy I'm finishing, but it's going to be strange.”

Geraint Thomas will mark the end of his professional cycling career with a public party in Cardiff Castle this Sunday, after the final stage of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men finishes in his hometown.

‘I couldn’t finish my career without a proper goodbye could I?’ The Tour de France winner teased in a social media video this week. “I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way with a free event in Cardiff Castle after the Tour of Britain podium."

The final stage of the Tour of Britain will pay homage to the Welshman, passing through some of the early landmarks of the rider's life: first past Maindy Velodrome, where Thomas first learnt to ride 30 years ago, then 100 meters from his parent's house and past the pub where the now 39-year old enjoyed his first (legal) pint.

For his last professional race, Thomas and his team will ride in a custom red-dragon jersey, the names of the people who have supported him through his career filling the mythic animal, with each of the years he's raced lining the spine of the shirt. On the back, Thomas stands on the top of a podium in first in a multi-coloured line drawing sketched by his son, Macs (Macs raises his stick-arms up next to his dad in second).

Sunday's stage will finish just short of the party venue, the end of the race, and the career of one of Wales' favourite athletes, another chapter in Cardiff Castle's long history. Thomas and his hopefully 4,000-strong crowd will join Roman legions, Norman conquerors, Victorian designers and Tom Jones fans in the ranks of those who have partied in the castle's famous grounds.

But what will happen on the day for the rider who has his own track record for going big post-race (see: shoes lost in freezers and the "banana incident" that left a hotel room covered in fruit) - even Thomas doesn't know.

"It's being organised as a bit of a surprise for me as well so I'm in the dark as much as you guys right now,” Thomas continued.

“It will be an amazing way to finish. It certainly feels like the right time."

The event is now sold out, but you can join the waiting list for tickets here.

The Lloyds Tour of Britain Men is by some distance the biggest bike race in the UK for male cyclists and is well respected on the world stage too. As such, it is always able to attract a field with at least a smattering of big-name riders, with many warming up for the World Championships.

This year does not buck that trend; in fact, with Geraint Thomas riding his last ever pro race, his presence alone is likely to bring out huge numbers of fans to the roadside. But there is also double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, former world champ Julian Alaphilippe and more. You can discover the whole start list here, as well as our guide to the race route.

Ahead of the race beginning on Tuesday, 2 September in East Suffolk, we take a look at the riders to watch this week.

Geraint Thomas

Ineos Grenadiers, GBr, 39
Previous ToB starts: 9

It will not be news to many British bike racing fans that Geraint Thomas has had a long (and illustrious) career. But what might raise eyebrows is the fact that he first rode the Tour of Britain a full 20 years ago, back in 2005.

Aged just 19 at that point, he would have scarcely been able to imagine the career that lay ahead, complete with Olympic golds and a Tour de France victory.

Now 39, Thomas can still turn in a handy ride, but is more likely to be riding in service of a teammate for this edition, which will nevertheless honour his career on the final stage, with a start at the velodrome named after him in Newport and a finish in his home city of Cardiff.

That day will mark his final race as a pro and Cardiff will effectively see him retire. The dry eyes will be in the minority that day.

Remco Evenepoel

Soudal Quick-Step, Bel, 25
Previous ToB starts: 1

In his first ToB participation last year Remco Evenepoel was one of the most feted riders on the start list. All eyes were on him as he suffered through the British weather to finish a disappointed 28th on GC and without a sniff of success in his post Olympic hangover.

Once again he is likely to be one of the most anticipated riders at the British tour; less might be expected of him this year though, given his season so far has been far from the glory-fest of summer 2024, where he was third at the Tour de France and scored an Olympic double.

However, the Belgian will still theoretically be one of the strongest riders, and having pulled out of the Tour will be keen to get some preparation in for the Kigali Worlds at the end of September.

It will also likely be one of the final times he races in a Soudal Quick-Step jersey, before departing for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe next season.

Oscar Onley

Picnic PostNL, GBr, 22
Previous ToB starts: 2

How else do you mark fourth place at the Tour de France? That’s right, by racing across England and Wales at the Tour of Britain. Oscar Onley became just the second Scot to finish in the top five overall at the Tour last month, after Philippa York, and will surely be greeted by an appreciative public over the six days of this race.

However, he won’t just be here on some kind of parade, as the man from Kelso finished second last year behind Stevie Williams, and could very well put in that kind of performance again this year, especially with The Tumble coming into play on stage five.

Onley is yet to win a professional stage race overall, so this could very well be his chance, even if he will be well-marked now that the peloton knows he can keep up with Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard. The home favourite.

Julian Alaphilippe

Tudor Pro Cycling, Fra, 33
Previous ToB starts: 3

The French puncheur returns to the race he once won – back in 2018, when he took a stage win in Bristol and two second places on his way to overall victory.

He also rode in 2021 (he was third overall) and he came back last year too, taking a second place on the hilly stage two, behind eventual winner Stevie Williams.

This year, with new team Tudor Pro Cycling, Alaphilippe says he has "rediscovered the joy of racing" that always seemed to mark him out in his best years.

He has been relatively quiet this year, but in the low-pressure environment of the Tour of Britain – and one that he knows well – perhaps we will see him show that spark again, he is after all, only 33. A stage win is certainly not beyond his reach, with The Tumble finish on the penultimate day likely to offer a potential opportunity.

Olav Kooij

Visma-Lease a Bike, Ned, 23
Previous ToB starts: 1

Olav Kooij is a sprinter, so you would expect him to be counted out of a list of overall contenders for the Tour of Britain. Last time he was at the race, however, he won half the stages – four of eight back then. He might still have finished 48th overall, but on that kind of record, he can’t be counted against.

There will be at least three sprint stages on the road from Suffolk to Cardiff, and expect Kooij to be in the conversation for every single one of them. The 23-year-old has won six times this season, including twice at the Giro d’Italia, and has the speed and the nous to dominate at a race of the Tour of Britain’s level. He’s expected to leave Visma-Lease a Bike for Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale at the end of the year, so think of this as a last hurrah for Kooij at the Dutch team, on roads where he has been successful before.

Tom Donnenwirth

Groupama-FDJ, Fra, 27
Previous ToB starts: 1

A late bloomer, the not-very-French-sounding Tom Donnenwirth joined the WorldTour with Groupama-FDJ this season, aged 27. His signing wouldn’t have been wholly based on his performances at last year’s Tour of Britain, when he was racing for Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development, but it won’t have hurt that he finished eighth overall.

The man from Aurillac has history at this race, then, and is also in form, taking his first ever professional victory at the Tour de l’Ain in early August, leading home his teammate David Gaudu and Andrea Vendrame of Decathlon in a small bunch sprint. Perhaps Donnenwirth is a Tour of Britain specialist - this year will improve on a small sample size so far.

Other than the Tour de l’Ain, though, this year hasn’t been a barnstorming step up, with top fives at the Muscat Classic and a stage of the Route d’Occitanie the only other notable results.

Others to watch

Tao Geoghegan Hart | Lidl-Trek | GBr | 30
Previous ToB starts: 4
One of two British Grand Tour winners on the start line, alongside Geraint Thomas, Tao Geoghegan Hart hasn’t ridden the Tour of Britain since Team Sky existed. Similar to Thomas, it would be a surprise if the Londoner challenged for the overall, but his climbing skills are well known.

Mark Donovan | Q36.5 Pro Cycling | GBr |26
Previous ToB starts: 4
Fourth last year at the Tour of Britain, Mark Donovan returns to try and go at least one better. He has finished in the top 10 three times, so is a safe bet to do so again in 2025. The man from the Lake District hasn’t won a race this year, but did finish second at Coppi e Bartali.

Andrea Vendrame | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale | Ita | 31
Previous ToB starts: 0
Andrea Vendrame has never raced the Tour of Britain before, but he is a two-time Giro d’Italia stage winner, so has the ability to perform at the highest level. The Italian won a stage of Tirreno-Adriatico earlier this year, out-sprinting Tom Pidcock in Colfiorito, and he is one to watch on stage four in Warwickshire.

Fred Wright | Bahrain Victorious | GBr | 26
Previous ToB starts: 1

A late announcement for the Tour of Britain, the former British national champion comes to the Tour of Britain after fourth place at the Renewi Tour, a not dissimilar race across Belgium, and is looking to test his late-season legs on home roads.

British riders to watch

As the only British WorldTour team, Ineos Grenadiers come replete with British talent, beyond Geraint Thomas. There is national champion Sam Watson, who will be seeking to replicate the form he had in Wales in June, as he comes off the back of a first Tour de France. He was a late replacement in the eight-man squad in France for Ben Swift, who will be making his 11th appearance at the Tour of Britain, but has only won a stage once.

The Great Britain squad is replete with up-and-coming talent, including Ben Wiggins and Joshua Golliker, both of whom finished on the podium of the under-23 race at the National Championships in June. Josh Charlton will also ride, primarily a track cyclist, but using the ToB as an opportunity to see how he goes on the road. Matt Bostock, an ever-present rider at domestic road races and crits will relish the chance to sprint against WorldTour opposition. Harrison Wood, previously of Cofidis, now rides for Portuguese team Anicolor-Tien21, and will hope to impress at his home race.

Matthew Brennan of Visma-Lease a Bike is probably the best British rider this year, and could add to his 11 pro wins this season in his own country.

Ineos Grenadiers will wear a special kit at the Tour of Britain Men next week to honour Geraint Thomas, who will be racing for a final time before retirement.

The kit, released on social media on Wednesday, is a largely red affair, with a Welsh dragon across the middle and a green collar, aping the flag of Wales and the kits of Wales' national teams. It also features the TotalEnergies logo, as all Ineos kits have since the Tour de France.

Thomas, 39, is retiring this year after almost two decades in the professional peloton, bowing out at his home race. He will be honoured with a stage finish in his home town of Cardiff. Moving forward, he is expected to stay on at Ineos in a management role.

The jersey includes the names of people who have been with Thomas along the way. It also references to some of the former Tour de France winner's greatest achievements, including his Olympic and Commonwealth Games golds, his British National Championships victory, and his stage win atop Alpe d'Huez on his way to the yellow jersey in 2018.

The years of his career run down the white band on the back, and it also has a picture drawn by Thomas' son, Macs, of him atop a podium.

"It’s pretty cool, apparently that’s me, that’s him, and that’s Lucas actually. Lucas Hamilton, that’s a bit random," Thomas explained in a video launching the jersey. "Lucas was obviously new to the team, and we were down in Oz, and this is where Macs drew the picture just after that."

"Certainly the most meaningful jersey [I've ever had], that’s for sure," he added. "I think it definitely will be emotional come the final stage, you know, finishing in Cardiff, wearing this. I even got the dates here in the collar. My very first race, 17 January 2007 at the Tour Down Under, last race 7 September 2025, the Tour of Britain. Well hopefully it’s my last race, hopefully I make it there.

"I’m looking forward to it, it’s definitely something I’m going to soak up and enjoy."

"It is kind of strange to think come, well just over a sort of week and a half's time, I will not be a professional athlete anymore," Thomas told the BBC this week.

The Lloyds Tour of Britain begins in Woodbridge, East Suffolk, next Tuesday, and concludes in Cardiff the following Sunday, 7 September.

The 2025 Lloyds Tour of Britain Men will honour Geraint Thomas’s career with a finish in his home city of Cardiff, it was announced on Wednesday.

