"The emotions are still a bit raw" - Geraint Thomas talks of Giro d'Italia defeat, Vuelta a Espana and World Championship goals

It has been a rollercoaster of emotions throughout the Giro d'Italia for Geraint Thomas, who found his best form once again after a slow start to the season and was on the verge of finally capturing a Giro title.

“It was so close, so close. It’s still frustrating, I think just because of the way I rode it, with the wheels falling off a bit in the last 3 or 4k," Thomas recalls in an interview with Cyclingnews regarding the decisive time-trial. "If I’d ridden it differently – if I’d started slowly and finished strong – I’d still have lost the same time, but it might feel a little different."

The Welshman suffered on the steep Monte Lussari, it was the outcome he hoped not to face, but a soaring Primoz Roglic took the title at the very last opportunity. Thomas had ridden a conservative and calm race until that point, with INEOS opting not to use their depth to attack, but instead always pace up the mountain stages. A tactic that seemed towards the end to be the right one, but the time Thomas had won on his rival throughout the three weeks was ultimately not enough.

“But the fact I just fell away at the end makes it feel a bit worse. I just gave it everything. If it was a flat TT, it might have been different, but that’s just the way it is. That’s sport. It’s full of ups and downs," he continues. The emotions are still a bit raw, but we can still be proud of how we all rode and committed, and how we bounced back after some downs. We can be content, but at this team, we want to win, so it’s always a bit hard."

"That’s what made yesterday even harder for me, because I felt like I’d kind of let them down. I really wanted to finish it off for everyone. But we’ll get the band back together at some point and see if we can do it again," Nevertheless Thomas was gracious in defeat congratulating his rivals atop the mountain, and on the final day of the Giro he played a crucial role in the victory of former teammate Mark Cavendish.

He was close to becoming the oldest ever winner of the Corsa Rosa, but arrived in Rome with 14 seconds more than Roglic. “I’ve never thought about my age. Although when I turned 37, I did think, ‘That is quite old.’ But I still love riding my bike, I still love training, I still love being with the boys. I think that keeps you young mentally, as well," he admits. "I’m still competitive. I still love racing. I still love the argy-bargy of a sprint sometimes, so I’ll just keep doing it as long as I love it.”

Now it is time to rest after a demanding few months, with the idea of retiring this winter far gone. “I’ll try to sort out my future in the next couple of weeks. I’m definitely not going to do more than two more years, I think. But saying that, I didn’t think I was going to go on after this year…”

As for his calendar, he hints at what may be his main goals in the second half of the season: “I’m not going to commit to anything just yet, but I’ve already done the Vuelta once and it wasn’t a good experience, so it would be nice to go and have a better one,” said Thomas. “The Worlds are obviously in the UK as well, so that will be a big one, but the Vuelta would be nice…”