Welshman will protect Team Sky leader during first week, says Roche
Friday 2 October 2015 11:46, UK
Geraint Thomas may have just missed out on the Tour de Suisse title on Sunday, but he showed once again why he is going to be a major ally for Chris Froome at the Tour de France.
Thomas has had a great season so far, winning E3 Harelbeke and Volta ao Algarve, and has taken it to another level in 2015.
In Switzerland he finished fifth on the climb to Solden to set up his podium finish and although he was unable to overhaul winner Simon Spilak in the final time trial, his ability to challenge for these one-week races was plain to see.
Thomas is very unselfish, though, and knows where his priorities lie. At the Tour de Suisse – like at Paris-Nice and the classics – he knows he can aim for the win himself. But when it comes to the Tour he rides for Team Sky and Froome.
Thomas knows where his limits are today. Who knows where he can get to in the future but, right now, the Tour is a step or two away so he’s committed to his leader – and he’s a good man to have on your team.
The Welshman will be a major asset to Froome during the first week of the Tour, keeping him out of trouble when every stage is like a classic, and, later in the race, on the medium mountains, he should be there for a long time.
Froome will have no doubt been pleased to see a key member of his team looking in good shape. I’m sure he’ll also have had an eye on the Route du Sud, where Alberto Contador beat Nairo Quintana to the title.
I said in my column last week we shouldn’t read too much into the outcome of the race, and Contador had a similar view after wrapping up victory.
However, he did take a risk to drop Quintana on the descent of Port de Bales on the queen stage and that sent out a message to his rivals that he’s recovered from his Giro d’Italia win and will be a force to be reckoned with at the Tour.
It was also an important reminder that you have to be careful when you race against Contador – he’s very tactically astute and capable of seizing any opportunity. Quintana matched him on the climb but didn’t want to take a risk on the descent and Contador grabbed the chance to attack.
Fight for green
Another rider celebrating last week was Peter Sagan, who won a couple of stages at the Tour de Suisse.
Since the start of the year, Sagan has been there or thereabouts but hasn’t had the sparkle we’re used to seeing from him.
His two wins in Switzerland were in very hard conditions but the sprinters had been eliminated – at the Tour, when all the big-name sprinters are there, firing on all cylinders, it will be a different kettle of fish.
If Sagan is to win a fourth-straight green jersey he will have to use his all-round ability on the tough days and try to finish as high up as he can on the sprint stages. But I’m not sure he has the speed needed to challenge the pure fast men on the flat.
That’s where Mark Cavendish will be hoping to score vital points. He missed out on any stage wins at the Tour de Suisse but I wouldn’t worry about that at all.
The Tour de Suisse is a hard race and Cavendish was doing it in the hope that it will help him dig deeper and get over some of the undulating stages in the Tour in a better position so he can realistically go for the green jersey.
As we’ve seen before, if anyone starts asking questions about him, Cavendish bounces back and I’m sure he will again. He’s a seasoned pro now, knows what to do and when to do it and how to turn it off and on.
He’s got a more relaxed approach than previously but, when it comes to smelling the whitewash, I’m sure he’ll pull it off.