As first reported by Cycling Weekly last month, the six-stage race, set to take place from 2-7 September, will close with a finale in South Wales. Stage five will finish with a double ascent of The Tumble, a steep, 5km climb near Abergavenney, before a final day ode to Thomas.

Starting at the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome in Newport, the sixth stage will pass by the Maindy Velodrome, home of Thomas’s first cycling club, the Maindy Flyers, before finishing in Cardiff city centre.

The race is expected to be the Ineos Grenadiers rider's last competition before he calls time on his professional career that has lasted 19 years.

Speaking earlier this year on his podcast, Watts Occurring, Thomas said a send-off in Cardiff would be a fairytale ending to his career.

"If you could pick anything then it would be finishing on home roads and the Tour of Britain is exactly that," the 2018 Tour de France winner said.

"Rod [Ellingworth], who's my old coach from the [British Cycling] academy, then obviously he was part of [Team] Sky for so many years, he's the race director there as well. So I've asked him to pull a few favours, possibly go into Wales for the final stage, possibly Cardiff city centre outside the castle, that would be awesome."

The official announcement means that all the start and finish towns of this year’s Tour of Britain Men are now known.

The race will begin on 2 September in Suffolk with a stage between Woodbridge and Southwold. Stage two will then be an out and back to Stowmarket, before Milton Keynes sends the riders off on day three, on their way to Ampthill.

Stage four will start in Atherstone and finish in Burton Dassett Hills County. The final two days will then see the race shift into South Wales.

Commenting on the Welsh finale, Caroline Spanton, CEO of Beicio Cymru, Welsh Cycling, said it would make a “fitting tribute to one of Wales’ most iconic athletes”.

“To see the peloton pass places like Maindy Velodrome and The Tumble, and to welcome the race into Cardiff, is especially poignant in what is expected to be Geraint Thomas’ final professional road race,” Spanton said.

“Our heartfelt thanks go to the Welsh Government and local authorities whose support and investment have made these stages possible.”

Full details of the race route are expected to follow in late July.

Geraint Thomas is still motivated to fight for one last stage win at the Tour de France in his final appearance at the race before retirement.

The Welshman spent hours in the breakaway en route to the Mûr-de-Bretagne on Friday, but ultimately it was to no avail, after the move was caught before the finish. The foiled attack has not deterred the 39-year-old, though, who made clear that he plans to go again in the mountains in the second half of the race.

"I’ll certainly try," Thomas said. "On the mental side, I’m up for it and I’ll give it a good bash, but at the end of the day it comes down to legs, doesn’t it? So we’ll see. It would be amazing to win a stage, but as long as the team performs then that’s the main thing."

Despite not winning in the opening seven stages, and not having anyone in the top 10 on GC, the mood around the Ineos Grenadiers bus seems upbeat in France, particularly regarding the prospects of Carlos Rodríguez, the team's lead GC rider.

"I think this first week has certainly not been suited to his strengths at all," Thomas said of the Spaniard. "Someone said on the bus that we’ve still got 75% of the climbing to come in this race, so for him I think he can still stay positive and look forward to that and hopefully that will show come the end.

"Hopefully if there’s a high pace in the mountains then Carlos can benefit from that… We haven’t done any big mountains yet and that’s his strength, so hopefully we can start climbing up the GC next week."

Some of the boost in morale might be due to the return of Dave Brailsford, the Team Sky mastermind, to the Jim Ratcliffe-backed team. "He [Brailsford] brings a different intensity to it and a different way of thinking and looking at things," Thomas said. "He’s got the most experience there, so it’s great to have him around."

Thomas has had a front row seat in recent years to witness the rivalry between Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard. The duo have already contested two stages at this race, with Pogačar edging out the Dane in Mûr-de-Bretagne. Asked about the pair, Thomas likened the contest between Pogačar and Vingegaard’s teams, Visma-Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates-XRG, to some of the clashes that Team Sky had with rival squads during Chris Froome’s reign at the Tour.

"We were similar with Movistar and things," he said. "But we had a slightly different mentality and would just do what needs to be done in the first half of the race. We were definitely a lot more conservative compared to now, where UAE and Visma look for any opportunity to go hard.

"Everyone’s talking about how Visma want it hard all the time to try and crack Pogačar, maybe because that’s happened once, but I don’t know if he’ll crack. But this hard racing is only going to hurt a lot of people come the end."

This feature originally appeared in the print edition of Cycling Weekly, on sale in newsagents and supermarkets, priced £3.35. You can subscribe through this link here.

Another year, same recurring question. Only this time it feels urgent to the point of being potentially fatal: can Ineos Grenadiers, in a more delicate position than ever before in their 16-year history, survive another bad showing at the Tour de France?

The story is by now familiar to everyone: across eight years, Ineos Grenadiers – previously Team Sky – won seven yellow jerseys with four different riders, taking 15 stages along the way. Their Grand Tour dominance was cemented further with overall victories at the Vuelta a España and the Giro d’Italia. Yet, while they’ve twice finished third in the following five editions of the Tour, they haven’t seriously challenged for the top spot since Egan Bernal’s win in 2019. There is no shame in that, you might argue, given that no one aside from Primož Roglič (in 2020) has given Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard a serious run for their money over that period – and that only Remco Evenepoel, if anyone, looks capable of doing so in forthcoming years. But Ineos are not just any team.

Britain’s only WorldTour outfit are the second richest cycling team in the world, bankrolled to the tune of more than €50m by one of Britain’s richest men, Jim Ratcliffe, and their core objective is to win Grand Tours – principally the Tour de France. Slight problem, then, when the only other three-week races they’ve won this decade were the 2020 and 2021 Giro d’Italia. That’s a four-year barren spell, with no glory from 12 Grand Tours.

The team’s main GC rider for almost a decade, Geraint Thomas, is retiring at the end of the season; their brightest young hope Carlos Rodríguez is currently off the pace – at the time of writing, he is already 1.20 astray after just two stages; and after pursuing Evenepoel for several years, he now appears destined for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.

This year's race got off to a bad start when the team’s main prospect for TT stage wins, Filippo Ganna, crashed heavily and subsequently abandoned. Previously they’d have looked to Tom Pidcock for a stage win, but he left in a rage last winter.

Yes, Ineos have raced more positively, aggressively and entertainingly this season – just as they promised they would – and they’ve already passed last season’s paltry win tally of 14 (albeit eight of their 19 victories in 2025 have been national championship titles) but the stark reality is they’ve no one capable of winning a Grand Tour any time soon. In the past, Ineos were willing to solve problems with money, but Ratcliffe has closed off the possibility of opening the cash taps any wider.

Total Energies was unveiled as a secondary sponsor just before the Tour, with a new jersey drawing social media scorn for its apparently hasty logo integration. Also announced shortly before the start was the return of Dave Brailsford into team management. The longer the team go without Grand Tour wins, the bleaker their outlook appears to be, even with Brailsford – the man who engineered so much success – back in the hotseat. Can Britain’s super-squad afford to plod through another lap of France? And what effect might that have on both their own long-term future and that of British cycling?

“I like to think that from 2010 we’ve earned the right to be called a super-team, [but] it’s a super-team that needs to win more,” the team’s CEO John Allert admitted on the eve of the race.

Trouble behind the scenes

It’s not just that Ineos have failed to match the dominance of UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Visma-Lease a Bike in recent years; behind-the-scenes unrest has also painted the picture of a team, if not in meltdown, then certainly struggling to maintain cohesion. Issues with management have been the principal bugbear. Former chief Brailsford began moving away from cycling in 2021 to focus on Ineos’s wider sporting interests – namely Manchester United.

His longtime ally Rod Ellingworth took over, but not for long, departing after two seasons. Sources told CW that Ellingworth became frustrated by the many layers of approval required to make decisions – including from Ratcliffe himself, who insists on having the final say on all transfers. One source complained that “Ineos men sleep too much,” referring to the constant delays. Ellingworth was replaced by Australian John Allert, with Scott Drawer returning as performance manager. Geraint Thomas, in his characteristically candid style, described the set-up as a “coalition government” during last year’s Tour – hinting at strained internal politics.

Through multiple reports, leaks and rumours, a pattern has emerged of riders growing unhappy with the apparently inflexible, restrictive nature of the Ineos regime. Tom Pidcock, who has seemed reenergised since his move to Q365, said earlier this year that “things were just not going how it was originally envisaged at Ineos, how I imagined it.” He added: “I signed my contract with different people who run the team now and that did create some difficulties.” He has since added that he wasn’t happy at any point last season. Fellow Brit and one-time big race hope Ethan Hayter expressed similar sentiments when he moved to Soudal Quick-Step at the end of last season. “When you run a cycling team like a business, the riders and staff lose their passion,” he said. “That was the case at Ineos in recent years – racing felt more and more like a job.”

Recently, Ineos have begun to address the criticism. Brailsford will be with the team for at least some of year’s Tour as he prepares to return as full-time leader. “We want to win the Tour, but there’s no point just saying [that]. You’ve got to do something about it. That’s why it’s great to welcome Dave back into the fold,” said Zak Dempster, the team’s lead DS at the Tour. “Dave loves a performance challenge and this is the biggest... [He] and everyone at Ineos all want to win the Tour, but we’ve got to do more than we’re doing to get better than the people that are dominating at the moment.”

Thomas is also primed for a management position, which in Pidcock’s view at least, would be a huge step forward. “G says things how they are – he won’t beat around the bush,” the 25-year-old told CW recently. “That’s what they need: someone straight-talking – it’s what they miss at the top. It’s more the political stuff up above – people just need to be told things straight.”

The fight for extra funding

Under what guise the team will exist next season, however, is currently unknown. Ratcliffe has been pulling back from a number of his sporting investments recently, but it is understood that he remains committed to funding the cycling team – even if he rarely attends races or training camps. In the longer-term, though, he wants financial support, and it appears to be on the way.

The planned co-title-sponsor deal with TotalEnergies – the petrochemical company having multiple existing business links with Ineos – is still being worked through, though the new jersey suggests the financial contribution is already significant. Publicly at least, Ineos insist that they remain in the market for extra funds. “We’ve got all sorts of discussions going on, and we haven’t finished those discussions,” Allert said, hinting at more money becoming available to the team.

What the team would do with such a cash injection is clear: try to sign a latent GC superstar – though it is unclear who that would be, with Evenepoel out of the equation. For now, the search continues – and the wait has to go on.

What can they salvage?

In the here and now, what does success constitute for Ineos at this year’s Tour? A podium on GC, or several stage wins? “Like most teams, we exist for the Tour de France,” said Dempster. “It’s the biggest race of the year, and the feeling of winning a stage and the momentum through the race, that’s what we do it for. Winning stages is going to be really important, but I think we need to be realistic on GC, and brave and bold and move the race where we can, and hopefully take time in creative ways.” He seemed to be managing expectations. “It’s no secret that [head-to-head] there are guys who are stronger than us. That’s the reality, but at the same time, if we’re smart and bold, nothing is out of the question on GC.”

The team’s dreams of Tour GC success for Thomas, Rodríguez or Thymen Arensman are already fading, with Connor Swift and Axel Laurence the only other two with an outside chance of taking a stage win. “Carlos is our main man and we’ll see what he can do and how far he can hang in there,” Thomas said just as the race got underway. “The last couple of years have been more about [targeting] stages, but that’s exciting – we can go at it a bit more, but not go too crazy for the sake of it.”

Recently-crowned British champion Sam Watson was drafted into the team at the last minute, an unexpected late call-up which underlines the team’s lack of a guaranteed line-up; in their peak years, their eight-man squad could have been predicted months in advance, but that’s no longer the case for a team in a state of flux.

