Thomas describes the heaviness of the Tour with a delightful anecdote about Jakobsen: ‘What the hell is going on?’

Eloquent as always, Geraint Thomas took a short time to talk to the press on the last rest day of the Tour de France. With an Ibis Hotel in the background, the man from Wales, currently third in the standings, addressed the journalist present.

The INEOS Grenadiers driver is now on his twelfth Tour de France in fifteen years and has therefore been around for quite some time. To a question whether a new era is going on, he had a nice answer. ‘A new era? I think so. Look, even Fabio Jakobsen came up to me yesterday and asked me: Hey G, with all your experience, can you explain something to me?’

‘I said, sure, whats up?’, he continues the story, whereupon Jakobsen asked the following: ‘It is a day for the sprinters and I have a boy of ours in the leading group (Mikkel Honoré), but the green jersey is with me. What the hell is going on?’ Thomas sees it as confirmation for the heaviness of this Tour. ‘That’s the way it is, it’s crazy.’

Thomas sees Jumbo-Visma driving like Sky in the best days

Thomas does not see a direct cause for the constant high tempo. “When UAE-Team Emirates had the yellow jersey, there was a little less checking. They let the race happen and after an hour and a half everyone had to stop racing. Jumbo-Visma is more prominent, at least – when they were complete. Maybe that will change now.’

The 36-year-old veteran compares Jumbo-Visma with the supreme Sky train that he himself was part of. “They do it pretty much the same way we did in the best days. Looking at the whole picture, the way of racing has in any case changed, but it is nice to be part of that now,” said the Briton at the press conference on the rest day.

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Thomas isn’t sure if he’s as good as he was in 2018, when he won the Tour de France ahead of Tom Dumoulin. ‘I don’t want to sound arrogant, but that’s hard to say: I never had to go full. Sure, it was tough, but I never had to throttle five miles like I have to now. The wattages are good, though, so I’d say I’m as good as I was in 2018. Over a four-year period, it’s hard to compare,” he says.

Thomas is not going to call Pogacar, but is lurking for opportunities

The leader of INEOS, who also have Adam Yates in fifth place, has not yet put a Tour win out of his mind. “It will be difficult anyway, as there are two very strong riders in front of me. However, as a team we have to continue to believe in it and make the best of it. However, Jonas and Tadej are very strong, so if we don’t pass them, that’s no different,’

A possible way to drive Vingegaard out of the yellow card could be an alliance with Pogacar, which was also hinted at on Sunday. “We’re not going to call to make a plan, but if a situation arises along the way, it’s just like always. No vendetta against Vingegaard or Jumbo-Visma, but that’s how cycling is, right? If there is an opportunity for both, you work together to seize that opportunity.’

At the moment, he still sees Vinegaard as the top favourite. “Jonas has answered all of Tadej’s attacks, so he seems a little stronger to me. Jumbo-Visma may have lost two very strong riders (Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk, ed.) and they will feel that, but they are capable enough to absorb it. Jonas drives very intelligently and that gets into Tadej’s head. But, again, the Tour is three weeks, not fifteen days. I didn’t expect Pogacar to lose so much time either.’