Geraint Thomas on crashes: ‘If this was a new sport, there’s no way it would be allowed’

Geraint Thomas addressed the crashes that have married the sport recently. He minced no words about some of the horrific accidents that have taken place, taking out several of the top contenders in the sport.

“Everyone’s talking about this now because big-name riders have crashed, but it’s been happening for years,” he said in an interview with the Guardian. “Racing’s got that danger element already, but I feel like it could do so much more to increase safety. There’s road furniture, traffic calming, curbs sticking out, all that kind of stuff. That adds an element of danger as well. When you’re in it, if I thought about it, I’d be at the back. You wouldn’t be racing, you couldn’t do it.”

On April 4, there was a brutal crash on a fast descent at the Tour of the Basque Country race. It took out several riders, notably Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel. The Dane was the worst off. According to Visma – Lease a Bike’s Frans Maaasen, ““He had punctured his lung. That was his biggest problem. He also had a broken collarbone and several ribs. He had also broken a finger. The biggest problem was the punctured lung. He had some blood in his lung, but I’m not a specialist. It was a question of safety – those were the main reasons he stayed there for so long. That’s why it’s really good to hear that he was able to leave the hospital.”

Thomas said a big problem is that not all the riders are able to recon courses beforehand.

“So, 90 per cent of the guys won’t know the roads,” Thomas says. “You’re going down these descents, flying down them. If this was a new sport, there’s no way it would be allowed.’”

David Lappartient: ‘50 per cent of crashes are due to riders’ attitudes’

At the end of March, Wout van Aert also had a crash that ended his Classics campaign. Belgian crashed at Dwars door Vlaanderen March 27. This incident also affected other contenders such as Jasper Stuyven and Biniam Girmay. The crash occurred shortly after the Berg Ten Houte climb, worsened by crosswinds and the Lidl-Trek team’s positioning at the front of the peloton, leading to splits. About 68 km remained in the race when the substantial crash occurred, involving a dozen riders.

Thomas heads to Italy after finishing second in 2023. It all came down to the final time trial, where he lost the pink jersey to Roglič. Although that Slovenian won’t be there this year–another one will be: Tadej Pogačar.

“Pogačar is the massive favourite, but stranger things have happened,” Thomas says. “It’s three weeks – it’s different to any other race. Anyone can have a bad day.”

Thomas’s Ineos Grenadiers team is doing everything it can to try and help him beat the seemingly unbeatable Pogačar at the Giro, sending a stacked squad.
Will that be the key to taking the pink jersey to Rome?

“Possibly, but I’m not one to play mind games,” Thomas said. “I’ll be doing my thing – try to stay consistent, good and strong all the way through. He’s a racer and he just loves winning. When he retires he’s going to be one of the greatest of all time.”

The Giro begins on Saturday, and you can watch it on FloBikes.com