'It could be my last year' - Geraint Thomas hints at retiring from cycling, may skip Tour de France in 2023
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ByEurosport
Published 12/10/2022 at 11:43 GMT
Geraint Thomas has hinted he may retire from cycling next year. With 2023 set to potentially be his last, Thomas has suggested he would like to try doing new races and may even skip the Tour de France despite finishing in third at the Grand Tour earlier this year. Regarding his race selections for next year, he said: "It’s all up in the air, really. I wouldn’t mind doing something different."
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Geraint Thomas has hinted he may not target the Tour de France next year and suggests 2023 may be his last year as a professional cyclist before retirement.
The 36-year-old Welshman won the Tour de France in 2018 and was second overall in the same race in 2019. This year he finished in third behind Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates).
However, Thomas' contract with Ineos Grenadiers expires at the end of 2023 and says he may target the Giro d'Italia and other different races in his final year as it could be his last.
He said: "We have to sit down and work out what I want to do, it could be my last year as well. I want to make the most of it.
"I don’t even know if I will do the Tour to be honest, maybe the Giro. It’s all up in the air, really. I wouldn’t mind doing something different.
"This year’s been quite refreshing, doing a few new races like Coppi & Bartali, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Fleche Wallonne and Itzulia Basque Country. They’re all races I’ve never done or only done once."
Thomas crashed out of the 2020 Giro and exited the 2021 Tour de France after a nasty crash.
However, in 2022 he won the Tour de Suisse as well as making the podium at the Tour de France.
He believes he can say he has "nothing else to prove" in the sport.
He added: "When I won the Tour [in 2018], it was nice to come back the next year to show it was not a fluke.
"And it was nice to come back this year as well when people thought I was done. Now I feel like I have nothing else to prove.
"It’s always extra motivation to show that you’ve still got it. The main thing was to keep enjoying the racing and doing my own thing.
"You can see that progression as well, as in most years. It was nice to be in the thick of it."
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