The importance of a successful Tour de France cannot be overstated for any team. CW has seen a leaked document from a rival WorldTour team that outlines just how much of an outsized role the Tour has on media exposure and sponsorship awareness. The independent report, commissioned by said team, highlights how the Tour receives over three times more media coverage than the Giro d’Italia, and over four times more than the Vuelta a España. Other races barely register interest.

Sponsors get 2.5 times more exposure from the Tour than the Giro and Vuelta, and exposure from the biggest one-day Monuments, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, is minuscule by comparison. In other words: far more eyes are focused on the sport in July than at any other time, and failure to produce victories during the 21 stages can harm a team’s search for additional funding, as well as the obvious impact it has on how prospective riders view joining said team.

The longer-term outlook

The other question to ask about Ineos is how its demise affects British cycling. The domestic racing scene has been decimated in recent years, and Ineos are the only British men’s UCI-registered team. It’s difficult to give a definitive answer as to how important the team’s success and continued presence in the peloton are to the sport in the UK, but it is certain that the success of Team Sky inspired the likes of Pidcock, Hayter and new national champion Sam Watson.

Part of the team’s initial focus upon launch in 2010 was to act as a pathway for British talent, and over the course of their first decade around a third of riders were British. That number has sharply dropped to six in 2025 – the lowest ever – while the team has missed out on British talent like Matthew Brennan, Oscar Onley and Max Poole. “One of the core parts of the team’s original identity was that it would be a home for British riders, but that seems to have gone,” one source bemoaned.

It is not all doom and gloom, of course. Ineos still possess several big race winners, and in Ganna and Josh Tarling they have arguably two of the best time triallists in the world; possible future signing Evenepoel is the other one. What’s more, the team isn’t hiding behind their issues: they know they have to step up. “Where once we were at the top of the heap, we’re not anymore,” admitted Allert. “It’s not just about money – it’s also about competence, strategy, resources and hard work.” Brailsford, going by his track record, should address all four of those points. That’s the hope, anyway.

It’s worth adding too that the team has survived all the malpractice allegations of the late 2010s – their doctor Richard Freeman being struck off; the infamous jiffy bag accusations; and more – without their branding and appeal being significantly harmed, suggesting they can weather any storm. Even one as dark as this.

Thomas in a management role guiding a bright new GC protégé is an enticing prospect, but as things stand the British team remain a long way from their glory days. What, if anything, can they do to turn things around?

The Ineos drought in numbers

4: Riders from Team Sky/Ineos Grenadiers won the Tour de France from 2012 to 2019.

7: Tour stage wins by Chris Froome between 2012 and 2016 – the most of any rider from the team.

5: British Tour stage winners from Sky/Ineos.

0: Number of GC wins by Ineos from the 12 Grand Tours leading up to this year’s Tour.

5: Number of Tours de France, out of the previous 15, at which Sky/Ineos have not won a stage.

7 minutes: The time gap that both Richard Carapaz (third in 2021) and Geraint Thomas (third in 2022) were adrift from the winner.

3: GC victories from 28 ‘Big Seven’ one-week stage races since 2022.

6: British riders on the team in 2025 – the fewest ever.

€50m: Reported amount Jim Ratcliffe invests into Ineos Grenadiers annually.

This will be Geraint Thomas's final Tour de France. The 2018 champion turned 39 on 25 May, and plans to retire at the end of the season, closing out a remarkable two-decade career. He aims to bow out while still riding well, which may well be determined by how he performs at the Tour.

Going by the provisional start-list at the time of writing, the Welshman will be the oldest rider in the race 39 years, 41 days when it gets under way in Lille on 5 July. A former winner he may be, but this time around he'll be riding in support of 24-year-old Ineos leader Carlos Rodriguez. Whereas Thomas was born in the late-1980s, Rodríguez didn't say hola to the world until 2001. Ineos's veteran rider won't be the only member of the 'old guard' this year. Canada's Mike Woods isn't far behind him at 38 years, 266 days - and he isn't planning to retire this year.

Only one other rider on the start-list will have passed his 37th birthday: Jayco-Alula's Luka Mezgec, and only just - he turned 37 on 27 June. The Tour skews towards younger riders more than ever before.

It wasn't always thus. If 39 seems a touch too old to be pushing limits around France for three weeks, consider this: Thomas is far from the oldest rider to complete the Tour. In the second edition of the race, in 1904, Frenchman Henri Paret finished 11th at the age of 50.

Rather more recently, Alejandro Valverde finished the Tour aged 41 in 2022, while Matteo Tosatto was 42 when he completed the race in 2016. The oldest modern-era finisher remains Jens Voigt, who was two months shy of 43 when he crossed the finish line on the Champs-Élysées in 2014.

The old boys' club has been part of the make-up of the Tour de France for as long as the race has existed, although that might be set to change. In the current era, with riders springing onto the pro scene from the junior ranks apparently fully formed, you might expect it to be getting ever harder for older riders to remain competitive.

We're seeing race-winning performances at ever younger ages: think Tadej Pogačar taking his first big wins in 2020 aged 21, or Josh Tarling's stage win at the 2023 Renewi Tour, equalling Remco Evenepoel's record for youngest World Tour race win at just 19 years and 190 days. Can riders in their mid to late 30s continue to compete?

We put in a call to the Tour's second-oldest finisher of the modern era, Matteo Tosatto, to ask about the prospects for older riders in a sport ever more dominated by young upstarts. "It's a different sport now," he agreed.

"The riders arrive at 20 years old, ready for the biggest races. But once they get to 30, 31 years, that will be their last year. It's a totally different approach now ." Interestingly, Tosatto revealed that he did not find age a major barrier to riding the Tour, and continued to find greater form in the second half of the race - just as he had as a younger rider. However, he did adapt his training as he grew older. "Especially in the first part of the season, I focused more on power," Tosatto said.

"The longer training was not a problem, but I did focus more on sprints, shorter efforts. After 36, 37 you start to lose power on the bike - that's normal. My coach and I were super focused on sprints and climbs, so we scheduled more efforts and increased the intensity."

There are 18 riders aged 36 or over in the WorldTour this year, which is only about 3% of the total (in the women's World Tour, it's roughly double that percentage, with 12 riders), but with no clear downward trend over the past decade. Getting older doesn't necessarily mean getting slower, then, at least not until well into the 40s. After all, modern training, nutrition and lifestyle strategies benefit oldsters as much if not more than they do youngsters.

But there are certain unavoidable downsides that come with getting older, and they start as early as the mid-20s. "After the age of 25, your VO2 max does start to deteriorate," said coach Andy Turner (ATP Performance) referring to the slow but steady decline in aerobic capacity that older riders must contend with. "There is also a decline in total muscle mass, and cycling being a weight-limited endurance sport, maintaining muscle can be difficult," Turner continued.

"Though older riders retain the endurance capacity, they just don't have that explosive element, and that's due to the reduction in VO2 max as well as the reduction in total muscle mass ." It's a natural physiological trade-off: staying power remains, but the ability to repeat short, intense efforts fades. "When young guns unleash explosive attacking efforts, older riders have to claw their way back on."

The decline in VO2 max and muscle mass can be slowed through consistent training, and Turner pointed out that Mike Woods might just have a secret weapon. "He comes from a running background, and whereas cycling muscle recruitment is fully concentric - all the forces are developed by pushing - running has a lot of eccentric forces, where force is applied as your muscles are lengthening.

That improves muscular and tendon strength and durability. It's great for injury prevention and bone mineral density ." Running might have slowed down Woods's ageing? "For his age, he'll probably have better muscular and bone health than many other pro cyclists," Turner added. "That might be why he's a bit more of a punchy rider for his age. I think it's noticeable ."

Woods certainly seems to have greater potential than Thomas to take a stage win in this year's Tour. Over recent years, the Welshman has shown a steadier, less punchy style, whereas Woods won a Vuelta summit stage only last year - and the Canadian National Road Championships. He's still a winning rider.

While pure aerobic fitness might be maintainable with a lot of work, one thing that is far harder to retain is the fast-twitch muscle needed for short, sharp efforts. It tails off with age in favour of the slow-twitch fibres that underpin steady-state efforts such as time trials or going through-and-off in the break.

If a stage comes down to a sprint or explosive uphill effort, older riders will always struggle to scoop the win. The fastest finisher is likely to have been born after 1995. One rider born a decade earlier who managed to defy the fast-twitch law is Mark Cavendish. He sprinted to a record 35th stage victory last year at Saint Vulbas at the age of 39. It did not stop him from declaring three months later that he felt "old and broken". "It takes me a while to get going," he said in an interview with Men's Health.

"These days, I'm like a diesel engine - which I never was before ." Simply getting fit had become a major challenge, he added. "You can't take longer than a week off at this stage of your career because it takes so long to get it back."

Succeeding as an older rider isn't all about fighting off the physical decline. There is a huge mental element too. The same pressures that Tosatto predicts will lead to today's youngest stars retiring by age 30 take their toll on older riders too - especially once they have families of their own to worry about.

Mark Cavendish, Geraint Thomas - plus recently retired Luke Rowe and Romain Bardet - they all have one thing in common. At the top of their reasons for retiring is spending more time with family. "Physically everyone can race on," Thomas said in 2023. "It's if you lose the love for it, or if the pull of your family is greater, you stop...

One of the biggest reasons to end my career is because I want to spend more time at home with my family. We want to send my son to school in Wales, and that counts."

Tosatto too described the necessary months away from the family as "a really big challenge", but he also pointed out a less obvious advantage for older riders: they have seen it all before and learnt how to stay calm. "It's a stronger mentality," he said. "If you're in the gruppetto, you don't panic. If you arrive at the finish ultra-tired, you don't panic. The head is such an important factor ."

This is why it's usually an older rider who is appointed road captain - a role Geraint Thomas is likely to take on at this year's Tour de France. An old head takes strategic decisions unclouded by panic and informed by a dozen or more years in the peloton. Are riders like Thomas and Woods a dying breed?

That remains to be seen. The number of riders thriving into their mid-30s and beyond may well begin to dwindle but the sport has always found space for an old guard - those who bring not just experience but resilience, racecraft and perspective. They might be affectionately dubbed "gramps" by the new generation, but they're often the ones calling the shots. And every now and then, with timing and tenacity, they still take the win

Geraint Thomas has all but confirmed he will ride the Tour de France one final time, posting on Instagram his ritual pre-race haircuit selfie.

Ineos Grenadiers are still yet to announce their eight-man squad for the race, which begins on Saturday, which has led to speculation over the make-up of the team, and also what is delaying the announcement.

Last month, Thomas crashed at the Tour de Suisse, a heart-in-mouth moment for fans who were hoping for one final Tour de France for the Welshman, who will retire at the end of the year.

After Thomas rode on to the finish, his team announced that he had withdrawn from the race ahead of stage four as a "precautionary measure".

“I just hit a lip on the side of the road, really,” Thomas told reporters after the finish line on stage three. “It was my fault, but then I just kind of got my foot caught behind me and I just twisted all my knee and my hamstring – it was just a dead leg.”

"My knee didn't feel too bad, it was more the muscles and from the twisting of it really," Thomas said on last week's episode of his podcast, Watts Occuring. "The doc was basically like: 'we don't want to take the risk, we think you're better just having a few days off, make sure it's 100 per cent and then you can train again and be good for the Tour' rather than battling away through here.

