George Hincapie and Johan Bruyneel are joined by legendary Tour de France winner and multiple-time World Champion, Geraint Thomas. They delve into the evolution of Team Sky, experience vs. young talent, the improvement of the peloton, his storybook lead out for Mark Cavendish on the final stage of the 2023 Giro d’Italia, and the future of his career.

    WEDŪ: https://wedu.team
    Shop WEDŪ Men’s Apparrel: https://wedu.team/collections/mens
    Shop WEDŪ Women’s Apparrel: https://wedu.team/collections/womens
    WEDŪ Travel: https://wedu.team/pages/themove-classics
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wedu
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wedusport
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/wedusport

    buycycle: For a limited time you can save up to $100 on your purchase by entering code “THEMOVE” at checkout at https://buycycle.com/?utm_source=organic&utm_medium=social&utm_content=podcast&utm_campaign=themove

    Kudo Protein Popcorn: For a limited time, our listeners get 25% off their entire order with code “THEMOVE” at https://kudosnacks.com

    Ketone-IQ: Save 30% off your first subscription order of Ketone-IQ at https://hvmn.com/THEMOVE

    Helix Sleep: Helix is offering 20% off all mattress orders AND two free pillows for our listeners! Visit https://helixsleep.com/themove

    The game’s changed like completely in the last 3 or four years you know guys like rco patcha you know everyone’s kind of like looking for the next Superstar that’s going to win the tour at 19 and Sport moves on and it progresses and it’s just making sure that you well

    Ideally stay ahead of that curve which sky was for so long obviously now jumbo have taken over and that’s the challenge in it and that’s where we got to try to um get up to and and overtake ideally hi everybody and welcome to the Move podcast this is our second episode

    In our special series The Move Legends I’m Yan bernel and on the other side of the ocean uh good morning to my co-host George heni George how’s it going good afternoon actually it’s 12 almost 12:30 here but it’s going well thank you very excited to had uh have

    Karen Thomas on the show with us today uh big Legend of one of the biggest of the sport and one of the most well-liked riders in the pelaton and I think it’s an honor for us to have him on yeah so you know you just said it Garen

    Thomas uh I think I think he’s the real agend uh multiple world champion on the track uh winner of of the all the main big stage races uh in in cycling such as Perry n t of romandy tour the Swiss doin and above all winner of the tour the

    France welcome Garen Thomas and thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule uh you’re currently in mayorca at uh the first get of teos I guess how’s it going over there yeah thanks for having me it’s um oh mate it’s busy these December camps are just

    Like you do a lot of training but then afterwards it’s just meeting after meeting and obviously there’s been a bit of change with management so you know all the guys that you Senior Management I know them all but they’re all sort of trying to create something slightly different to what has been

    Going on so there’s a lot of meetings but um you know a lot of young guys as well I’m feeling old mate like you know we’ve got a Young AJ who’s you know from from America he’s 18 you know young Magnus Sheffield and R with him so but

    Yeah no it’s good it’s good it’s a good way to sort of um get everyone together yeah you’ll have to say hello to Magnus he’s a he’s a great kid and we’re excited to see his progression what a what a talent on the bike I hope you’re

    Enjoying this uh episode of the move Legends I’m just going to duck in here for a second and tell you about a couple of our part Partners which I think will interest you quite a bit in particular uh this first one buy cycle all right it’s funny I talked to it about friends

    It’s like when did the cost of a bike become comparable to buying a brand new motorcycle seems like it happened overnight and it’s a real thing and so maybe you’re a roadie and you want to explore mountain biking or vice versa or you want to start doing some gravel

    Riding but you don’t want to break the bank because you’ve already bought a road bike well you can pick up up an extra bike add it to your quiver on by cycle it’s over 15,000 pre-owned and refurbished road gravel mountain and tri bikes and uh the the whole platform is

    Super easy to use they’ve set it up so well you can go in say I want this size this style of writing and this price point disc brakes or Rim brakes it you can set it all up and do the query exactly the way you want it and then you

    Can just buy and they’ve gone through these bikes they vetted them and uh you can save yourself hundreds if not thousands getting that bike you always wanted so check it out for a limited time you can save up to $100 off your purchase by entering the code the move

    All one word all caps the move at checkout go to byy cycle and trust me you’re going to get addicted to this site and love checking out their inventory uh by cycle.com bu YC Y cle.com and use the code the move at checkout I’m also really honestly

