Thomas to fly Sky’s coop?
Welshman will sacrifice Tour in 2012 to win Olympic gold
Despite being happy riding for Sky, Geraint Thomas says he is open to offers of employment, even if 2012 is an Olympic year with a repeat of his gold medal success his ultimate goal. The Welshman's contract with the British outfit comes to an end at the conclusion of the current season.
"I'd love to do the Tour again, it's the biggest bike race in the world," he said. "But at the same time the London Olympics is massive, there's nothing bigger than that. I wouldn't want to jeopardise the Olympics for anything. I'd miss the Tour to give myself every opportunity of winning in London."
Speaking on the Tour's rest day, Thomas said he'd been buoyed by the recent interest in his future.
"There's definitely been a few teams interested," Thomas confirmed. "It's great for your confidence when there's a few teams that really want you to join them. To have that respect amongst the teams is great and gives you a little buzz when you go out there racing."
As reported last week, Thomas will undergo physiology testing following the Tour to see how he reacts to the stresses of the three-week race, with the proximity of the London Olympics front of mind.
Thomas is of the belief that a move away from Sky would not hamper his goal of defending Britain's team pursuit title on the track.
"A couple of the teams I've spoken to said they'd be happy to let me ride in the Games," he added. "It means a lot to a lot of people. Just because I'm British it doesn't mean 100 per cent I'd stay. I'm definitely not going to discount them [other offers]. I'd listen to anyone really."
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Thomas then said via Twitter feed that: "For the record... I'm very happy here at Team Sky!!"