Tim Kerrison, Team Sky’s Head of Performance Sport, said in an interview with Cyclingnews that he gave Geraint Thomas the backing he hasn’t had in recent years.
Thomas confirmed that he would be tackling the Giro d’Italia in 2017, after having performed as Chris Froome’s right hand man in the Tour de France in recent years. Thomas will share leadership with the Mikel Landa at the Giro.
“We sat down at the beginning of December and the sports directors responsible for each of the Grand Tours presented what they knew about the routes,” said Kerrison.
“At the end of that meeting I asked them, ‘out of everyone in the peloton, and in our team, who is best suited to this Giro?’ Other than Chris, obviously, Geraint was the next name that came up,” continued Kerrison.
“We’d love to be better in the Giro. We’ve got Pinarello, Sky Italia, and Castelli, who would love us to be more competitive”.
“We prioritise the Tour above all else in terms of recruitment and selection. In doing that there’s always going to be a cost for events that aren’t in our Tour stream. But we think that we’ve got a strong enough team to have a good crack”.
This year’s Giro d’Italia has 67.2km of time trialling which will suit Thomas.
“What we know is that when he’s at his best he’s a great climber and he’s already a great time trialist. We know that the biggest challenge will be the third week but that’s the same for everyone,” admitted Kerrison.