"I think because it was Suisse and two weeks out from the Tour, they were super cautious with that side of things. Any other race it probably would have been like 'oh just start tomorrow, see how you are'. So I wanted to start, but it made sense, so that was the call."

However, with Ineos's Tour line=up still a mystery, there were fears that the 39-year-old had not recovered in time to race his 14th Tour de France, the race he won in 2018, and finished second at in 2019, and third in 2022.

The Instagram post has allayed those fears, suggesting very strongly that Thomas will be in Lille on Saturday for the French Grand Tour. He is set to be the oldest rider in the race, with his first appearance at the race coming in 2007.

"The final pre-Tour chop," Thomas captioned the image, which shows his wife Sara preparing to cut his hair.

Geraint Thomas has said his recovery is going to plan after abandoning the Tour de Suisse and that the knee injury sustained in the crash seems "pretty good" as he builds for one final Tour de France.

The Welshman, who is set to retire at the end of the season, is currently at home in Monaco completing the final stages of his rehab as he returns to training before travelling to Lille for the Grand Départ next week.

Ineos Grenadiers are yet to confirm their line up for the second Grand Tour of the season, but speaking on his Watts Occurring podcast, Thomas spoke as if he is going to the race.

"My knee didn't feel too bad, it was more the muscles and from the twisting of it really," he said. "The doc was basically like: 'we don't want to take the risk, we think you're better just having a few days off, make sure it's 100 per cent and then you can train again and be good for the Tour' rather than battling away through here.

"I think because it was Suisse and two weeks out from the Tour, they were super cautious with that side of things. Any other race it probably would have been like 'oh just start tomorrow, see how you are'. So I wanted to start, but it made sense, so that was the call."

Thomas said that he "hated" the rehab process so was grateful that this time round the injury had been "straightforward" to deal with.

"It seems pretty good now," he said, assessing his knee and any after effects of the crash. "I need a big week now, that's the only problem. I'm not really chasing it, but it's more just the mental side. I could have had five more days of racing."

Thomas explained that having missed the rest of what would have been a key build up race, he now feels he needs to match the "intensity" of racing in the last few days of training before the Tour gets underway.

"I was also thinking, I've only got one more week of that," he said, explaining that his last week before the race will be his final serious racing build up before retirement.

"So a week of that, I'll go to the Tour, then I've got three weeks until the Tour of Germany, then there's a week in between until the Tour of Britain, but that will be a lot less intense, I'll be training, obviously, but it's a different vibe. So it's just one more week, that's all I've got to commit to now."

It was an image that struck fear in British cycling fans, especially with less than three weeks to go until the Tour de France. On Tuesday’s stage of the Tour de Suisse, with 60km to go, the television cameras cut to Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), sitting on the floor and clutching his left knee.

Replays showed the Welshman crashed on a hairpin bend as the peloton bunched together on a descent. So tight was the corner, that Thomas fell almost in slow motion, grinding to a halt as he toppled onto the asphalt.

After Thomas rode on to the finish, Ineos Grenadiers announced on Wednesday morning that he had withdrawn from the race ahead of stage four as a "precautionary measure". The 2018 Tour de France winner is hoping to make one final appearance at the Grand Tour next month. Suddenly, his participation appears thrown into doubt.

“I just hit a lip on the side of the road, really,” Thomas told reporters after the finish line. “It was my fault, but then I just kind of got my foot caught behind me and I just twisted all my knee and my hamstring – it was just a dead leg.”

After sitting on the floor for more than a minute, the Ineos Grenadiers rider was helped to his feet by a race doctor. He then slowly swung his leg back over his bike and continued down the descent.

Via the medical car, and with the help of three team-mates, Thomas was able to rejoin the peloton some 20km later.

“I struggled to bend it for the first minute or so, but then once I got on the bike and got rolling it freed up a bit,” he explained. “It’s just a bit sore – the muscles and stuff are a bit strained, but it’s all OK.”

Stage three of the Tour de Suisse was won solo by US champion Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), who tore clear off the breakaway with 20km to go. In his post-race interview, the American dedicated his win to Gino Mäder, who died after crashing at the race two years ago.

Thomas finished 133rd on Tuesday, in a group more than 15 minutes down on the leaders. The Welshman is set to retire this year after September's Lloyds Tour of Britain Men, which is expected to finish in Cardiff, Thomas’s hometown, in tribute to his career.

The eight-stage Tour de Suisse continues on Wednesday with its first category-one mountain test.

Not since 2018 has Geraint Thomas competed at the British National Championships, but that could change later this month, with the Welshman down to make one final appearance before he retires later this year.

The 39-year-old Ineos Grenadiers rider is one of a host of WorldTour riders named on the provisional start list for this year’s championships. He is entered to race the time trial on 26 June as well as the road race on 29 June, both of which will take place in his native Wales.

A past winner of both events, Thomas earned his sole time trial title in 2018, the year he went on to win the Tour de France. He won the road race in 2010, but hasn’t competed in the event since 2014.

Also on the start list are all of the reigning elite national champions. In the open events, Ethan Hayter, now of Soudal Quick-Step, is set to defend his stripes in the road race, while Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) could score a hat-trick of wins in the time trial, this time on home roads in Aberaeron, provided he has recovered from injuries suffered at the Giro d'Italia.

In the women’s events, Anna Henderson (Lidl-Trek), too, could earn her third elite national time trial title. A fourth gold medal is on the line in the road race for Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic PostNL), who has won three of the last four editions.

Further previous national champions are also set to compete in Alice Towers (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto), Lizzie Holden (UAE Team ADQ), Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) Ben Swift and Connor Swift (Ineos Grenadiers).

Still only 19 years old, double junior world champion Cat Ferguson (Movistar) will enter as one of the favourites in the women’s road race. The teenager is set to race alongside fellow up-and-coming talents Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto), Imogen Wolff (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Carys Lloyd (Movistar), as well as the best of the British domestic scene, including National Road Series leader Robyn Clay (DAS-Hutchinson) and Lincoln GP winner Lauren Dickson (Handsling Alba Development Road Team).

On the men’s start list, other star names include Matthew Brennan, who has enjoyed a winning start to the year at Visma-Lease a Bike, tallying eight victories, and last year’s breakthrough rider Joe Blackmore (IPT).

The Lloyds British National Championships will open with the time trials on Thursday 26 June, on a 41km course for the elite men and 27km for the elite women. The circuit races will then follow in Aberystwyth on Friday 27 June, before the road races, also in Aberystwyth, on Sunday 29 June. The men will race 187km, while the women will race 128km.

Thomas’s appearance would make for the Welshman’s penultimate race on British soil before his retirement. He is expected to call time on his career at the Tour of Britain Men in September, which is slated to finish in his hometown of Cardiff.

It is worth noting that, just because a rider’s name is on the start list, it does not necessarily mean that they are certain to compete. Many riders enter events provisionally, with plans subject to change nearer the date.

The Tour of Britain Men could finish in Cardiff this September to pay tribute to Geraint Thomas, in what is set to be his final race for Ineos Grenadiers.

The event is likely to finish in the Welsh capital, directly beneath Cardiff Castle, and pass close by to the outdoor velodrome, home of Maindy Flyers Cycling Club - the first club the 2018 Tour de France winner joined when starting out in the sport in his home city. Negotiations are understood to still be ongoing with local authorities regarding the exact nature of the 2025 route, however.

Speaking at the time of his retirement announcement, Thomas said on his Watts Occurring podcast that he hoped the Tour of Britain race director, Rod Ellingworth, could orchestrate a grand exit for him on his final professional outing. The duo have maintained a close relationship since working together on the British Cycling academy, which later continued when Ellingworth joined Ineos Grenadiers.

"If you could pick anything then it would be finishing on home roads and the Tour of Britain is exactly that," Thomas said. "Rod [Ellingworth], who's my old coach from the academy, then obviously he was part of [Team] Sky for so many years, he's the race director there as well. So I've asked him to pull a few favours, possibly go into Wales for the final stage, possibly Cardiff city centre outside the castle, that would be awesome."

As well as finishing beneath the castle, the race organisation are said to be working on a passage over nearby Caerphilly Mountain - last used in the Tour of Britain in 2023 - before venturing into Cardiff.

Race director Ellingworth did little to deny speculation regarding the Cardiff route when speaking to Velo recently: "There's a few little challenges but the final part will be dead exciting and I think there'll be some really good racing. As Geraint is retiring, I think it will be a brilliant finish for him."

Sources also told CW that the Tour of Britain Men is likely to be used as an opportunity to test potential routes for the 2027 Tour de France Grand Départ in the UK - the final day into Cardiff could be one of the stages potentially used by ASO, the Tour de France's organisers, during the race's visit to Britain.

Little is currently publicly confirmed regarding the Grand Départ, other than that the race will begin in Edinburgh. It is understood that ASO could potentially use Britain's biggest elite men's race as an opportunity to trial a proposed course in a similar way to how the Critérium du Dauphiné does so for the Tour. ASO were approached for comment but did not respond.

A spokesperson for British Cycling said: "We'll be announcing details of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men's stages soon and look forward to sharing all of the official route news with excited fans.”

Geraint Thomas is reported to be set for a move into a senior management role at Ineos Grenadiers when he retires at the end of the season.

The Welshman is currently at a high altitude training camp in the Sierra Nevada and building for one final Tour de France in July. His last race is set to be the Tour of Britain Men in September.

Thomas told The Guardian this month that a new role with the team had been mentioned but suggested that a decision had not yet been made. The Welshman already heads up a rider representative group which reports directly to the team’s CEO John Allert and Head of Performance Scott Drawer.

According to a report from Escape Collective on Thursday evening, Thomas is expected to turn down a role within the team’s DS pool and coaching staff when he steps off the bike. He will instead move into a newly-created position directly beneath team CEO John Allert in the senior management set-up, alongside Drawer and Director of Performance Operations Carsten Jeppesen.

Drawer told Cyclingnews at the Giro d’Italia that bringing Thomas into the management fold makes sense for all parties: "We'd be crazy not to think about Geraint being part of the team in the future. Geraint's got unique skills that we don't have. We'd like to tap into what Geraint knows. He's got huge respect and credibility in the sport. He's the current team captain and plays a big role in that."

After a difficult season in 2024, Ineos have begun 2025 brightly, picking up multiple wins in recent months. Josh Tarling told Cycling Weekly in March that the team had undergone a mentality reset during the off season in order to return to winning ways, with part of that being a more open approach to feedback within the management structure.

The Ineos hierarchy has long been clear that the team's intention is to return to its former glory as one of the most dominant forces in the men’s WorldTour. A reported "multimillion-pound" deal with TotalEnergies is expected provide valuable capital to help the team achieve its goal of competing for victory again at the Tour de France.

As a former winner of the race in 2018, Thomas would be able to provide valuable insight and guidance as Ineos look to return to the top step of the podium in Paris. The Welshman is one of the team’s longest serving riders and has been part of the set-up since 2010 and the inception of Team Sky.

"I love cycling and the team, so would love to stay involved in some capacity," he recently told The Guardian when asked about a new role for 2026. "I think I’ve got a lot to offer on performance and going after bike races. There’d be a lot to learn as well, which is also exciting. It all depends on the role I’d end up doing, but that’s the type of challenge I’d be looking for."

After beginning his career on the track with British Cycling, Thomas turned professional with the Barloworld team and moved to the road. His early successes came in one-day races before he began to target stage races and develop as a potential Grand Tour rider. He has won some of cycling’s most prestigious stage races, including Paris-Nice in 2016 and the 2018 Critérium du Dauphiné, and finished on the podium at the Giro d’Italia in 2023 and 2024.

