Geraint Thomas has once again altered his season plans, opting not to race at Tirreno-Adriatico weeks after dropping out of the Volta ao Algarve on account of a repeat illness which began ahead of the Tour Down Under.
Speaking to Cyclingnews at the Volta ao Algarve last month, Rod Ellingworth explained Thomas’ altered schedule
"Tirreno will be his first race, and now there's a discussion about whether he does Catalunya," Ellingworth said. "That or Coppi Bartali were always part of the plan, but he may go to Catalunya now to make up for what he's missed.”
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However, Thomas wasn’t present on the team roster for Tirreno-Adriatico, with Ineos Grenadiers explaining that there had been a minor change to his schedule - meaning he will skip Tirreno-Adriatico. The team explained he would most likely race at the Volta a Catalunya, in line with preparing him for the Giro d’Italia.
Ellingworth previously detailed the illness at the centre of the change of racing plans. “He just had a bit of illness before TDU, rode TDU and was fine,” Ellingworth said. “But afterwards had another little repeat of the same thing.”
At that time, the team opted for Thomas to remain at a winter training block in Los Angeles with Cameron Wurf. However, he returned from LA on February 20th, posting on Instagram that he was returning to Europe “for some more racing. See you soon Europe”.
Ineos Grenadiers announced their line-up for Tirreno-Adriatrico on Sunday morning, listing Thymen Arensman, Laurens De Plus, Filippo Ganna, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Michal Kwiatkowski, Tom Pidcock and Magnus Sheffield.
Meanwhile, the Paris-Nice roster includes Daniel Martinez, Omar Fraile, Jhonnatan Narvaez, Pavel Sivakov, Connor Swift, Ben Swift and Josh Tarling.
The team will approach the Giro d’Italia with a star-studded squad, headlined by Geraint Thomas and with Thymen Arensman and Tao Geoghegan Hart acting as support but also as potential backup options for the leadership bid.
Arensmen seemed to diverge slightly from the team's vision in an interview with Cyclingnews where the Dutchman envisaged himself as part of a three-leaders strategy for the team.
However, Ellingworth was quick to dismiss that suggestion. "Geraint will be the leader of the team and Thymen is the backup," he said.
