After several years of riding the Tour de France in the service of others, Geraint Thomas is ready to embark on the next phase of his career, with the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana both viable options in 2017. As the 30-year-old tells Cyclingnews from his home in Monaco, next year is all about specialising in one single area of his broad skill-set and, most importantly, taking a risk with a new race programme and new set of challenges.
“With race schedules, that’s something that I’ve been chatting about with the coach, Tim Kerrison, and it’s something that we’ll go through properly when I’m at training camp,” Thomas says ahead of Team Sky’s Mallorca get-together next week.
“After that we’ll come up with a plan because at the moment it’s all up in the air and there are so many options. I just need to figure out what I want to do and it obviously needs to fit in with the team.”
Part of Thomas’s dilemma lies in the fact that he is so adaptable – a characteristic that can be seen as both a blessing and a curse in a modern-day peloton so dialled in on specialisation. From the Tour Down Under to the Tour of Flanders and the cobbles of Roubaix, to the Alps and the Pyrenees, the Welshman's ability and broad skill-set allows him to ride with the best over a range of terrain.
Next season, he admits, one goal must sit above the myriad objectives that have cluttered seasons in the past. With Chris Froome dominant at the Tour and ensuring that all his teammates ride for a single purpose each July, Thomas is understandably considering his next move.
“I love riding the Tour and I love being in the team, especially when Froome wins, but I’ve done that three times now,” he says, before presenting the rest of his case.
“I could go there again as the back-up GC rider and if was going 100 per cent I could get a top 10 but I’d still be having to do a job for Froome. If I went to the Giro at 100 per cent it’s a whole different ball game. I could start by riding for GC and if that didn’t work then I could work for someone like Mikel Landa, but still ride for stages. It’s a bit risky because it’s an entirely different programme.”
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Whether Team Sky are willing to allow one of their prized assets to take such a risk is an unknown but, after two top 15 places in the Tour and wins in Paris-Nice and the Volta ao Algarve this year, Thomas has certainly staked a strong claim for the additional freedom he seeks. With his contract up for renewal – though there is an option of an additional year – and his 31st birthday next May, the time is right to roll the dice.
“The idea of doing the Giro and the Vuelta would give me two good opportunities," he said. "Riding for GC would be nice but even if that fell away, going for stages and just racing for opportunities would be great. At the same time to miss the Tour de France would be massive and I’d hate to sit at home and watch the boys there. It’s certainly a tough one.
“There’s also the Classics, and I still love them. I’d hate to miss them but at the same time I think I just need to pick one thing and go for that over the next two or three years.”
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