According to Escape, Thomas's new role at Ineos is expected to be confirmed later this year.

Ineos Grenadiers continued to put their worst year on record behind them at Paris-Nice last week with a display of aggressive racing which team management said showcased the "fighting spirit" and resilience within the riders.

The team have been in good form this year, and the momentum continued at the Race to the Sun.

Ineos were on the attack throughout the race, getting Tobias Foss and Josh Tarling up the road and in the fight for stage wins. The end result was victory in the overall team classification, third overall through Thymen Arensman, and a final day stage win in Nice from Magnus Sheffield.

Speaking on the Promenade des Anglais, Ineos sports director Oli Cookson said that the team's current crop of talented "young and hungry" riders would ensure that they could continue their fine form in the months ahead.

"All of the team are in solid, solid shape and were hungry for this," he said. "I think all the guys really deserve it. The whole peloton has suffered all week in the weather and our guys have been warriors. I think with Magnus, it was a really great performance. He lives nearby and knows the roads, but we had a plan this week and knew that one would compliment the other."

The fine form this year started with Egan Bernal’s victories in both the road race and time trial at the Colombian national championships. Michał Kwiatkowski then took the team’s first pro win in 226 days at the Clásica Jaén in Spain.

"I think it's just one guy wins, and then it just goes from there," Sheffield said on Sunday evening as he assessed the team's current momentum. "You can talk about the culture too, and we have a motto in the team - all in. I think today, especially, was a true testament to that, we were all in for each other."

"I think it's been clear we've all got a little bit extra in us this year," Josh Tarling added. "I think there was a lot of talking last year about changing the mentality, but this year, there has been a lot more actual doing. I think you can feel it. Everybody's really motivated and there's the belief it'll work as well, which is the really nice part of that."

The team's management setup has undergone a significant overhaul in the last couple of years, with some of the fallout played out in public.

During last year’s Tour de France, the new setup was scrutinised and was likened to a "coalition government" by Geraint Thomas. Dan Bigham also left the team, hinting at issues between him and the team's performance director, Scott Drawer, and a lack of autonomy in his role on departure.

Tarling said that he felt the difficult dynamic was now in the past. "I just think we have really changed the coaching styles around," he said. "The training camps, they were sort of harder to survive [in the past], rather than being like a get together, if you get me. So it has been a really good, a really good change."

"I'm not sure there wasn't clarity before," Cookson added. "But I would say that we have a clear idea and we've worked a lot and talked a lot with the riders and the performance group about how we're going to race this year and our approach to it.

"I think the riders are also really enjoying racing, and if you can enjoy any job you do, it's really key. They're going out with a buzz and a fighting spirit and believe that they can define a race and engineer scenarios that will allow our objectives to be fruitful. Everyone's been involved, the riders and staff, in talking about this and moving it forward."

Robbie McEwen has said that he believes Ineos Grenadiers have a "fresh mentality" coming into the new season which is already bringing them results.

After enduring their worst ever season on record, the team has started 2025 with a bang, winning four times in the first few races of the year.

Michał Kwiatkowski achieved Ineos’ first pro win in 226 days at the Clásica Jaén last week. That was then followed up with Josh Tarling taking victory in the time trial at the UAE Tour, marking the team’s first WorldTour win in 254 days in the process. Prior to those two victories, Egan Bernal won the time trial and road race at the Colombian national championships.

Filippo Ganna appeared to have added to the tally on stage one of the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal. But the opening stage was subsequently cancelled in unusual circumstances.

Speaking on Thursday, TNT Sports expert McEwen backed Ineos to continue their rich vein of form and said that he believed the influence of the more senior figures on the team was partly behind their bright start.

"I think it’s the riders themselves who have brought about the turnaround," McEwen said. "Obviously, they’re the ones pushing the pedals, but from the outside looking in, it seems like the riders have taken much more ownership of their roles within the team. Before, everything was very structured—they were told exactly when to do things, there was a formula to follow.

"Now, it looks like they’re just out there racing their bikes, without overthinking it or waiting for instructions over the race radio. I think they were getting bogged down by all the planning and structure. Now they’re racing with their hearts again. They’re throwing themselves into races and enjoying it, rather than going through a process that’s filled with pressure."

He added: "I think it’s the veterans in the team, like [Michal] Kwiatkowski and Geraint Thomas, who are leading the charge with this new attitude. It really feels like a fresh mentality, and I think that’s driving the team forward, and I’m liking what I’m seeing."

Ineos recently signed Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan from Jayco AIUla, suggesting that the team could partly shift its identity in the coming weeks towards one more focused on sprint stages in Grand Tours. The team has always predominantly been a GC centred squad in the biggest races of the season.

Ewan has not won a WorldTour race since 2022, but McEwen said he believes the 30-year-old is in the right environment now.

He said: "The important thing is that Caleb feels confident, that he’s really welcomed into the team, and that the team is invested in having a sprinter who can win on flat stages. They’ve got the firepower to support him. He just needs to find one or two guys he can really gel with, and if they have some success together, I think that confidence will build. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out in the first few races.

"It might be a bit of a struggle at first, considering he hasn’t raced much recently, but I’m willing to give him a couple of months to find top form and start grabbing wins. It would be great to see an INEOS jersey back in the mix in the bunch sprints again."

TNT Sports is the home of cycling in the UK and Ireland. Watch The Ultimate Cycling Show every Thursday at 10pm on Quest.

One of the qualities that kept Geraint Thomas at the top of the pro peloton for 18 years is the Welshman’s robust nature and mental strength, his first British Cycling coach, Rod Ellingworth, said this week.

Thomas announced this week that he will retire at the end of the season, and he hopes to ride the Tour de France one final time in July. The 38-year-old said that the plan is to then finish racing at the Tour of Britain Men in September.

Ellingworth has been heavily involved with Thomas throughout his career. The duo first worked together after Ellingworth set up the British Cycling Academy in 2004, before collaborating at Team Sky, and later in its more recent guise as Ineos Grenadiers.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly on Wednesday, Ellingworth said Thomas' attitude and work ethic was second to none, and that the "lack of bullshit" with the Cardiff-born rider was one of his best attributes.

"G has always stayed at a pretty high level, all the way through his career," he said. "It was evident from when he was a young kid that mentally, he's really strong, and he's always been very determined. When he wants to do something, he's always got what it takes to put that effort in and and go as far as he needs with that.

"I think he's robust in terms of he's had plenty of crashes, but he bounces back, which just shows how strong he is in his head too. I think a lot of people with the accidents that he's had would have perhaps thought, no, I've had enough of this, but he's certainly strong in that sense."

"The one thing I've always said to everybody about Geraint, is that if Geraint is lying on the floor, you know it's bad," Ellingworth added. "That's because that kid doesn't lie on the floor. He gets up, he's bloody strong in his head and a tough character.

"If he stays down for more than 30 seconds or so after a crash, you know he's in a bad way. There's no bullshit with Geraint, that's what I've always liked with him, there's no bullshit whatsoever."

Ellingworth said Thomas' long list of achievements on the bike, as well as his character off it, has meant he has become a role model and inspiration for many.

"I think what's interesting is you look at your Remcos and some of your other younger up and coming bike riders now, I think they all look up to G and I think they all respect him and what he does," Ellingworth said. "I think G just has an X-factor around the peloton. Everybody really respects him as he's won near enough everything. He’s won a classic, he's won one week stage races, he's won a Grand Tour, and that’s just in road racing, he's crossed off everything, really."

"He can laugh about himself, and he doesn't take himself too seriously sometimes," Ellingworth added. "He's into numbers, but some people are just so into numbers that it kills them. G is into it to a degree that it informs him on what he needs to do, but that's it.

"He just rides his bike, he loves riding his bike, and he loves the training and he loves the competition side, but he's never too serious about it all. He'll go off and have a beer at some point and let his hair down. And I think that's what's allowed him to relax and enjoy his cycling and enjoy life as well."

Geraint Thomas represents "all the best things about the golden era of British Cycling", a former president of the UCI said, as many paid tribute to the rider, who announced that this season will be his last.

Thomas, a two-time Olympic gold medallist on the track and former Tour de France winner, revealed on Monday that he hopes to make one final appearance at the French Grand Tour this July.

Paying tribute to Thomas, the Tour's race director Christian Prudhomme said he was looking forward to finding a moment to socialise with the 2018 Tour winner and reflect on his achievements together.

"Geraint Thomas is a rider with a formidable career and palmarès," Prudhomme told Cycling Weekly. "He's also a great guy, capable of sacrificing himself for others as well as being a leader. Someone I would love having a beer with over the next few years. I wish him the best."

Former UCI president Brian Cookson praised Thomas' dedication to the sport.

"For me, Geraint Thomas represents all the best things about the golden era of British Cycling," Cookson wrote. "A talented athlete spotted at an early age and given all the right support at every stage of his career, certainly. But to achieve what he has achieved over his long career has taken incredible qualities of hard work, dedication, commitment and strength of personality.

"And all of this combined with being such a nice guy, reliable and approachable, has made him a unique figure in our sport. To sum him up - the bike rider’s bike rider. Chapeau, G, and good luck with the rest of your final season and everything you do in future!"

"The one thing that really jumps out at me about Geraint is the longevity he’s had," Jayco AlUla DS Steve Cummings told Cycling Weekly . "This is going to be his 19th year which is just exceptional really. To have been at such a high level for that time is just amazing."

"I remember meeting him [for the first time] in Asda [by Manchester Velodrome]," Cummings added. "He was quiet, really calm and he was just always laid back. He just always got on with it and that’s how he is really, I don’t think he’s changed too much. He’s always been really good to work with both as a rider and then when I became a DS."

"I remember when he was about to win the Tour I was watching from back at home," Cummings recalled. "I remember he locked his back wheel in that time trial. I couldn’t watch it, so I had to leave the room which is not like me at all. I was just so pleased for him afterwards."

A true legend of Welsh and British sport

Thomas started his cycling journey at the the historic Maindy Flyers club in his home city of Cardiff.

"When Geraint retires at the end of this season it will mark 30 years since he first climbed on a bike with Maindy Flyers," club spokesperson Alan Davis told CW.

"His achievements are unmatched and he is a true legend of Welsh and British sport. He has been a constant inspiration to young riders at Maindy, many of whom have followed in his footsteps to become World and Olympic Champions."

"Words cannot express how proud we are of Geraint,” he added. “He can be sure of a huge welcome in Cardiff in September and our continued support in his future ventures. For youngsters who continue to be inspired by Geraint and would like to give cycling a go, you are very welcome at Maindy."

Geraint Thomas has confirmed he will retire at the end of 2025 and hopes to ride one final Tour de France before concluding his career on home roads at the Tour of Britain.

Speaking on the Geraint Thomas Cycling Club podcast, the 38-year-old Welshman joked that his approaching retirement from the sport had long been an open secret, but said that now was the right time to bring the curtain down on his 19 year career which included victory at the French Grand Tour in 2018.

Thomas is also a two-time Olympic gold medallist on the track, along with three World Championships golds in the team pursuit.

"This year is going to be my final year racing my bike, which is kind of weird because it’s always been in the back of my mind," Thomas said. "But the last maybe four years, I’ve always been like, this will be the last contract, it’s always sort of postponed and delayed, I end up signing again. But no, it’s official now. This is my last year which is kind of weird."

