At 37 years old, Geraint Thomas is exploring new approaches during the 2023 Vuelta a España. The British cyclist, during the Vuelta’s press conference, explained that his goal is to reach his peak physical condition twice within the same season.
Thomas remarked, “Usually, I tend to hit my peak once a year. The last time I tried to reach peak performance twice in the same season was during the 2015 Vuelta, and it was horrible.”
In fact, during the Vuelta that Thomas mentioned in the press conference, he finished in 69th place in the general classification and saw the leader Chris Froome abandon the race halfway through.
Afterward, the British cyclist for a long time focused on a primary goal in a season and avoided the Vuelta. Why? “I also find it hard to be away from home for so long. But now that I’m nearing the end of my career, I just do it.”
Thomas isn’t afraid of repeating the 2015 experience before the second Vuelta of his career. “In the past few weeks, I’ve been doing altitude training, and it was like any other altitude training: with climbs and descents. I’m prepared anyway.”
Lastly, he spoke about the battle for the general classification: “Remco Evenepoel and Jumbo-Visma are the top favorites here. I think Evenepoel is more of a one-day rider, but he’s so talented that he can also handle a Grand Tour. I know he’s going to be great here.”