    Personally excited to tell you about a new partner of ours and that is Kudo popcorn oh my gosh Kudo snacks it’s funny our sales guy Lars uh sometimes just has our sponsors send stuff to us and I had not gotten the memo that this is a new partner and this box of Kudo

    Snacks showed up their Kudo popcorn and I was like oh wow what is this and uh my wife was asking me who is this I go I don’t know I got to assume it’s a new partner and we both quickly quickly fell in love with it uh because you know it’s

    Funny we we’re pretty diligent about eating well at breakfast lunch and dinner but it’s those snacks that can derail you and having Kudo popcorn at your disposable is one of the best things that ever happened to me the flavors are great garlic parmesan white cheddar and my favorite the salty sweet

    Kettle corn you are going to want a bunch of this in your pantry you’re going to throw it in your car you’re going to keep it at your office you’re going to keep it in your backpack and it’s going to fill those little voids with a really tasty treat that you’re

    Going to love for a limited time uh you can get an exclusive 25% discount when you use the code the move at Kudos snacks.com kuo Kudos snacks.com that’s 25% off with the code the move at kuud snacks.com save some money support the official protein popcorn of the UFC and get

    Popped Johan mentioned some of your results uh in the in the intro what he what he what he didn’t mention and which I’m personally fond of is your your Classics expertise and I I got I got a story I’ve done a lot of fun i’ pretty

    Much done everything you can do on the bike a lot of cool and this probably you don’t even remember but for some reason this one really stands out to me 2011 Tor Flanders you and I get dropped on the mirror of the grandmont and we behind the likes of Philip jber

    Kelara um Nick nuan alesandro Balan and you and I get to the top together and it was one of those moments we just looked at each other said we got nothing to lose here we need to work together and get back and we we caught back up right at the

    Start of the bossburg back in the front group back in it for the win and we kind of just looked at each other we put it all in just you and I we weren’t teammates you were a young kid obiously had heard a lot about you um but I felt

    Like for me it was just super cool to do that with you you were National Champion we caught right back and we’re back in it for the win and obviously we didn’t win I got six I think you got 10th but it was it was a special moment for me in

    My career and I remember it quite fondly yeah know it’s just it’s mad to say that I told Magnus the exact same story last night because I told him I was coming on the podu and uh yeah it was um that’s my my memory of racing with you on a

    Bike is that race and those those final like 20ks whatever it is yeah because yeah I I grew up loving Belgium you know that’s you know going over from the UK on the boat on the ferry you know racing Belgium on the weekend and um those races always were really fond like you

    Know I H them close to my heart so um yeah to be in that position as you say with well for me for a start just being with you chasing back on to the bossburg was just nuts I remember you went around a few Corners I was like

    Mate I just had to just like the breaks go and just yeah blind Blind Faith I was following you but um yeah and then I looked around you know as you say kelara and Bo and all these guys like Fletcher was in the same team as me I was trying

    To do a bit for him but yeah just to be in that situation you know the first time I’d really been well he was the first time in a in a classic like Flanders in the front was uh it’s something I I’ll definitely always remember yeah so was that your um that

    Was sort of your breakout year I mean because you did really well um uh with a couple of the other pre Flanders races and you started making a name for yourself in those types of races yes so I won didn’t win I was second in um D’s doors behind Nick no

    And then he obviously won that day um and yeah it was my first real I guess you know season in the mix so to speak um and yeah it was just from there I was still class as a track Rider really but as I say I loved the one days

    And and that was my initial um Target really those sort of races and you know we was still racing track so you know at the Olympics the next year in London so um that was the main reason I wanted to ride the Olympics was because there was

    A home Olympics and my best way of winning a medal was was on the track in the team Pursuit so you know if it’ been somewhere else I may not I may have just left the track behind and just focus on the road but um but yeah that was my

    First real taste of um you know being there in the mix in Belgium and absolutely loved it and you know the next few years I was still trying to you know get a result in fanders or rub never quite came off w a e3 on the way

    But sort of um yeah just just never quite came through in in those races in the end but you know getting to the Twilight my career now and it’s certainly something I’d love to just go back to at least uh one more time that’s a big that’s a big change uh

    You know it’s completely different cycling of course yeah but you know if we 2007 was your first real season as a pro right on on B world I remember you were correct I think I remember you were the youngest participant in the tour to France that year yeah yeah yeah which

