Giro d’Italia: Geraint Thomas’ aggressive performance in the time trial takes him to second place overall

After losing valuable time in the Stage 7 time trial, Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) knew he had to “attack” the Stage 14 time effort and that’s exactly what he did on Saturday afternoon in Lombardy, finishing fourth in the stage and moved back up to second place overall.

As might be expected, Thomas conceded time to leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), but ended up just 45 seconds, which is probably a good limitation compared to the 1:59 he lost on stage seven.

Thanks to his performance, he moves up to second place overall, overtaking Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe), who finished 14th on the day.

Despite a positive development in the overall standings, Thomas was suspicious in his analysis of his performance, speaking shortly after the finish and not yet aware of the GC changes.

“I haven’t seen the results yet, but from what I felt, it was pretty good,” was his assessment.

“I just felt like I was missing something in the 10th kilometer before the 5th kilometer finish, that was the fastest part and I had that in mind, but I just felt like I was a little bit the Lost my temper, so I just tried to bring it home. But it was hard. You had to attack it and stick it out, and I didn’t feel like I could stick it out all the way. But it was definitely a lot better than the last one.”

Read more: Giro d’Italia Stage 14: Filippo Ganna storms to victory in the second time trial

Thomas’ performance on stage 7 wasn’t bad by any means – he still finished 10th – but as one of the best time trialists among GC riders, perhaps it wasn’t what he was hoping for and stage 14 was was a chance to right some mistakes.

The strategy he opted for on Saturday was to ride more aggressively, something that almost derailed his efforts early on. He had some hair-raising moments in some corners, prompting nervous gasps from spectators, especially those who have witnessed Thomas’s fair share of crashes over the years.

“Just attack a little bit, and I attacked a little bit too much because I almost overshot the finish in the left turn after about a kilometer and a half, so that at least got the adrenaline going,” he explained.

“Also, there was another corner where I almost overshot it, and another one I came in a little bit too… I think I was fast, but I wasn’t necessarily in control the whole time, which is not good . But just be more aggressive and just attack.”

During his effort, Thomas said he received minimal updates and nothing about where he compared to stage winner and teammate Filippo Ganna or Pogačar.

“Only at the first check, then they stopped (giving times), so I just assumed I was pretty far behind and that’s why they didn’t tell me,” he said with a laugh.

“But they said I overtook Dani and the other GC guys at the first and second checks. To be honest, it was more about continuing to fight and riding well.”

He rode well, reclaiming his place in virtual second place and keeping his losses to Tadej Pogačar as minimal as possible given the Slovenian’s form in this Giro.

Losing time against the pink jersey probably wasn’t a surprise for the Welshman as he felt he was on a different level, but he was confident he would continue his fight in the overall standings until the end of the race.

“It’s Tadej, isn’t it? We all know that,” he said. “But you just have to keep trying. That’s all we can do and we’ll see how next week goes.”

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