"You can’t keep doing it forever," he added. "I don’t want to be that guy on the bus that’s a bit of a grumpy person. I’m still really enjoying riding my bike and I still really enjoy racing, the training as well and just that feeling of getting fitter and just pushing yourself.

"That’s what I’ve loved since I was 12, just racing and always trying to go faster and longer and all this. So that hasn’t changed and that hasn’t dwindled at all. But as the years go by, I don’t want to get to that stage where I’m like, I should have stopped last year because I don’t want to be here right now."

Referencing friends whose final career moments have been blighted by injury, Thomas said that he feels fortunate to be in a position to make the choice himself.

"I’m very lucky to be able to call it myself and take that decision, and to do it early as well so I can really enjoy this last season," he said. "It’s a season of lasts, it’s last October camp, last December camp, I won’t miss any of them. Well, December camp is ok, but it’s just the process that’s hard. You just get your arse kicked by 25 blokes for two weeks. You usually come out of it feeling a lot fitter, which I think will be one of the things I miss, just that feeling of being super fit and lean, just going well and cruising up hills and mountains."

"It would be nice to go to the Tour one more time," he added as he discussed his plans for his final year. "Go there in the best shape I can basically, assuming Carlos [Rodríguez] is going to be there riding for GC as our leader, then I’d love to help him as best I can, or whoever that is. And then obviously to try and go for a stage, I think in my final year to win a stage at the Tour would be pretty cool."

As well as the Tour de France, Thomas said his last race calendar will likely include the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal, the Volta a Catalunya, the Tour de Romandie and the Tour de Suisse. After potentially one final Tour de France, Thomas explained that he is then hoping to wrap up his career on home roads at the Tour of Britain.

"If you could pick anything then it would be finishing on home roads and the Tour of Britain is exactly that," Thomas said. "Rod [Ellingworth], who's my old coach from the academy, then obviously he was part of [Team] Sky for so many years, he’s the race director there as well. So I’ve asked him to pull a few favours, possibly go into Wales for the final stage, possibly Cardiff city centre outside the castle, that would be awesome."

Maindy Flyers Youth Cycling Club in South Wales have expressed their relief after Cardiff Council binned plans to move its historic outdoor velodrome to a new location elsewhere in the city.

Maindy Velodrome is a historical institution in the local region and has been the home of the club since it was formed in 1995 in Maindy Park. It is also the location where 2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas started out along with the likes of Elinor Barker and Owain Doull.

The local council has had plans in place to expand the nearby Cathays High School onto the site for a number of years with the club potentially having to relocate as a result to a new velodrome in the Cardiff Bay area of the city. At the time plans were being drawn up, Maindy's co-chairman Alan Davis expressed grave concerns regarding the new project.

However, late last week it was revealed that plans for the new site at Cardiff International Sports Village in the bay area had been axed in favour of a new golf facility instead which Davis told Cycling Weekly was a relief.

"We would never oppose it if the council wanted to build a new velodrome in Cardiff to support what we were already doing at Maindy," he said. "But what Maindy provides is what we think is a fairly unique facility in that it combines both road and track.

"Our concern with the plans for the new velodrome, apart from the location, was that the design of the track was dictated not by the needs of cyclists, but by the amount of space that was available to put a track on."

He added: "We were going to end up with a track that was very much oriented towards fixed wheel only, whereas at Maindy with the shallower banking and the longer track, we can train more people, we could train comfortably on both fixed wheel and free wheel bikes so it's much more versatile.

"That was our main concern. And if the council wants to propose building a new velodrome somewhere else, so long as Maindy is maintained, we'll support that all the way down the line. But we want to retain Maindy as it is a unique and historic venue. And we feel that what we have given to the cycling world, not just cycling in South Wales or Wales, or even Britain, is really important."

Lack of dialogue and consultation

Davis told Cycling Weekly that he believes the positive reputation both Maindy Flyers and their home venue has gradually built for itself has not gone unnoticed, partly due to a name drop from the club’s most well-known alumni, Thomas, during his victory celebrations after his Tour victory.

"I'm not aware of any other Tour de France champion standing on the podium in the Champs-Élysées, referring back to the kids where he started and naming that facility," he said. "In fact, we've just been approached by somebody who's planning to visit from South Africa for the summer. They have a young son and they have asked if they can come and join us for the summer. That's fantastic and purely based on the reputation that we have as a club."

Davis did however make clear that the issue of relocation has not gone away completely as the council may return with new plans.

According to a BBC report, the council are said to be considering alternative plans on "how to bring a closed-loop cycle track and velodrome to the city in the future" but a subsequent club statement from Maindy Flyers made clear that the club remained concerned at the lack of open dialogue and consultation between the interested parties, including Beicio Cymru (formerly Welsh Cycling), in order to ensure that the future of the outdoor track would be guaranteed.

"The club remains concerned that no long-term assurances have been made for the future of the Maindy Track," the club said. "Prior to the recent announcements and press statements neither the council or our own governing body engaged with us about these developments.

"The club remains committed to help any organisation that wishes to consult with us on the future needs of young cyclists. We welcome the opportunity to share our experience as the largest and most successful youth cycling club in Britain."

Geraint Thomas has suggested that the "people around" Tom Pidcock do not help him, after the latter had an apparent fallout with Ineos Grenadiers' management.

On the eve of ll Lombardia, Pidcock took to Instagram to reveal that he had been "deselected" by Ineos ahead of the final Monument of the men’s WorldTour season. Pidcock had previously been down on the provisional startlist.

"Just as things were on the up after a turbulent end to the year I am deselected for Lombardia tomorrow," Pidcock wrote on Instagram. "I am in great shape and was really looking forwarded to it! Good luck to the boys, I guess off season starts early. Thanks for everyone’s support even in the tough times."

Thomas discussed the tense situation with his Ineos teammate Laurens De Plus in a clip shared by Eurosport after the race - which was won by Tadej Pogačar - and said he knew little about the reasoning behind the move.

"I don’t actually know what has gone on," Thomas said. "It’s obviously a really c**p situation. He’s not happy, the team’s not happy. How has it got to this point? I don’t know."

"People around Tom I don’t think help," he added. "It's the fact he had a great chance of performing today. I saw that Zak said it’s a management call, it’s not a performance call. So I certainly don’t know anything about that… It’s just not good is it? All the bulls**t aside, he’s a great talent."

Ineos Grenadiers have largely remained silent since the news of Pidcock’s deselection broke. Cycling Weekly reached out to the team for a comment.

DS Zak Dempster spoke to Cyclingnews before Lombardia to discuss the situation, acknowledging that the decision looked "strange" and confirmed that it was a call from the management and not a performance-based decision. Just a few days previously Pidcock finished second to Pogačar at the Giro dell’Emilia.

"I mean, these are Tom's words. Obviously, I'm not stupid - it does look strange, but, the reality is that the team has the right to select the team they feel fits it," Dempster said.

"That's all the information I have at the moment. it was a management decision on the final team, that's their right and here we are without Tom.

"We have a process in place where we have a long list of riders and then those final seven names that go on the list - it can be a performance decision, and in this case, it was a management decision."

There has been speculation surrounding Pidcock's long term future throughout the summer. He has been heavily linked with a move away from the team and this has been amplified in the wake of his social media comments.

It was reported recently that Q36.5 Pro Cycling are one of the teams chasing the Brit’s signature. Journalist Daniel Benson has since reported that several WorldTour teams, including Visma-Lease a Bike, are also interested in Pidcock.

On the eve of this year’s Tour de France, the 25-year-old told Cycling Weekly that he believed the team would be "better" without Steve Cummings, the team’s director of racing, at the French Grand Tour. At the Olympics, Pidcock said that transfer speculation surrounding his future at Ineos Grenadiers had left him mentally "frazzled". This came after he had successfully defended his mountain bike gold.

Geraint Thomas’s continued participation in the 2024 Tour de France is in doubt, with the Welshman revealing that he has mild symptoms of Covid.

The Ineos Grenadiers rider finished 31 minutes behind stage 14 winner Tadej Pogačar on Pla d'Adet, just hours after his teammate Tom Pidcock was sent home from the race for also displaying symptoms of Covid.

Thomas, who won the yellow jersey in 2018, told ITV Sport at the start of the day that "I'm also not great. I've not tested positive [for Covid], just got mild symptoms.

"The doctor is monitoring me closely and they have their protocol when it comes to respiratory infections. At the moment I've got a bit of a headache and a runny nose and we'll see how it goes.

"In any other walk of life I'd be absolutely fine but trying to race the Tour is slightly different."

Covid exists in the Tour peloton, with UAE Team Emirates's Juan Ayuso leaving the race midway on stage 13 after contracting the pandemic virus. Several teams have now introduced precautionary measures, including the use of masks.

Zak Dempster, Ineos's lead sports director at the race, said after stage 14 that "unfortunately we're back to the not-new old normal and obviously with G it depends how the situation evolves. If it would progress to the point that he would be in danger then it wouldn't make sense to start. 

"You see in our decision making we are protecting the riders if we feel it's not safe for them to do so, and we'll continue to do that now and into the future."

Dempster had previously said of Pidcock that health came before any sporting interest for the squad.

"He's been a bit under the weather for the last few days," he said. "It's a shame. The rider's health comes first. 

"It's not just any bike race. He was second on a stage, but he still had high hopes of winning stages and being a key player. Heading home today is a real shame and you've got to feel for the guy.

Thomas sits 33rd on GC, but his Ineos teammate Carlos Rodríguez is in fifth. The Spaniard, however, is almost four minutes shy of a podium spot. The British team are yet to win a stage of the race.

It was sweltering in Bologna as the Tour de France peloton crossed the finish line and were met by soigneurs with cold drinks, ice vests and towels to wipe sweat from their brow after an explosive finale to stage two which saw Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard ignite the race on the slopes of San Luca. 

Primož Roglič rolled towards his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team staff, unclipped and stood for a moment, staring into space as he caught his breath in the baking streets. He then unzipped his jersey, wrapped an ice sock around his neck and was quickly ushered away from a scrum of journalists before heading back to the sanctuary of the team’s air-conditioned bus. 

The temperatures soared in Emilia Romagna as the peloton surged into the final lap of the inner Bologna circuit to tackle the San Luca one final time. What happened next played out as many predicted; Tadej Pogačar launched a typically explosive attack, with Jonas Vingegaard jumping straight onto his wheel. 

After a brief pause, only Remco Evenepoel could follow, with the likes of Roglič and Ineos Grenadiers protected riders losing seconds in the melee. Pogačar now leads the race, with Evenepoel and Vingegaard tied on time with the Slovenian. 

Egan Bernal and Tom Pidcock both sit seventh and ninth on GC respectively, 21 seconds back. Speaking post-race, Pidcock remained positive. 

"It's not exactly what we’d hoped," he said. "But it was damage limitation in the end. There’s going to be minutes in three weeks. Twenty-one seconds doesn't mean anything."

Coming into the race, question marks hung over Vingegaard’s post-injury form after his brutal spring crash in the Basque Country. The Danish rider put any doubts regarding his physical shape to bed, instantly responding to the Slovenian when the battle kicked off. 

"I was not overly surprised, to be honest," Geraint Thomas said when asked for his take on Vingegaard’s form. "We knew he would be good. I expected Tadej to get a gap, so if he didn’t then fair play, hats off to Jonas."

Ineos DS Zak Dempster shared Pidcock’s positivity in his assessment of the day, suggesting that the gap at this stage shouldn’t be given much consideration. 

