“It was not planned !” said Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) after his duettist number with Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) in the final of the 3rd stage of the Giro. The two men followed the attack from Mikkel Honoré (EF Education-EasyPost) then continued in pairs, but were caught by the peloton in the last few hundred meters, the victory finally going to Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step). “We just wanted to stay out of trouble and we did that from the start. The boys were really amazing and prepared me well. We were hoping that Filippo Ganna and Jhonatan Narvaez would be with me but they lost their way a bit along the way.”continued the leader ofINEOS Grenadiers.
Video – Geraint Thomas at the finish of the 3rd stage of the Giro!
“I feel good”
“I saw Honoré then Pogacar leave and I said to myself ‘I might as well go’ but wow… he really hurt me!”. The two men almost foiled the plans of the sprinters, to whom this stage was promised. “I told Pogacar that I was tired. I was just trying to hold his wheel. I tried to give a handover but pfff, it was hard. I looked back and was surprised to see such a big gap, but I knew they were going to come back, especially with what was left in my legs. But yes, it was a finale that was a bit out of the ordinary.”
Thomas to Pogačar: “Son, you had fun. Let’s just have a nice quiet day tomorrow?”
The Welshman is in any case satisfied with his condition and his start to Giro. “It’s a good start. I feel good. We will continue to build but yes, we will see.” concluded Thomasnow only second overall, 46 seconds behind Pogacar. On his X account, Geraint Thomas also made his comment, ironically inviting the Rose jersey to calm down for the future. “Very good son, you had fun. Let’s just have a nice quiet day tomorrow?“, he wrote.