    Isn’t that young anymore I was 21 though I think yeah exactly exactly I checked I checked and I thought you were 19 but then I saw you were 21 so nowadays that’s just normal but um but you know we all of course we all know you as uh you know the writer

    On Sky Yos you’re I think you’re the only Rider left that’s that’s there from the very beginning right from the first year um yeah that’s correct and yeah maybe one or two staff but yeah Caron caraston still here other than that I think it’s just me and him so yeah so so

    What I would like to ask you um you know we’ve seen team Sky slos being you know coming up and then after two three years being the kind of The Benchmark team in terms of scientific approach and marginal gains and whatever you want to know it let’s say from the beginning until

    20189 now I think is jumble right uh which is at position but yet you were able to bounce back in in in 22 and 23 you know by being third in the tour being being second in the jro do you still feel like uh experience and and patience and this this

    Multi-year endurance that you’ve buil up is that still possible to weigh up against all this young Talent on those super high-tech teams like we see them today in terms of uh what What’s your feeling about that yeah I feel like um the main thing for me is the mentality

    And like how I feel in my head and I feel like I still really enjoy racing but I still also can really enjoy everything else that goes into it and all the commitment and the sacrifice and everything you got to make to get to the

    Top and um I feel like that’s the main reason of being able to continue that but also you know be able to change as well and adapt and and take on these new ways of training or nutrition or whatever it is I think um that’s also

    Key um and yeah for sure the experience and those all those years of you know racing the bike definitely help um but it’s it just never gets easier you know every year you have to try and get better um I did actually get my five on best five minute power ever this year

    But um you know it’s just it’s just hard work and but it’s something as I say it’s the enjoyment and the sacrifice is still there so I think that’s that’s the main thing but yeah that these young guys now though it’s just uh the game’s changed like completely in the last

    Three or four years you know guys like rco P um and I think they’ve changed the the mindset of of sports directors as well and teams you know everyone’s kind of like looking for the next you know Superstar that’s going to win the tour at 19 and

    Um it’s kind of you know it’s it’s kind of off-kilter to me it feels like I feel like you know some teams are DSM even us for example we we got a ton of young guys now and it’s almost like the the squad is sort of unbalanced in a way

    Um but that’s just kind of that’s the trend at the minute you know um that’s the way it is I just try to just kind of help the younger guys but at the same time the main thing is me as a sports person as an athlete and do everything I

    Can lead by example but I’m not I’m not one to sort of go in a room and shout and scream and tell them what to do um you know it’s still 100% about myself performing as best as I can really well I mean I mean more credit to you to mean

    At at 36 37 you know to be to be able to be third in the tour uh behind arguably the two best Stage racers in the world ferard and and and pachar and and this year almost winning to Jero I mean I think it speaks volumes of uh you know

    Your your mindset and and your your attitude uh but it’s it’s you know it’s uh it’s curious that you say you know this this year uh you performed your best five minutes I’ve read for example also that in several media Outlets that when you were third in the tour in

    2022 that your output numbers were better than when you won very dominantly in 2018 is that true yeah yeah across the board they were stronger the one that stands out is my 20 minute power I did my best ever in that tour up um uh blal Fe um at

    Yeah I think for sure you know without sounding like a dick in 2018 I never felt I was really on the limit I felt I still had a bit in reserve and I never had to go super deep um but I also feel like yeah I have improved since then the

    Whole Paton has you know I think you know that’s only natural and that’s why it’s hard to compare like Generations because stuff we’re doing now we definitely weren’t doing in 18 and stuff you know training all this type of stuff like we had more knowledge in 18 than we

    Did in you know when Brad won for instance in 12 so I think it’s just um sport moves on and it progresses and it’s just making sure that you well ideally stay ahead of that curve which sky was for so long obviously now jumbo have taken over and you know we’re sort

    Of more the hunter rather than being hunted um which is obviously a slightly different mindset but I think um it’s a mass Challenge and one which I’m still want to be a part of and super relishing two more years I’m pretty sure I’m going to stop then I can’t see myself being 40

    In this Paton I think that’ll just be that’s too much but um but no it’s that’s the challenge in it and that’s where we got to try to um you know get up to and overtake ideally J talk about um so you you were like Johan mentioned

    On the you you guys were like the ogs in terms of the marginal gains and that was early on in 2011 2012 uh what what has changed since then from from 2011 2012 till till now I mean I I see guys that I’ll I’ll ride with on occasion I mean

