‘You just have to laugh’ says Geraint Thomas after Vuelta a España time trial mechanical

After a torrid first week of crashes and time losses, Geraint Thomas’ (Ineos Grenadiers) second week at the Vuelta a España didn’t get off to much of a better start, with the Welshman suffering a mechanical during the stage 10 time trial.

Part way through his TT effort around Valladolid, Thomas’ chain became jammed, forcing him to change bikes and scuppering any hopes of a top result at the finish.

The Ineos Grenadiers leader's GC hopes were already firmly over going into the first rest day, sitting 12:34 back on the race lead before stage 10. The team refocused to chase stage wins - which they have done, with Filippo Ganna winning the time trial - but Thomas’ chain issue was an almost cruel added misfortune to the rider trying to make the best out of a bad situation.

“You’ve just got to laugh really haven’t you,” he said at the finish.

“I thought I’d treat it like I was going full from the start of this morning. I attacked out of the start because I thought even if I sit up halfway round I think it will still do me good for tomorrow, because if I don’t do much I block up and I can feel terrible. So a good hit-out was what I wanted anyway.”

Read more: Geraint Thomas refocuses Vuelta a España goals after podium slips away

Despite the long list of problems that have affected Thomas’ Vuelta so far, the Welshman wasn’t entirely negative about Tuesday’s result, which saw him finish two minutes down, holding onto a top-20 finish despite the bike change.

"I actually felt okay. I was kind of doing the numbers that were on the plan, but then the chain got stuck between the 11 and the frame so I had to change bikes. And then I was just like 'ah, I’ll still push a bit' but just switched off a bit then and rode it in and treated it as a nice little warm-up for the rest of the week.”

With Thomas’ GC attempt in the rearview mirror, and Ineos Grenadiers' plan B Thymen Arensman out of the race after a nasty crash, the British team will now focus on taking more stage wins to add to Ganna’s.

"As a team we’ve just got to start every day like it’s a one-day [race] really,” Thomas said. “Try and make the moves because you never know, a breakaway might go, but at the same time it might be a GC day as well. But I think we just need to race it, race every day as best we can and keep believing in ourselves."

Thomas remained characteristically level-headed, but did let the positivity slip briefly to reflect on how difficult the team’s race had been so far.

“It has been hard, to be honest, because a lot of things have gone wrong but that’s the way it goes sometimes. We’ve just got to keep our heads up and keep trying, that’s all we can do."

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