Geraint Thomas has confirmed he will race both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in 2024, his 18th season in the professional peloton.
The 37-year-old Welshman revealed his 2024 goals during an Instagram Live Q&A with Matt Stephens from an altitude training camp at Mount Teide on Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
He returns to the Giro d’Italia after narrowly losing the maglia rosa and overall victory in 2023 to Primož Roglič on the penultimate stage mountain time trial, while his last appearance at the Tour was in 2022 where he finished on the podium behind Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar. Thomas will clash with Pogačar at the 2024 Giro.
"I'm basically going to ride the Giro and the Tour,” said Thomas.
“I really wanted to go back to the Giro after last year and give it another big go. And obviously the Tour, I didn't like missing it last year. So I'm going to try and stay on it and go into the Tour and try to get the best result, or go into it in the best shape."
Thomas extended his time with Ineos Grenadiers until 2025 after signing a new contract in October that will see his time at the British squad span 16 years.
Confirmed alongside him at the Tour de France for the British team will be Tom Pidcock and Carlos Rodríguez, with both also hoping to challenge the overall GC.
Rodríguez was fifth at last year’s race and took a stage win while Pidcock looked solid in the top ten until stage 14 when he lost over eight minutes to the favourites.
Thomas revealed his limited race programme preceding the two Grand Tours with a season debut at the Volta ao Algarve in February, followed by two more weeks of stage racing at the Volta a Catalunya and Tour of the Alps. He will also head to an altitude camp in Sierra Nevada to prepare for his summer goals.
"It's going to be a massive challenge because I've never done it before. Well I did it in '17 but I crashed out of both, so hopefully, it will be a bit better than that,” he laughed.
“It's a big challenge, it's my 18th year as a professional so I need to mix it up a bit. It's something which will certainly get me out of bed in the morning."
Thomas revealed how the now-former team principal of Ineos Grenadiers, Sir Dave Brailsford, was involved in the process of going to both after lengthy discussions within the team.
“It got to a stage where I was just like, 'Can we just decide now please,'” Thomas laughed after admitting "It had always been in the back of my mind since last year really.”
“It definitely excites me. It definitely makes me anxious as well, but I think you need that - well I need that anyway - I think you need to be under a bit of pressure and to know that it's a big deal to race those two.”
Thomas rode two Grand Tours in 2023 without overwhelming success following a strong showing at the Giro. His second-ever appearance at the Vuelta was lacklustre by his standards as a series of crashes and bad luck in the first week ended his GC hopes.
He will be relishing the pair of time trials on offer at both Grand Tours in 2024, with the final stage of this year’s Tour also finishing on home roads away from home. Stage 21 starts in Monaco, where Thomas resides, for an uphill time trial into Nice.
