Tour de France: Geraint Thomas among four Britons in Ineos squad along with Tom Pidcock, Adam Yates and Luke Rowe

2 years ago 22

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Geraint Thomas has been named in the Ineos Grenadiers team for the Tour de France along with three other British riders.

Thomas, 36, won cycling's biggest race in 2018 under the team's previous guise, Team Sky.

The eight-man squad named for the Tour also includes Britain's Adam Yates, Tom Pidcock and Luke Rowe.

"This group have the grit, rigour and humour we know is critical to success," said team principal Dave Brailsford.

Thomas is one of three protected riders [leaders] in the squad, with the others being Britain's Adam Yates and Colombia's Dani Martinez.

Thomas comes into the race in good form, having won the Tour de Suisse last week.

The three-week race, which gets under way in Copenhagen this Friday, has been won for the past two years by Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates, who is widely expected to triumph again.

"The competition this year is tougher than ever and that's a great thing for the sport, the Tour and the fans," said Brailsford.

"But we all know that anything can happen in cycling, especially over three weeks of hard racing across different terrains and weather conditions."

Ineos had previously dominated the race, winning seven times since 2012 through Sir Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome (2013 and 2015-17), Thomas and most recently Egan Bernal in 2019.

The other riders will provide 'domestique' support during the race, riding into the wind and servicing the leaders to best preserve their energy.

But such is Ineos' strength in depth, other riders - such as exciting young talent Tom Pidcock - will be in contention to win individual stages.

Full line-up: Geraint Thomas (GB), Adam Yates (GB), Dani Martinez (Col), Luke Rowe (GB), Filippo Ganna (Ita), Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa), Tom Pidcock (GB), Dylan van Baarle (Ned)

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