Ageless Geraint Thomas Now One Good Time Trial Away From Winning Giro

By Gareth James

Geraint Thomas will wear the leader’s pink jersey into Saturday’s decisive mountain time trial at the Giro d’Italia after Primoz Roglic could take only a handful of seconds out of the Welshman’s advantage on the Queen stage in the Dolomites.

Thomas and Roglic traded attacks in the final kilometre of this beastly stage but at the very top of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo it was Roglic, who had changed bikes on the approach to the last climb to get better gearing, who was able to open up a three-second gap in the final few metres.

That cuts Thomas’ advantage to just 26 seconds going into Saturday’s race against the clock to the top of the Monte Lussari.

Wouldn’t say I ‘enjoyed’ it… but that final climb was pretty special. Grazie @giroditalia 👌🇮🇹

See you tomorrow 👍 pic.twitter.com/OQt4afQ9fb

— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) May 26, 2023

Joao Almeida was distanced in the last couple of hundred metres to concede 20 seconds but the Portuguese comfortably retains his spot on the podium, 59 seconds down, after Irishman Eddie Dunbar fell away late on to lose fourth place overall to Damiano Caruso.

“It was OK,” Thomas said.

“When I went with 400 metres to go I realised after 100 that 400 is a long way at this altitude. I just tried to pace it and then Roglic came past in the last 100 metres or so.

“I lost a couple of seconds on the line but it was nice to gain some time on Joao, it will be super close tomorrow. I think it’s going to be exciting to watch, horrible to do.”

Santiago Buitrago took the win from what had been a 12-strong breakaway, again denying Derek Gee, the Canadian who was in a seventh break of this Giro and who had fought until the final 1500 metres before watching the Colombian dance away.

Before the stage began Thomas, who celebrated his 37th birthday on Thursday, had joked he should not still be doing this sort of thing at his age and ought to be on a beach somewhere.

Instead, the Ineos Grenadiers rider was tackling a 183km stage through the Dolomites that included almost five and a half thousand metres of climbing.

The last time the Giro visited this finish 10 years ago, Vincenzo Nibali emerged from a snowstorm at the summit to take a win which effectively sealed his overall victory.

🇨🇴 @SantiagoBS26 wins stage 1️⃣9️⃣ of the Giro d’Italia!🥇

🇨🇴 @SantiagoBS26 vince la tappa 1️⃣9️⃣ del Giro d’Italia! 🥇#Giro #GirodItalia @LeFrecce @BHRVictorious pic.twitter.com/XH13tmeTju

— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 26, 2023

There would be nothing so decisive here given what is still to come on Saturday, but it could be another major test ticked off for Thomas as Roglic could only put a minor dent in his lead.

The Slovenian certainly tried to do more. With 20km to go Roglic stopped to swap bikes, hopping on to a machine with a single ring on the front and a monster 44t sprocket at the back, a sign of his intentions for a finale where gradients hit 16 per cent.

As clear skies gave way to heavy rain and hail, Thomas’s Ineos Grenadiers set their usual strong tempo to whittle down the slim remnants of the peloton.

That did for Dunbar with a couple of kilometres to go. Almeida briefly moved up as riders fought for space on roads packed with excited fans.

Roglic wriggled through but Thomas reacted to stay on his wheel as they reached the sanctuary of the barriers on the approach to the line.

Cheers for a lovely day out, Dolomites 🤣 Only the three hour drive to the hotel now 👍 Just a bastard of a TT tomorrow and we are done… one last big push💪 💪 #Giro pic.twitter.com/fIMhXRLUr0

— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) May 26, 2023

Thomas then made his own move with 400 metres to go and seemed to be leaving Roglic behind, only for the Slovenian to find a final kick at the end and take back three seconds, narrowly failing to catch Magnus Cort who rode in third to take the last of the bonus seconds on the line.

“There was a lot of climbing and the last climb was especially tough,” Thomas explained post-stage, going through the action of the day.

“It was a tough, solid day but the guys rode really well again. We expected Jumbo-Visma or UAE Team Emirates to try for the stage but that didn’t happen, so we were confident we could ride the stage.

“The time trial will be a different effort. We did a sprint of a minute and that’s Primož’s forte. Tomorrow is a long effort, so it’s different.

“The hardest part of the climb is five kilometres at 15% or something crazy. It’s a decent advantage and I’d rather have it than a deficit but it’s going to be super hard.

“Primož is riding well and Almeida is great at pacing himself, so it’s not over. I’m going to have to get up there as quickly as I can.

“It’s an unknown effort, we hardly ever do a mountain time trial but it’s the same for everyone. I’ll try and pace it all the way to the line. I hope I can finish it off.

“I need to just focus on myself and get up that climb as fast as possible and hopefully that wins me the Giro. I can’t say I’m looking forward to it but it’ll be nice to watch,” he predicted.

“I’ve also got to stay strong mentally because if I’m down on time, I’ve got to follow my pace that will get me to the finish as quickly as possible. Time trials are a big mental game and especially this one.”

You’d never guess we were missing three men today. Wouldn’t be in this position without Salva, Swifty, DePluskie and Thymen. Incredible today boyos 👌💪 And not forgetting Pippo, Tao and Pav #Giro pic.twitter.com/jBvfr7qnOZ

— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) May 26, 2023