    How strict they are in terms of their diet everything every single facet of their life is now measured how do you have fun now in the sport of cycling when I mean obviously you must be doing similar things because you’re still one of the best um mentally how do you how

    Do you get over that I know that once you’re in that level and you’re getting paid well physically that’s almost the easiest part push yourself you know that’s your job your job you got to do but mentally how do you keep punishing yourself and how do you keep up in the

    Games in terms of measuring every thing you can do in your life yeah for me it’s I need the downtimes um you know I’m not super strict on myself all year round 12 months of the year I certainly have a good offseason enjoy myself complete you

    Know to be honest probably not the best I’m probably like 5 kilos overweight and most of the kids year are all the race weight and just giving me an absolute kick in this week but you know for me it’s the mental side you know I really need to just completely switch off enjoy

    Life you know I’ve got foury old kid just enjoy being home and and and all that type of stuff and then obviously the intensity ramps up um you know Christmas you got to sort of yeah there’s a few days where you can just you know be normal and enjoy it but from

    There on it’s it’s full on and yeah you do go into that whole sort of data and everything’s measured you know for me the biggest thing is nutrition you know I’ve mentioned it already but you know weighing out food weighing out your pasta weighing out your your

    Protein and it’s um it’s intense and I can do it and commit to it for a set period but I can’t live like that all year around and that is that’s a big thing as well when you see young guys in the team like you know I keep telling

    Them you don’t have to get drunk to have a good time but find something outside of the sport that you enjoy doing and and make sure you do it because you just see they’re so intense like from yeah offseason if they have two weeks off like start themselves thinking

    They need to ride the bike again you know I had about five and a half weeks off this year you know I think it’s more the mental as much as the physical and um yeah it’s just getting them to realize that like if you want a long career you know you need

    To there’s Peaks and troughs you know and it’s doing everything at the right time so but yeah sorry to answer your question for me it’s um certainly having downtime and then being on it when you when you got to be yeah can you can you elaborate

    You you you were very open about your offseason activities uh saying somewhere I got blown up a bit yeah 12 days out of 14 you were I’m not going to say drunk but inebriated how how would I would a bit tipsy can you what was going on what was going on

    In was it with your family with well basically um you know from the Walter I wrote the Walter and it was terrible Walter and like mentally I just needed to get away and have a break and I kind of I didn’t go crazy I stayed in

    Monaco um where we live with my wife and my son and just sort of he was in school Like Preschool three hours a day so it was okay you know I’d ride my bike a little bit have a couple of drinks but nothing crazy but then I went to I

    Bether on this like cycling holiday thing and um for some reason I didn’t think it’d be drinking so much but I should have really thought about it you know I beat there it’s a party island so was three big nights and then from there I went to Cardiff and basically

    Um that’s where I’m from born and bred and um yeah I had ton of people I wanted to catch up with basically and I hadn’t been home for so long um like these days well this year I did the J on nalta so you know it was a hell of a lot of

    Altitude before that and there was just basically no downtime so it felt like I was on it a lot so went back to Cardiff and in the UK you know if if you meet up with someone you either go out for food or go to the pub you know and um

    Basically every night I was meeting some mates and you know know family as well and it ends up being a very heavy couple of weeks but um it’s it’s what I needed you know what what I enjoyed doing and um yeah I I mentioned it in I don’t know where it

    Was just some random interview just mentioned I probably been drunk for about 12 the last 14 days and suddenly it just blew up everywhere and it’s on well yeah so many people have mentioned it to me but um but yeah that that’s that’s my sort of time to switch off and um

    Yeah good on you I I think you deserve it after such a you know long season and and you know basically you know I think you’re respected enough with also within the team that you know what you have to do you you’re a pro so I think uh I think it’s only

    Fair thanks pH call from the management or anything so right yeah I was wondering about that I know Johan would have called me if I if I said that in the Press no doubt but when you’re Geor changed I become mellow now I’m changed again I hope you’re enjoying this uh

    Episode of the move Legends um and I’m just going to duck in for a second because you know I I want to tell you about a couple of our partners we all use this stuff we only advertise and tell you about things that we use and believe in and we’ve been

    Telling you for some time about Ketone IQ by hvmn uh there’s a reason that 70% of the pelaton is using it it does does enhance performance it does make you feel better but my favorite thing about it is the uh mental sharpness mental Clarity I’ve said this before and I’m not kidding you

