Thomas to take physical tests after the Tour de France to assess potential form for 2012 Olympics

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Geraint Thomas (Sky) will take extensive medical tests after the Tour de France to predict his potential form for the pursuit at the London Olympics, which fall 11 days after next year’s Tour finale.

Thomas, a likely member of Great Britain’s team pursuit will undergo physiology tests 11 days after the race – the time between the tour finale and the pursuit – to understand what shape the Welsh rider may be in if he rides to Paris in 2012, reports The Guardian.

"If Geraint is going to ride a team pursuit, we need to look at that carefully. We are going to do some tests and find out how he reacts to a three-week grand tour," said David Brailsford, performance director at British Cycling and principal at Team Sky.

"There is a feeling that you get massive volume and massive endurance over a three-week Tour but that it just takes the edge off the top end. So we'll want to have a real look at that. There's another school of thought that says it's the best thing you can possibly do."

Brailsford has also suggested that Wiggins and Thomas may even forgo the Tour in favour of the Olympics, which he says is a priority for the two riders. In that scenario Brailsford will get the riders to target May's Giro d'Italia instead.

The 2012 Tour starts a week earlier than usual, on Saturday June 30th, to fit in with the Olympic Games, which start on the 27th July.