He said: "We couldn't respond. But I think, you know, 21 seconds at this stage isn’t too bad. We’re going to be talking about minutes in the third week…There were a bunch of other guys there that weren't able to hold the wheel either."

Primož Roglič was one of those other guys. The three-time Vuelta a España winner lost the same amount of time, but did not reappear after entering the Red Bull team bus. Roglič’s teammate, Jai Hindley, cooled down outside and told a group of gathered media that the heat had made a significant impact on proceedings. 

"It was just full gas cooking out there all day. It was really on and off on the climbs so it was a pretty strange day. Full gas basically both times up San Luca. It was really on the limit.

"We limited our losses as best as we could and really gave it everything. We’re 48 hours into a three week race. There’s plenty of racing to come. It’s not been too bad. It wasn’t a disaster day."

Remco Evenepoel’s effort to bridge across to Vingegaard and Pogačar earned him the white jersey for his troubles. 

"I had to do most of the work alone," Evenepoel explained in the mixed zone afterwards. "I think Richard [Carapaz] came through once only so I think it was thanks to me that we came back. But in the end, I think Tadej’s attack was quite explosive, quite impressive. 

"In the end I think it's good that I came back to the guys and finished with them and the others arrived 20 seconds behind. It’s better to be in front than behind."

"I think always at the beginning of a race I need to find my explosivity and I think that’s what came out today," he added. "The legs were good, but not super, like I said before, I'm still looking for my best shape and will try to go to 100-105%. I’m happy with today’s effort, but it wasn’t my best day on the bike. 

"I didn't lose any time to the two big favourites so that’s the positive thing about today."

Tom Pidcock is quietly confident and dreaming big ahead of the Tour de France Grand Départ in Florence. 

The British star is coming into the race primarily targeting stage wins, but says he is dreaming of pulling on the leader's yellow jersey during the opening weekend. 

Speaking at the Ineos Grenadiers team hotel on Wednesday, Pidcock said that he had accepted he would need to put his main general classification aims on hold for another year. However, he made clear that he would be targeting the overall lead in the opening stages. 

"For sure it's possible," Pidcock said when asked if he backed himself to take the yellow jersey in Italy. "It's kind of what I've been dreaming of this last month when I've been training hard. There's a lot of guys who will already be having the same dream so it's not going to be easy, but we're going to give it a good shot."

"I want to race aggressively and try to win some stages," he added. "Initially I don't want to lose time in the GC for the sake of it, but if I need to do that in order to achieve those goals of winning stages then I will later in the race."

Pidcock faces a busy summer of competition in which he will also attempt to defend the Olympic cross-country mountain gold medal that he won at the at the Games in Tokyo. The Yorkshireman explained that his ambitions at the Paris Olympics meant that inevitably he needed to recalibrate his goals at the Tour this time out. 

The 24-year-old won two Mountain Bike World Cup races last weekend before travelling to Florence. 

"I think next year is the first year that anyone will see what I'm actually capable of on GC here," he said.

Ineos Grenadiers go into this year's edition with Carlos Rodríguez heading up the team, the recent winner of the Tour de Romandie, and their main protected GC rider. The team also has another card to play in the fight for the podium in the form of Egan Bernal, a former Tour winner. 

"We want to come out of this race with success and however it comes is going to benefit us all," Pidcock said. "If we’re in the last week and fighting for the podium with one of these guys then we're going to go all in for that.

"I think if I was going for GC and so were Carlos and Egan, it's never easy for everybody because we’re all ambitious."

Pidcock's role will be "a bit more free" at the race, as he tries to go for stage wins. 

"If we get a stage win, it will take the pressure off a little," he said. "We want to race aggressively. How the team raced in the Giro was nice to see. That's what we want to do here as well."

Much has been said before the race regarding the likelihood of Tadej Pogačar igniting the race from the off on Saturday on the tough mountainous stage. The Slovenian is targeting the Giro-Tour double, a feat not achieved since Marco Pantani won both races in 1998. 

Pogačar attacked on stage one at the Giro in May on the hilly stage around Turin. But Ineos’s Jhonatan Narváez was able to follow the rampaging UAE Emirates rider and take the first pink jersey of the race. 

Asked by Cycling Weekly if he could pull off a similar feat at the Tour, Pidcock said: "Maybe, we will see. Of course we know who will be good and who will make a difference already. I think UAE have been out on the course today.

"I think they’re going to want to make a difference already at the start of this race knowing that Jonas Vingegaard is a bit of an unknown. I think they will want to put their cards on the table early in case he comes good in the final week.”  

Geraint Thomas expects he'll have the chance to race for a stage win at this year's Tour de France, where he will support his Ineos Grenadiers teammates in their GC bids. 

The 38-year-old, who won the yellow jersey in 2018, will line up in his 13th Tour on Saturday, returning to his former domestique role at the race. This time, Thomas will ride in support of Carlos Rodríguez, his team's outright leader, and Egan Bernal, who is also hoping for a strong GC showing. 

Speaking at a press conference outside Florence on Wednesday, Thomas said Ineos will be "looking to be aggressive in the right ways" over the next three weeks. 

"I'm super excited to be here," he said. "I missed it last year, doing a different programme. I did miss it. It's the biggest bike race in the world. To be here with these guys, looking to be aggressive in the right ways, try and win some stages, and perform in the GC obviously, it's exciting for me and what I dreamed of as a kid." 

Asked by Cycling Weekly if he expects to be given licence to hunt for stages himself, Thomas said: "I think I'll get the opportunity to go for a stage, but I think that can also benefit the guys riding GC as well. 

"Potentially, I could be up the road and not necessarily have the legs for the stage, but then you're up the road to help in other ways, you know? I think the two can work well together.

"Let's be honest, there are other teams that have more of a weight to take of the race than us, and bigger favourites. I think we can race differently as well. It's not like we're going to just pull on the front one by one until there's one guy left, because that's just not going to happen."

Thomas's last stage win at the Tour came in 2018, when he triumphed in the yellow jersey on Alpe d'Huez. 

Although he is under contract at Ineos until the end of 2025, he said he is aware that this year's edition of the race "could be my last". 

"I'll just be focused on the race and what we've got to do, to be honest. I think I’ll look back once it's all done," he said. "In the back of my mind, yeah, it could be my last, but I'm not thinking about that." 

The Welshman has not raced since placing third at the Giro d'Italia in May, and comes to the Tour off the back of a two-week altitude camp with the team in the Alps. 

"I definitely did some good work," he said of his recent training. "Whether I did too much or not enough, I won't know until we get going here. To this point, I've done everything I can to be in the best shape and help the guys."

The Tour de France begins this Saturday 29 June in Florence, Italy. 

Geraint Thomas has missed out on selection for the final Olympic Games of his career, with the Welshman not picked as part of the men's road squad, which was announced on Monday.

The 38-year-old, a double Olympic gold medallist on the track, was omitted from the five-man team for the road events, meaning he will not take part in the road race or time trial.

It will be the first Games the Ineos Grenadiers rider has missed since Athens in 2004, as the GB team looks towards the future. He is set to retire at the end of 2025.

Thomas won gold in the team pursuit at Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, before racing the time trial and road race at both Rio in 2016, and Tokyo in 2021.

In his place, the Welsh time trialling sensation Josh Tarling - last week crowned British champion for a second year in a row - and Ethan Hayter will likely compete in the race against the clock, with the latter also taking part in the track events.

Tarling will be joined by Fred Wright, Stevie Williams and Tom Pidcock in the road race; Pidcock will also compete in the XCO mountain bike event.

Thomas recently finished third overall at the Giro d'Italia, and is regularly a high finisher in time trials, coming fourth on stage 14 at the Italian Grand Tour. He also came second on two of the three individual time trials at the 2023 Giro. 

However, he is not known for his proficiency in one-day races, especially in recent years, although he has won gold in the Commonwealth Games Road Race in 2014.

Stephen Park, British Cycling's performance director, told The Guardian: "In his time-trialling, he’s not been in great form in our view. We try to think carefully and consider all the evidence in front of us. Clearly he had a good Giro and is in the [Ineos] Tour de France team. But there is some incredible competition and in the road race we have only four riders we can pick.

"We decided that the younger riders would be in better form getting to the end of the Tour, physically and mentally. With a one-day race, it’s different and Geraint will be at the end of a very long season by the time he gets there."

Thomas is part of Ineos Grenadiers' eight-man squad for the upcoming Tour de France, although he is not thought to be a leader, that being Carlos Rodríguez instead.

Tadej Pogačar has confirmed the full UAE Team Emirates squad for the fast approaching Tour de France as he gets set to challenge for a third overall victory, with Adam Yates set to play a key role. 

Fresh off the back of his dominant Giro d’Italia victory, in which he took six individual stage victories, Pogačar appeared on the Watts Occuring podcast and ran Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe through the team that will back him at the French Grand Tour. 

The UAE squad has been largely known for some time, but the Slovenian confirmed the full team on the podcast. 

"From December it didn’t move, we have a full star team," Pogačar said. "Yates will be my right hand [man]. Then [Juan] Ayuso, [João] Almeida are super-climbing domestiques. [Rafal] Majka will stay at home, I think he’s quite sad about this. Then [Marc] Soler and [Pavel] Sivakov will be the bigger climbers that can still maybe do something on the flat. Then Nils Pollitt and Tim Wellens too."

"Blimey! That is a hit squad," Thomas said in response to hearing the list of riders both he and Ineos Grenadiers will go up against in France.  

"It is, it is. And it scares me also," Pogačar jokingly added in response to Thomas’ assessment.  

Pogačar took control of the Giro from the word go in May and rarely looked back. He explained that the different nature of this year’s Tour may mean that an aggressive start from UAE is unlikely to materialise. 

Adam Yates famously pulled on the race’s first yellow jersey in Bilbao last year, but Pogačar said a different approach may be needed for the first few stages in Italy. 

"The start is super hard," he said. "In Bilbao we were super aggressive and that backfired a bit. Ok, the shape was not super good, like crazy good last year, so I need to think about it a bit." 

"I think the last three stages with how they designed this route, the last three days are brutal," he added as he looked ahead to the final week which will see the race conclude in Nice due to the Paris Olympics.

Meanwhile much of the talk in the build-up to the Tour so far has been based around whether or not two-time champion Jonas Vingegaard will be on the start line in Florence. Back in April, the Danish rider suffered brutal injuries including a broken collarbone, fractured ribs and punctured lung, in a high speed crash at Itzulia Basque Country. 

Vingegaard has only recently returned to training as he looks to get fit for the Tour. His coach Tim Heemskerk recently told Cycling Weekly that he will only travel to Florence if 100% fit. His training has stepped up as he headed to an altitude camp in Tignes this month. 

Pogačar and Thomas both said that they expect the Dane to be ready in time. 

Pogačar said: "For me, yes [he will be at the start]. I think he was riding the bike quite soon after leaving the hospital so if he’s comfortable already riding on the bike back then he can be in good shape.

"The thing most people are saying is that it depends if he can reach race weight, but I don’t think it will be a problem."

"If he’s fine to push himself in training then I think he can still be really good," Thomas added. 

The Tour de France gets underway in Florence, Italy on Saturday 29 June. 

This past week will go down in history as the one that gave rise to the greatest camera shot ever taken at a bike race. 

The video came at the Tour of Norway, a four-day ProTour event, won by Alpecin-Deceuninck's Axel Laurance. I'll be honest, I didn't watch any of the race. You probably didn't, either. But one 17-second clip put it right at the front of my mind. 