    I was on Aderall for I don’t know the last several decades lost track have not been on for on it for up to a year now and I attribute my um success and well-being without it to starting to take Ketone IQ shots every single day it has really helped with the mental

    Clarity the focus everything about it is great you can pick it up at Sprouts wherever you live if you want to go in and get it but uh I highly recommend doing a subscription order and give it a three to six month trial like that’s why the subscription is great and you can

    Get a discount on it which I’ll tell you about in a second but give it that time you know time for your your your body to adjust and and see what’s going on you’ll feel a difference uh I I have and I think you will too so you can save 30%

    On your first subscription order at Ketone IQ and that is at HV mn.com thememove again visit hmn.com thememove and subscribe upon checkout for 30% off last but not least I got to tell you about our partners at Helix sleep and uh I I’d love it when an industry gets disrupted right who would

    Have thought like you could just get a mattress sent to to you in the mail it’s kind of freakish actually cuz you as you drive around and trust me like when you’re driving around uh tomorrow look around you’re going to see a mattress store mattress store mattress store well

    That’s a lot of overhead for one and the product might may not be the best you can get uh again disruptor Helix sleep has has figured out how to send it to your door I don’t know how they compress it the way they do into that box and you

    Open it up and then it slowly expands and uh it’s been great we’ve been sleeping on a helix mattress for a couple years now and prior to that we went to the local store we bought what we thought was the newest latest greatest we replaced it with this and

    It’s been uh undeniably a good choice in our life so if you’re not sleeping well you want to sleep better maybe your mattress is too old you need to check it out there is a reason that Helix sleep has over 12,000 uh five-star reviews online all

    Right check it out uh they also support military First Responders teachers and students by giving them a special discount Helix sleep is offering 20% off on all mattress orders and two free pillows the pillows are great too for all of our listeners go to helixsleep.com thememove uh Allwood word the move Helix

    Sleep do helixsleep.com thememove this is their best offer yet and it won’t last long Helix sleep better sleep starts now well talk about talk about your kind of sort of re-entry because a lot of people you know once they put weight on I know for me it was

    Always just a month of just struggle just especially as it got L later on in my career where you’re like am I gonna be able to get this back um but obviously you have a ton of confidence you you you know what you need to do what’s been your re-entry this year has

    It gone as expected as as the other years or a little bit tougher or about the same uh it feels similar I feel like the last few years here as the whole as we mentioned earlier the whole paleton has got physically better and more professional um so December’s always

    Been a struggle like people are always going quite well and just kick my head in a bit but um yeah it’s the same sort of process for me come January it’s it’s full on I’m pretty hard on myself I kind of like punish myself a bit um you

    Restrict yourself a bit um but I have to just sort of remind myself to stay with the New Age and new thinking of you know fueling well on the bike and not completely just bonking every ride um it’s probably well no it’s definitely not the ideal way of doing it but it’s

    Kind of how I’ve got used to working basically and January is always a tough month um but then you’re kind of down to a decent weight at the end of that um you know I’m not quite yanui style I don’t I blow up quite as big as what he

    Used to but um you know makes January tough but then we go to altitude end of January as well now which is another sort of big change you know a lot more altitude as I said and that helps to shift the weight as well um and yeah by

    Feb you’re sort of at least ready to race you know you you’re down in the low 70s 7071 and um I race it around 68 69 and it’s just a gradual um yeah you just gradually lose that weight over that period of time and then

    It’s not like one big sort of you know it’s not like a so where you have like two or three weeks you you shed a load of weight so um it’s done progressively but yeah has it gotten has it gotten I mean back in Old when you first started

    Old school it was just like we’d basically just starve ourselves uh has the has the has the uh programming gotten better where you know exactly what you need to eat the right sort of foods where it’s a you’re not essentially starving yourself you’re just eating more of the right foods and

    And calculating your your your deficits more scientifically yes yeah exactly it’s it’s the right food at the right time you know timing is a big thing these days as well like when you have your protein or your cab or all this and that and um we’ve just done some new

    Sort of metabolic tests as well over like a week which should help you know give even more info and numbers on how well my body specifically is um working at the minute so um it’s a hell of a lot of science um and it’s just being strictly yourself then um I’ve always

    Like as I say really enjoyed the offseason but then when it comes to it you have to knuckle down 100% and get it done then so um yeah I find I’m able to do that R I don’t I don’t I don’t know if you’re able to talk about it but I

