Geraint Thomas ‘celebrated’ his 38th birthday racing for the Giro d’Italia podium over the Monte Grappa climb and gave himself an important gift by defending his third place overall.
On Sunday in Rome, Thomas will finish the Giro d’Italia on the podium for a second consecutive year. Last year he lost the race to Primož Roglič in the final time trial. This year he is third overall, 10:24 down on Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and only 28 seconds behind Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe).
Thomas is starting to feel his age and his 18th season at the highest level but was rightly proud of what is his 20th Grand Tour, a 17th Grand Tour finish and his fifth podium finish.
“Everyone's always gone on about my age for quite a while now, and I've never really seen the fuss. But now I’m 38 and pretty old for a professional cyclist. I'm feeling every one of my 38 years now,” Thomas admitted after crossing the finish line in Bassano del Grappa.
“To be honest, I felt pretty average all day, especially before the climb. I was a bit like: ‘Oh, this could be a terrible birthday’ but I managed to regroup, and it was actually OK.”
Thomas has been locked in a battle with Martínez for second place since the first mountain finish at Otropa on stage 2. He lost some precious seconds on the stage 7 time trial to Perugia but pulled them back in the stage 14 Lake Garda time trial. Martínez moved past him on stage 16 and was slightly stronger on Monte Grappa but Thomas rode a calculated, experienced race to set up third overall on Sunday.
He had no regrets.
“No, not at all,” he said. “I think during the whole race, myself and the team, we've done our best. we've ridden well, there was just nothing more I could do to overtake Danny. It’s a great ride by him.”
“On the climb I had to let the boys go when UAE lit it up and Pog went for it, just because I couldn't go with them. I had to ride at my own pace. Fortunately, I was with Ben O'Connor [Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale] and his teammate, who did a really good ride to the top.
“I knew I'd like two half minutes on Antonio Tiberi, so I didn't want to go too crazy on the descent. It was nice to close them down, so I could relax a little bit more.”
Thomas finished in the front chase group that reached the finish 2:07 behind Pogačar. The Welshman has long accepted that Pogačar was on another planet and never really tried to race against him.
“I’d bet a lot of money that Pogačar won't be racing when he's 38, so at least I've got that on him,” Thomas said with some lighthearted consolation, admitting Pogačar is the greatest talent he has seen during his long career.
“He's the best I've raced with and I've raced with a lot of good guys,” Thomas explained. “He's so versatile and aggressive all year round as well. It's not just like me, for a couple of months a year where you're good. It's insane how talented he is.”
Thomas and Pogačar will race against each other at the Tour de France. Pogačar is chasing a historic Giro-Tour double. Thomas has other things on his mind before July.
“Jonas Vingegaard is the only guy that's really on the same level as him, but it's yet to be seen how he is,” Thomas said of the Dane after his terrible crash and lung injuries. “But there's always a chance, it’s a bike race but on pure physical talent he's unique.
“I’m not thinking about the Tour, I just want to have a nice cold beer for my birthday.”
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