Rowe hoping to learn from Vos
Welshman misses out on overall victory to team-mate Michal Kwiatkowski
Geraint Thomas showed blistering earlyseason form at the Volta ao Algarve last week despite losing out on the overall win to team-mate Michal Kwiatkowski.
Thomas had captured the race’s yellow jersey with an impressive ride in the stage-three individual time trial. The Welshman won the 20km time trial in 24.09, 22 seconds ahead of Kwiatkowski and 27 ahead of former time trial world champion Tony Martin.
At the time Thomas was clearly surprised by how well he had done, tweeting, “I didn’t expect this.”
But on the final stage a large break of 31 riders, including Kwiatkowski, escaped up the road and built up a substantial lead. Stuck in the peloton and unable to catch the group, Thomas had to settle for second on GC after his team-mate attacked with 2km to go and won the stage — his second of the race after the first stage’s summit finish.
Kwiatkowski clearly felt for his team-mate: “I really felt under pressure as I thought that the chance of taking the lead from G was a strange situation, but I thought that I have to do the perfect race.
“The only way I was going to be able to look G in the eye after the race was going to be if I won the stage and did everything perfectly.”
Thomas for his part was sanguine about the loss, telling BBC Radio Wales: “That’s just the way it goes sometimes. I’m taking the positives from it. At least I’ve been feeling pretty good this week and better than I thought I would, so that’s all good.”
There are loftier goals for Thomas on the horizon with him set to play a back-up role to Chris Froome at the Tour de France. Before then he will take on Tirreno-adriatico in March before returning to Paris-roubaix in April and debuting at Liègebastogne-liège.
But his shape in the Algarve gives reason to hope that the versatile Welshman, who has focused on GC rides in recent years only to be undone by crashes in Grand Tours, may finally be ready to make the step up to leadership and claim a result for himself.