    Wanted to ask you um about the management within team inos and the shakeup as it happened in the last few months I mean it’s it’s I think a lot of has has happened behind the scenes and all of a sudden we were surprised to see the principal uh ellenor going um and

    With that um I was a bit surprised also to see that your team is actually one of the teams that made the least new signings um I think a part of Tobias fos and and the young American Aja August who we talked about who apparently um I think Axel Ms qualified

    Him as Remco with with more power um so that that’s very promising okay but what can you can you give us an insight on I mean as good as you can or if you’re allowed what happened inside the team the change of management and and why so few

    Signings for a start you know I respected Rod a lot I knew him since you know I don’t know 2004 maybe when I was a junior went on to the academy with him then and um he was running the under 23 program when we were under 23s obviously

    British likeing so known him a h of a long time and um it was sad to see him go it was pretty surprising I think um to be honest I don’t know 100% the full story but I know sort of his family did you see coming did you see it coming at

    All uh not really not really um I knew like he was he was struggling a little with um the way the team was working at at the time but then also with his family and stuff you know I think he’s got three kids um and that

    Was a a huge Factor um I haven’t really spoke to him much only a brief phone call um so family and home life was definitely a big big part of it as well so um yeah it for us the Riders it was for the majority for sure it was it was a shock

    Um but yeah that’s it’s just happened you know that’s the way it is um Dave B’s obviously got a different role now as well so it would be great to have him around more but it’s it’s just not possible things change he’s part of like inos sport which looks after hell of a

    Lot of other sports you know sain he’s part of the whole man united takeover thing now so um so yeah it’s it’s changing quickly and and as I mentioned briefly you know we’ve got this new sort of senior management team although most of them have been around in the team

    For a period of of time at least sort of like two years or so some have left and come back so um it’s it’s a lot of change and there’s meetings to sort of they want to take the team in a slightly different direction I guess put a bit of

    Their stamp on it try and start AR fresh I think also from from the team’s point of view I think they sort of burdens is probably too strong a word but the success of Sky you know is a is a big sort of like Cloud I don’t know what but it’s

    Something just hanging over the team you know like sky was so good and dominant and you know we Wen how many do like it was Brad Bry won four five six so we won seven tours in like eight years you know it was unbelievable the success we had

    So the fact if we don’t win it or win a grand tour that’s seen as like a terrible season um which is good in a way it’s good to have high standards and it’s good to keep them but I think it’s it’s also tough at the same time you

    Know and as we’ve mentioned we got a young team it takes them yeah hopefully AJ is the new Remco with more power CU that would that would be great for us you know give us something to to go at but you know it just takes these young

    Guys a bit a bit of time to sort of develop as well um luckily it’s not like football though or soccer um you know in in football in the UK it’s very Cutthroat and like you know if something happens the manager’s gone booming so at least it’s not like that but um it’s

    Certainly different time now it’s certainly um although it’s not not trying to reinvent the wheel either it’s just subt changes but it’s uh it’s definitely a different um atmosphere team to say five years ago for sure yeah and and in terms of the signings you know we’ve seen COV leaving

    Dlet leaving um Deo leaving some important right in d uh Donnie Martinez leaving and and in exchange there’s very few additions is is there a specific reason for that or what’s what’s the situation there because we you know we we read we’re reading all these reports

    But we may as well hear it from the horse’s mouth what what’s the reason yeah I I don’t know to be honest um I guess you know budgets come into it um you know all those guys I guess when you have a lot of good guys that perform

    Better and and want more money and if the money is not there it’s hard to make it happen it I was I was disappointed to see well all those good boys go but especially Tao and and Pavo because I spent a lot of time with them over the

    Years especially this year so that was super sad to see um you know but yeah I can’t actually speak for the recruitment part of the team but you know yeah as I keep saying that’s kind of the situation we’re in and yeah I I don’t know what else to

    Sort of um expand on that really I don’t really know but yeah all I can say is that the new guys coming in obviously Tobias you know won um the world so you know he’s a great great guy and the two young guys coming in as well hopefully

    They can um can step up as well yeah and then of course you still have young Talent on board uh you know Carlos Rodriguez Egon Bernal Tom pit coock I mean you have plenty of of guys still that that have it in them yeah speak yeah speaking ofal I mean you you were

    Teammates with obviously Chris who had a horrible crash and then Bernal unfortunately same sort of um injuries or I don’t know about injuries but setback uh let’s say let’s just say setback how is he doing and uh do you see him you know getting back to his the

