Geraint Thomas is about to begin his 18th season as a pro cyclist and is convinced the sport has changed over the years to become more "dog eat dog" with less respect in the peloton.
Thomas was speaking with Rob Warner and Eliot Jackson on Red Bull's Just Ride podcast, from a recent altitude training camp at Mount Teide in Tenerife. This week Thomas begins his 2024 season at the Volta ao Algarve.
"It's the earliest I've ever been to altitude," he revealed, going on to talk about the change in attitudes in the peloton, as well as how the sport's top riders – including Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogačar – are enjoying success at a younger age than his own generation did.
Evenepoel and Pogačar emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic to become some of the youngest winners in the history of the sport, ripping up the unwritten rules of the sport.
"It used to be more chill, but these days it's basically full-on from kilometre zero from the start until the end," Thomas said of the Tour de France.
"It's as if it's junior or under-23 racing. There's less respect, everyone just goes where they want, chopping each other up a bit whereas before you'd fight for position but it'd be a bit more calm.
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"Now it's just bonkers and that respect, that hierarchy in the peloton, it kind of was a good thing, in a certain way. But now it's just every man for himself, dog eat dog, and you've got to join them really."
Thomas, who will face off against Pogačar at both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France this season, as the pair take on the challenge of a double not achieved since Marco Pantani in 1998.
He said that the modern era which has seen the rise of the Slovenian, Evenepoel, and other young stars, has come along with changes in professionalism, including how riders eat on the bike and the timing of fuelling. Everything has been optimised and young riders are very disciplined about their training, diet and lifestyle.
"In the past, it was just the top 40-50 guys, but now 300 guys are training properly, eating properly, doing altitude training," Thomas said.
"The whole team are looking after all the riders rather than just their top three or four. So the depth is a lot better and the sport is just moving on all the time, which is good.
"It all makes sense... but to actually do it is not easy," Thomas said.
"You don't just change overnight – I have to force myself to do it. But I definitely like mixing it up as it's probably why I've done it for so long. If I did the same thing for 18 years for sure, I would have stopped by now."
The changes are necessary to have a chance at keeping up with the young riders like Evenepoel, who he jokingly refers to as 'the little bastard' – a term which has led to the spurious conclusion that Thomas doesn't like him.
"He basically turned pro straight out of the junior category, which is quite rare, and then he's winning pro races straightaway, big pro races. I just kind of started calling him the little bastard because he's a little bastard. It shouldn't be that easy.
"The problem is once it's translated into Belgium or Italian or Spanish, I think they take it a bit more seriously. So my humour sort of lost a bit... He's a good kid, but it's just annoying. It took me like 10 years to start winning big."
'It keeps me young, it forces me to stay on my guard and not relax'
Speaking to L'Equipe this week, Thomas said that the age gap between himself and some of the riders he now races against, including several of his own Ineos Grenadiers teammates, doesn't pose any problem.
"I feel quite close to them," he said. "I have always been in the team and the mentality has not changed. Of course with things like Twitch, certain applications with video games... I say to myself 'Holy shit, I'm really old, what is this thing, why are you doing this?' There, I feel there is a gap.
"But then with guys like AJ August and Magnus Sheffield – they're so wired, older than their age suggests, and it's great. It keeps me young, it forces me to stay on my guard and not relax, because with my ego, I want to stay in front of them and stay competitive.
"But that's in a healthy way, of course, I'm not going to put laxatives in their porridge so they can't train," he joked.
He suggested that younger riders can live their life "almost like a permanent training camp", adding that he couldn't live like that.
"They have this youth and this freshness, which is good," he said.
"I'm jealous sometimes – well not really jealous – but knowing that they come home, they have nothing to do, their life is almost like a permanent training camp, whereas for me it's totally different.
"I wouldn't change it, don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy to go home and be reunited with my family. It's just that we can see that they follow another pattern."
Thomas added that he has kept up with the changes in the sport he talked about, noting that his power numbers are better than they've ever been. He certainly hasn't refused to move with the times.
"I always beat my personal bests," he said. "I made my best score over 5 minutes during the 2023 Giro and over the last two years, I also beat my best power over 20 minutes.
"I think it's just normal to continue to progress when science, environment and knowledge also improve. If I didn't, I would be doing something wrong."
