Geraint Thomas keen on Classics cameo at Paris-Roubaix
Geraint Thomas' Classics ambitions have been put to one side in recent years as he makes bids to transform himself into a Grand Tour contender, but when the 2018 Tour de France route was unveiled last October, the presence of the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix on stage 9 seemed as good a pretext as any to make a cameo appearance at the Hell of the North this Sunday.
"I sat down at the start of the year with Tim [Kerrison, his coach – ed.] and tried to figure out the best run-up to the Tour," Thomas said in Kortrijk on Friday evening. "The cobbles in the Tour were a nice excuse, and I could use that as a bargaining chip really with Tim."
Thomas has been cloistered away at Team Sky's preferred training site of Mount Teide in the weeks since his third-place finish at Tirreno-Adriatico last month, and, by all logic, his absence from the cut and thrust of the cobbled Classics to date ought to limit his possibilities on the rocky road to Roubaix. Michal Kwiatkowski was parachuted into Sky's Classics squad in similar circumstances a week ago for the Tour of Flanders but failed to make much of an impact in a race won by Niki Terpstra.
"Obviously it's not a typical build-up to Roubaix," Thomas admitted. "It's just about getting stuck into the race and taking what I can from it. But then if you look at the past winners, some of them weren't major favourites coming into the race, so a lot can happen.
"I've been in Tenerife and climbing 3,500 metres of altitude most days, which is totally different to this race, so I won't necessarily have the punch and stuff that you need for this race, but after 200-odd kilometres, not a lot of people to do anyway."
Although Thomas is currently committed to exploring his possibilities over three weeks, the Classics retain a particular hold on his affections. It remains to be seen where the 31-year-old's future lies – his contract with Team Sky expires at season's end – but he will, at some point, return to riding a full Classics programme.
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