On stage three, at some point between the towns of Sola and Egersund, a cameraman from TDT-Unibet's media team embedded himself among a herd of cows, far away from the roadside. At first glance, it seems a terrible vantage point. Cows are kind, but terrifyingly large creatures, they generally come with a pong of manure, and, crucially, they'll only block the shot. What ended up happening was the opposite. 

The video, captured from a stationary camera, presents one cow, cartoonishly white with black splodges, standing right of centre and staring back down the lens. Behind, in a thin line across the middle of the shot, the front of the race peloton barrels past in single file. A lone fan can be seen at the roadside, waving a Norwegian flag. 

The composition is perfect enough, but the best moment comes towards the end of the clip when, after 10 seconds, the cow realises the commotion behind her and swings her head nonchalantly over her right shoulder. Spotting the last of the passing riders, she then tracks them off into the horizon. 

For me, the clip shows a beautifully serene side to bike racing. Some of my favourite camera shots have been at the sport's biggest events – like Thibaut Pinot riding through the masses at last year's Tour de France, or Tom Pidcock descending the Col du Galibier in 2022. Both scenes, in my mind at least, have now been outdone by a Norwegian cow. 

Elsewhere in this week's social media round-up, we pick up the final gems of content from the Giro d’Italia, including a bizarre taxidermy fox encounter and Geraint Thomas’s meme-making skills. Likewise, Valentin Madouas gets a mullet, and there are cameos from F1 and tennis stars. 

1. Viewed over 860,000 times, this is the most famous cow in cycling

2. What the fox? 

3. Fun fact: Geraint Thomas is the oldest podium finisher at the Giro d'Italia since... Geraint Thomas last year (scroll to the last pic in the gallery for the meme) 

4. Thomas told the press he's done with GC racing now, but his son Macs is only just getting started

5. Cheers to you, G. Moretti's a much better choice than Peroni, too

6. It's always nice when two cycling legends take time to pose with fans

7. It looks like F1's Charles Leclerc has caught the cycling bug. Add him to the list with Valtteri Bottas, George Russell and Carlos Sainz

8. Here's Laurence Pithie, Groupama-FDJ's promising Classics star, and surprisingly accomplished barber

9. You don't need to be fluent in emoji to understand what Luke Plapp went through

10. Forget pasta and rice, real champions ride on tikka masala

11. Likewise, potatoes are proper race fuel. Here's ambassador Toms Skujiņš eating them how they were made to be eaten – on the floor of a hotel

12. As for post-race food, look no further than M&S

13. Jan Ullrich, is that you? 

14. Fortunately, Jonathan Milan's handling is much better on the bike than it is spraying bottles of champagne

Geraint Thomas, 37, has said he is "feeling every one of those years" at the Giro d'Italia as he aims to take back his second place in the general classification. 

The Welshman, who currently sits third overall, will celebrate his 38th birthday on Saturday, riding two ascents of the Monte Grappa on stage 20. 

Speaking on Thursday evening on his podcast, Watts Occuring, Thomas said he hopes to "end on a high" at the race. 

"For myself, it's two big days now, and Saturday is the biggest," he said. "Saturday is just a solid day. It's two times up Monte Grappa, 18km around 8%, I think.

"It's a tough climb. The hardest bit's at the top, as well. It's not crazy altitude, but you know, it's a good hour's climbing. The last ten minutes are the hardest. [it will] definitely [be] a big, big day," he continued. "We'll certainly try and end on a high." 

Thomas will also have the extra motivation of the stage marking his birthday. "I'm feeling every one of those years at the minute," laughed the Welshman, who is the fourth oldest rider at the race, that title held by 41-year-old Domenico Pozzovivo (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè). 

"It's been intense. This race has been intense," Thomas said. "The Giro is anyway, but it'll be nice not to have a radio in my ear telling me about a technical section coming up, or this, or that, or rain. A Grand Tour these days is… phwoar."

Going into Friday's stage 19, Thomas trails second-placed Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) by 22 seconds. The Ineos Grenadiers rider lost that time on the ascent of the Monte Pana on stage 16, when he said he felt "a bit legless". 

"It was just one of them," Thomas said. "Mentally it was quite hard as well, because you're like, 'Ah I'm losing time.' And then a few people come past you and you try to stick in your rhythm."

The following day, the Ineos leader said he felt "felt a lot better", adding that he was "on a par" with Martínez. 

The goal now, Thomas continued, is to climb back up to second in the general classification. "The plan is to try and get the best result possible for both of us [me and Thymen Arensman]," he said. "Obviously if I can move up to second, and he can take the white [jersey], it'd be amazing, you know? Of course that's what we'll try to do."

On Sunday, Tadej Pogačar’s onslaught in the Giro d’Italia continued as he built an almost untouchable advantage in the general classification battle by winning stage 15 in Livigno. 

The Slovenian now leads Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) by almost seven minutes, and that could well increase further in the coming days with more mountain stages to come. 

Pogačar was on another level as he hammered on the pedals as he continued on his path to cycling immortality. 

Away from his exploits in the the pink jersey, here are our five other takeaways from the second week of action at the Italian Grand Tour. 

Could Julian Alaphilippe ride the Tour?  

Julian Alaphilippe’s solo breakaway victory last Thursday captured the hearts of many cycling fans across the world. 

The former two-time road world champion spent a long day in the breakaway on the hilly stage 12 alongside Polti-Kometa’s Mirco Maestri as he went in search of his first WorldTour win in months. After he then dropped Maestri on the day’s final climb, Alaphilippe soloed to the line to take a memorable win. 

Alaphilippe was initially just scheduled to ride the Giro this year but, according to reports, that could now be about to change. 

L’Equipe reported late last week that Remco Evenepoel, Soudal Quick-Step’s great hope for overall victory at the Tour de France this July, has led the push for the 31-year-old to be included in the Belgian team’s Tour squad this summer. 

After months of misfortune, that would be some turnaround for Alaphilippe indeed. 

Milan is comfortably the best sprinter at the race 

Last week, we predicted that the sprint stages would continue to be the most competitive part of this Giro after the opening week saw multiple sprinters come out on top. 

But seven days on, we now know that barring any major incident or disaster in the final week, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) will almost certainly run out the winner in the sprinter's competition. 

The Italian added two more victories to his tally last week and now has three wins to his name in this year’s Giro and has a comfortable lead in the ciclamino jersey competition. While Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) was forced out of the race with illness last week, but it is hard to see anyone being able to match Milan’s power and strength in the closing metres of the flatter stages. 

In this kind of form, Milan would be a decent bet to triumph on the final day in Rome and add a fourth stage to his tally. 

The other GC contenders are in a race of their own

UAE Team Emirates won’t want to jump the gun a week early, but Tadej Pogačar’s team will be extremely confident that their man can get the job done and lift the Giro d’Italia trophy in Rome. 

Pogačar has been on another planet throughout the entire Giro. The queen stage to Livigno simply underlined that fact. 

Barring Jhonatan Narváez’s impressive effort on the opening day in Turin, few other riders have been able to live with the Slovenian once the road has gone uphill during the race and the rest of the podium contenders seem resigned to the fact that they cannot compete with him. 

Rather than blowing up, similarly to Ben O’Connor on the stage to Santuario di Oropa, the likes of Thomas have instead preferred to focus on their own pace and rhythm and consolidate their spot on the podium, as the Welshman did on the road to Livigno.  

Breakaway opportunities evaporate

As is the nature with men’s professional cycling, every superior performance in a Grand Tour setting nearly always draws comparisons with Eddy Merckx, otherwise known as the cannibal. 

Few riders can lay claim to being a worthy successor to the Belgian legend, although Tadej Pogačar’s insistence on winning as many stages possible during this Giro means he is probably the only one that genuinely can match Merckx. 

The Slovenian’s aggressive racing has laid waste to any opportunity of a breakaway win on several stages during this race and could continue into the final week. Pogačar seems to want to carve out one of the largest winning margins that the Giro has ever seen, and the four additional mountain stages in the third week are the perfect place to build that. 

Alaphilippe’s breakaway win in Fano could have been the final time we were treated to an unexpected victory during this race. 

Pogačar's win at all costs mentality will continue 

During the opening week of the race, Pogačar spoke of his willingness to win as many stages as possible during this Giro in order to pay back UAE Team Emirates. He made clear that the frustrations of other riders at him snapping up opportunities for them wouldn’t derail that goal. 

The two summit finishes, as well as the penultimate day with its double ascent of Monte Grappa, could see him on the attack once more. 

Pogačar regularly highlighted the race’s queen stage to Livigno as one that he particularly wanted to win, as he has often done with other iconic stages and one day races. After now achieving that, it’s hard to imagine him simply lying low for an entire week between now and lifting the trophy in Rome. 

Expect to see him going for glory on the slopes of Monte Grappa. 

It must be a strange Giro d’Italia for Geraint Thomas. The Ineos Grenadiers rider is second on general classification, every second matters, and he is having one of the races of his career. However, he is over six minutes behind Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) who leads in pink.

On Sunday, on stage 15, Thomas defended his second place on general classification ably, matching Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) in third. 

On his podcast, Watts Occcuring, the Welshman explained to fellow Ineos rider Luke Rowe that he had made a decision not to chase Pogačar when he attacked, in order to protect his second place position. However, he acknowledged that "it just makes us look so bad".

"I didn’t feel great to be honest," he said. "It’s so much of a head game, this sport. I tried to stay strong, I knew I would come good. Sure enough I did feel better in the final. When UAE started ramping it. It was obvious Pog was going to go. If I tried to follow I could follow for a bit, and then blow up and lose ten minutes. 

"Even before he went I decided I was just going to stick with the other GC guys. If they followed, I ‘d have to try, or at least slowly come up to them. They kinda didn’t. They did to start with, but nobody really had the legs. Dani was in the middle. It just turned into a race amongst us. It sounds a bit defeatist, but it was almost like 'alright Pog, catch you at the finish, you can have two, three, four minutes, whatever you like, this is our race here'. 

"We went quite slow, and I knew I could go harder here, but I wasn’t going to ride and pull everyone on my wheel. I’m sure a few other guys felt the same. It was a stalemate between us."

Thomas claimed back second on stage 14 thanks to a solid time trial performance, but one where he still lost over half a minute to Pogačar. He looks well set for the rest of the Giro, but Pogačar is simply stronger than his competition.

"People were giving the GC guys and me abuse for just racing amongst ourselves, it’s just typical Twitter stuff," he said. "To put it in perspective, anyone out there that's a runner, if your best 10k run is 40 minutes, if you start off at 30 minute pace for 20 minutes, just see what happens. You’re going to blow your doors off, you’re going to creep in, and you’ll do 49 minutes rather than 40. 

"That’s what it was like today, I could try and stay with him, but I knew I didn’t have the legs, especially with the altitude and everything. You can completely blow your doors off. That’s the decision I made today. It sounds defeatist, but at the end of the day, Pog is on a different planet."

Thomas has not quite waved the white flag just yet. Whilst he knows that Pogačar's form is strong, Thomas argues that the Slovenian's weakness still lies in his team.

"It might be different next week, I don’t know,” he said. "I’ll certainly try if I feel ok, but it is what it is. When it came down to the GC guys, we’re good actually. 

"Chapeau to UAE. They buried themselves today. Like we said in the past, apart from Pog, the rest are normal bike riders. They’re going to pay for that. They’ve just got to hope they don’t pay for it at the same time. Saying that, Pog will just ride at the front. Some of those boys are going to suffer this last week."