Down but not out: What kept Geraint Thomas going at the Vuelta a España

Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) came into the 2023 Vuelta a España with achievable ambitions of challenging for the overall classification but three weeks on and the Welshman has had to scale back on those initial goals.

Breakaways, lead-out duties for Filippo Ganna, and post-stage interview requests make up the daily routine but, while it’s not been the Grand Tour the veteran hoped for, he’s been a resolute captain throughout, telling GCN that his role as a leader helped him focus on the task at hand.

"I just didn’t want to quit when I could still race or ride," Thomas told GCN at the finish of stage 20 in Guadarrama.

"I wouldn’t say I’ve been racing much - I've been hanging in there - but coming here as a leader, I felt like I had to really commit for the boys and hang around, and to be there for morale."

• Read more: Vuelta a España stage 20: Wout Poels pips Remco Evenepoel as Sepp Kuss locks up red jersey

The Ineos rider had just spent 186km in the day’s main breakaway - his second major break of the race - and finished 13th on the line behind former teammate Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious).

Since his own GC bid collapsed in the first week of racing, Thomas has repositioned himself as a breakaway rider and on stage 19 he pulled the Ineos train for several kilometres before Ganna finished second in Íscar.

Having seen his GC ambitions dashed, many would have understood if Thomas had either taken his foot off the gas or gone home early after a long season that also included second overall in the Giro d’Italia. But Thomas is a rider who has a reputation for digging in, having famously finished the 2013 Tour de France with a broken pelvis.

"You know, the morale hasn’t been bad," he added. "We’ve tried to enjoy ourselves but it’s been tough at times, especially for me, when you go to your room, it’s tough. It’s hard, and you think, ‘what am I doing?’

"But we’ve tried to stay positive and we’ve certainly committed. You can’t say we’ve not tried. It’s just unfortunate that we’ve not quite got the results that we’ve deserved. As I’ve said on my podcast, life’s not fair."

'Everything is aching but I'm happy'

Ineos are likely to leave the Vuelta a España with just one stage win in the bag thanks to Ganna’s time trial success earlier in the race but the final stage to Madrid offers the Italian one last chance to double his team’s tally of stage victories.

On stage 20, Thomas attempted to claim his maiden Vuelta stage win but he admitted that his legs simply weren’t there in the finale when the best riders began to attack. A series of crashes have clearly taken their toll on the veteran all-rounder.

"I’m happy that the race is more or less done," he told the press in Guadarrama.

"We had to get a guy in the move and I saw it going. I saw a few of the guys in front of me rocking and rolling and I thought 'jeez, I have to commit and go full'. I managed to get in the break and thought ‘how the hell am I going to get a result in this?’

"I was feeling okay but that last climb had a really steep section and I went a bit too deep there. I just didn’t have the legs in the end but I was happy to be there. I’m hurting and everything is aching but I’m happy that we committed because we did all we could," he added.

Just one more stage remains for Thomas and his Ineos Grenadiers teammates. A win for Ganna in Madrid would give the British team a major boost after what has been a rough and tumble three weeks but one certainty is that their commitment won’t have been found lacking.

Keep up to date with all of the latest racing news from the Vuelta a España on our dedicated race page, linked here.