Geraint Thomas returned to racing today at the Tour de Pologne with his focus firmly set on the World Championships Time Trial and the Vuelta a España, his second Grand Tour in 2023 after his painfully narrow overall defeat at the Giro d’Italia this May.
The Ineos Grenadiers racer has been in Poland before, but bike riding was probably not foremost on his mind. “I was once in Krakow for a bit of a lad’s holiday, a stag-do, so that’s a little bit different to racing,” he explained with a flicker of wry humour to Polish TV before stage 1 kicked off in the city of Poznan.
Thomas’ first-ever participation in the Tour de Pologne, in any case, is all part of his build-up both for the Worlds’ time trial on August 11th, and then Vuelta a España, which starts in Barcelona on August 25th.
“I need a bit of punch now, and a bit of intensity in the racing to make a little step up for the Worlds TT and the Vuelta, and there’s plenty to go at here,” Thomas told Cyclingnews before the stage 1 start.
Sunday’s ascent of the Karpacz climb will be one key GC day and then distance-wise Thursday’s challenging 16.6 kilometre time trial will be another vital opportunity for Thomas to test his legs.
The Pologne course is a fraction longer than the 10-mile time trials that Thomas raced countless times in the UK in his youth. As he put it, “this one in Poland is a bit more technical than riding up and down a dual carriageway” - as is the case with a number of club UK Time Trials.
“But it’s always good to have a full gas TT like this one, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Back in racing for the first time since he was seen completing the Giro d’Italia in late May with a memorable lead out for Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) on the streets of Rome, Thomas said chatting with Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski about his teammate’s home race had helped convince him to race in Pologne. “He’s spoken about it a lot over the years,” Thomas told Polish TV.
Ineos Grenadiers have one of the strongest line-ups in this year’s Tour de Pologne, including former winners Kwiatkowski and Pavel Sivakov along with ‘newcomer’ Thomas and Thymen Arensman, who finished second overall last year and who won the time trial stage.
As for who will be leading Ineos Grenadiers in Pologne, Thomas was non-commital, saying “We’ve got a strong team, but the main thing is to get through the sprint stage” - which he duly did, crossing the line in 58th - “and then see what happens.”