    Top of his game next year he’s doing really well like um you know physically from what he’s just overcome to be honest just to be racing again um but it’s tough in it it’s like he doesn’t have to just get back to his best he’s got to get better than what he’s ever

    Been so yeah um I’m confident he will it’s just it just takes time doesn’t it like initially the progression is quick um but that last sort of 10 15% is super hard and um yeah I’ve Got Confidence the team I have around him I think he does as well

    From speaking to him here he’s in good spirits here so hopefully you know fingers crossed He he’ll continue that curve and and and continue to improve because he’s unbelievable Rider it’s still good to have him around in the team as well a lot of people still look

    Up to him so he still brings a lot even though he’s not necessarily at the top at the minute but yeah hoping he gets there yeah he was uh he was our other one of our other Legends with uh Yan and Victor Hugo Pena a couple weeks ago so

    Spanish but great guy we’re all big fans of his and we hope for his his return for sure what uh what about this year what are your goals this year are you going to go a similar approach last year or you’re not decided yet to be honest

    I’ I’d quite like to mix it up a bit maybe go back to the jro um but then try and go to the tour as well um not to ride GC in both I think the jro is something that has just got that fire in

    My belly to just you know go back and at least try again see what I can do um I’d love the challenge of sort of just trying to back up with a tour go there and help the guys you know Carlos obviously fifth last year young Rider

    Tom poock obviously he’s still sort of finding his way so you know try and help them a bit go for stage myself um but it’s more that’s ideally what I would like to do but it’s it’s on the team I guess in it to to tell me really um

    That’s what a lot of the discussions here have been about already whether I do that or if I just go to the tour with those boys and you know prepare all year more of a traditional sort of year um but what I’ve quite liked in recent

    Years is just mixing up a bit you know once you get to my age you going into my 18th year as a pro you know it’s nice to do something a bit different um that keeps you sort of fresh as well I think yeah so you weren’t uh watching the tour

    Missing at this past season it was kind of weird because me and Luke weren’t at the tour and then we we were doing our podcast as well and it felt like we were turning into um like directors that you know immediately turned from being a rider to being like ah it’s not cold

    It’s only 5 degrees get on with it yeah um felt he turns into those uh yeah um sports fans have just sat on the sofa really but I missed it I definitely missed it just watching it you know it’s the biggest bike R in the world like um

    I’d love to go back we’d love to see you back there nothing compar nothing compares to this to the tour we all know that I have one last question for you uh Garen um it was actually one of the highlights that we we we just had a

    Podcast about that 23 highlights and uh your uh the last stage of the jro me we all know you almost won the Jiro sadly you know RIT had a an amazing day on the on on the Mont Laro and uh and uh you lost it by how many I don’t know 15

    Seconds in total was it 15 seconds yeah yeah yeah um but the last stage and your lead out for your friend Mark Cavendish could you elaborate a little bit on that what was the thinking behind that uh did was it was it planned did it happen during the during the race was it

    Just an instinct what was going on there yeah it definitely wasn’t planned um I was kind of just staying out of trouble basically and about halfway through the race C comes past me he’s like oh lad if you’re going to leave me out go on the right and I’m like okay c

    Yeah whatever not going to happen and then literally like yeah obviously 3K to go um nothing’s going to happen to GC now with a crash or something and I see leis Leon and Cav um no other teammates and I was there and I was just thinking s it just just help him out

    He’s a mate you know w got nothing on tomorrow you know so um yeah I went to the front gave a bit of a nod Lis Leon comes on and and and yeah the rest is history but to be fair I think garia gave him an even better lead out really

    Hitting out so long and but um yeah it it was great to see him do it you know we go back out of a long way and you know to see him get that stage um I thought it was his final year he’s obviously going to go on so um

    But yeah it was it was a great moment yeah we both beautiful beautiful we both had the pleasure of racing with Cavin he’s as you know G one of the funniest guys in the pelaton one of the best personalities and seeing him win that

    Stage I was I was it was really cool to see but also having you leading them out was was awesome and it’s just a testament of you know how good of a person you are and how well liked you are amongst the pelaton and um yeah it’s

    Been it’s been a really fun time watching you both well I think I think in today’s cycling especially especially in today’s cycling I think it’s it’s exceptional almost Unthinkable to see something like this so competitive from what I hear you know between teams and between writers the respect is gone

