Geraint Thomas signs two-year contract extension with Ineos Grenadiers

Grand Tour leader agrees new deal as team finally begin announcing their 2024 roster

11:00, Monday 23rd October 2023

Daniel Benson

Editor in Chief

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Geraint Thomas has ridden for Ineos Grenadiers, formerly Team Sky, since 2010

Geraint Thomas has signed a two-year contract extension with Ineos Grenadiers with the former Tour de France winner becoming the first major contract renewal for the British team ahead of the 2024 campaign.

Thomas, who was second at the Giro d’Italia in May behind Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), has been one of Ineos Grenadiers’ most consistent stage racing performers in the last few seasons.

He was third at the Tour de France in 2022 behind Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), and despite a disappointing showing at the recent Vuelta a España, the 37-year-old Welshman remains a talismanic presence within the British team.

“I am really delighted to extend my time as an INEOS Grenadier. I still just love riding my bike – racing and training with the boys – every single aspect of it,” he said.

Running to the end of 2025, the Welshman suggested that his new contract's expiration could also mark his retirement in two years' time.

“Although you ‘never say never’, in my head this is my last contract - but I know that I still have two more big years in me. And I wouldn’t have continued in a different team.

“This team understands me and, importantly, knows what it takes to achieve success," he continued. "I have childhood mates here - Luke and Swifty as riders and Stannard now in management, and I’ve known Rod since 2003. This really does feel like home.

“We’re an ambitious group and have some big goals ahead. I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in again and want to help the team continue to progress.”

Thomas’ 2023 season was disrupted by illness during the winter but he bounced back at the Giro d’Italia, only losing out on the overall win on the penultimate stage. He is expected to be handed another leadership role next season in the Grand Tours with Carlos Rodríguez also set to stay on the team after signing a long-term contract extension of his own.

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That said, Thomas admits that his role for the next two seasons may be fluid, and could take in any number of different goals.

“I want to continue to be highly competitive in anything really; maybe look at going to the Classics again or ride GC in Grand Tours or help whoever is going to be the next guy coming through, but I just want to have a positive impact on the team.

“I’m at that stage where I’m still hungry to perform but at the same time, I am happy to help the team. I want to try and help us push forward to get back to the very top of the sport.”

The last few weeks have seen little in the way of transfer activity from the British team but Thomas’s announcement is first in a series of press releases that the squad will roll out in the coming days and weeks.

The team, by their own admission, are going through something of a transition at the moment with a major overhaul taking place in terms of both staff and roster. Tao Geoghegan Hart, Dani Martínez, Pavel Sivakov, Ben Tulett are all confirmed to leave the team at the end of the calendar year, while GCN has already reported that Luke Plapp is set to be announced as another departure in the coming weeks, with the Australian cutting his contract a year early in order to join Jayco-AlUla for 2024.

On the staff side, the team saw the departure of their Head of Performance in the summer with Ben Williams joining Queens Park Rangers Football Club. Matteo Tosatto has stepped back from his sports director role and will take up a position at Tudor in 2024, while GCN understands that another senior member of the management team will also leave at the end of the calendar year. Ineos has not commented on this.

At the same time, there are still a raft of new signings for Ineos to announce, with the team only slated to have 15 riders on their current roster for 2024. A number of further contract renewals are expected to be announced in the coming days with the full roster scheduled to fall into place by the end of the month. The likes of Luke Rowe, Laurens De Plus, Jonathan Castroviejo, and Ben Swift are all set for new deals, while Tobias Foss and AJ August are destined to join the team in the winter.

Despite the lack of clarity around their 2024 line-up, the team have been clear that their ambitions remain lofty, and the renewal of Thomas' contract is part of building towards bigger goals once again.

“The team’s ambition is to again stand on the top step of the Tour de France podium and Geraint is going to play an integral part in realising that goal as we bring through a crop of young and exciting talent at the INEOS Grenadiers," Rod Ellingworth said.