    Mostly uh to see this kamad camaraderie uh come to a you know a success in in that last stage two Riders on different team teams uh being able to do this uh and everybody being okay with it is also very unique because normally this would be very controversial and nobody nobody

    Made a problem out I’m sure in your team within your team nobody made problem out of it in aana for sure not but the general public just loved it it was it was it was beautiful yeah I was surprised the amount of messages that we we got from

    It to be honest like to me it was just like why wouldn’t you open a m out um I guess when it’s on one of the biggest ages of the world it stands out a bit don’t it but um no yeah it was it was a

    Great moment and um yeah as you say it could have could have gone either way really but it would have just been a bit nicer to have done it in pink wouldn’t it really but there we go that would have year yeah or this year yeah for

    Sure great so can we can is there is there a hope that next year you you go back to the jro and and try to win it that’s that’s what I kind of understand in between the lines if you have your if you have your own way

    Yeah that’s what I would like to do ideally yeah but um yeah yeah it’s not always up to me but yeah whatever whatever happens it’s going to be go I’ll go all in commit to it and uh yeah we’ll we’ll try and just get the best

    Result and just enjoy riding my bike you know not going to do it for too much longer it’s uh yeah so you got two more two more years G two more years yeah yeah but to be honest I had my retirement well we’ve we got a wedding

    Venue myself my wife and I’d already booked it out the last sort of like twice I’ve booked it for my retirement party and I’ve had to cancel had to delay so maybe maybe Third Time Lucky but we’ll see yeah well it’s been an amazing run so far and I’m sure you

    Still got a lot left in that tank and it’s been fun you also got an amazing podcast which um I I listen to quite frequently I actually just listened to um the one you did with sep the other day found it really interesting obviously we’re all huge fans of zpp as

    Well and him winning the welta and you being there and being quite vocal on a lot of the stuff that was going on with the team um I found it really interesting to hear you guys both talking about it together later on in your podcast so for our listeners you

    Need to check out G’s podcast it’s super cool what’s occurring right what’s occurring or Grant Thomas Cycling Club Thomas Cycling Club yeah whater and it’s all under the same thing but um okay yeah check it out check it out well thank you for your time George do you have anything else no

    Thank you g we uh we really appreciate it Happy Holidays and good luck um all the best with the finish of camp and the start of the season cheers guys appreciate it what an amazing interview there with Garen Thomas it was a pleasure to have him on

    The show The Move Legends Johan uh what you think about the interview I thought it was super fun chatting with him I mean was an amazing guy you know such I mean such an amazing long career and still you know incredible to be still at

    Such a high level uh in the fall of his career let’s say right I mean he is 37 years old uh but still you know out there um yeah amazing I I really liked it absolutely he’s going to be one of the most iconic figures in cycling uh

    That we that we’ve ever witnessed and uh speaking of iconic figures I’m very excited about our iconic partners that are joining us for our uh Flanders strata Bianca and Paris R Bay camp we’re gonna have Giani buo riding the white Tuscan roads with us in uh in Tuscany in

    Early March um so if you can don’t miss out on that camp and then fast forward a month later to tour fland my favorite race on the planet it’s got the best Vibe of any race in the in the calendar um we last year we got to start we were

    Right there on the start line and we saw all these guys lined up Ready for War so to speak and uh we’re gonna have Yan museu join us for that and then the week later we’re doing the Paris re Bay camp uh with also Yan museu and riding the

    The sporti before every each and every one of them on for strata Bianca FL ERS and R which has thousands of riders uh it’s just a great experience and one you don’t want to miss yeah for sure for sure check it out uh on our Travel

    Section on WE do. team you go to the Travel section and you can find all the information there about those three events in the spring and also about our usual annual camp in mayorca uh places are filling up already now so uh don’t miss the opportunity and check it out we do. team

    A

    29 Comments

    1. I know this is highly unlikely, but it would be nice to get Alberto Contador on this. Won Postal/Discovery's final TdF and was part of what we hoped was a long term future with Johan at Astana.

    2. Great interview with Geraint, what an absolute cycling legend. Really interesting topics and answers and sure all GTCC members will love seeing it. All the best to G and the Ineos team for the 2024 season and thanks to The Move for the feature.

    3. Rumour is that Brailsford visited 2 weeks before all of those departures… interested to know if Ineos have become impatient with lac of Grand Tour success…

    Leave A Reply