Geraint Thomas to focus only at road racing after the 2012 London Olympics
Geraint Thomas is all set to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics Games. He was part of the British team at the Track World Cup in London, scheduled from February 16-19, 2012.
The cyclist has announced his retirement from the track category after the London event and is keen to divert his complete focus towards road racing.
Thomas briefed that the high level of competition makes it very difficult to concentrate on the two different disciplines of cycling.
He told walesonline.co.uk, “This Olympics could be the end of my time on the track. Four years is a long time in sport and for a year or so after London I will be totally on the road”.
Thomas started his professional career with Team Recycling .co.uk in 2006 and joined Team Barloworld for 2007-2009 seasons.
He accepted an offer from Team Sky in 2010 and is keen to ride with the British side for the third consecutive season.
Thomas won three gold, one silver and one bronze medal at the Track cycling and is keen to grab more gold in front of the home crowd this year.
The Welsh professional cyclist had a terrific 2011 road season. He claimed the first overall position at the Bayern-Rundfahrt 2011 and finished second at the Dwars door Vlaanderen.
He held the Young Rider’s Jersey at the Tour de France 2011 for seven consecutive stages, stage1-7 and also won the combativity award at the 12th stage of the race.
While commenting on his goals for the season ahead, he briefed, “I will probably ride the Tour of Spain two weeks after the Olympic final, so it will be straight back to the day job”.
He further added, “You should never say never, but track cycling is so specific now. It’s pretty impossible to combine the two over a long period”.
Team Great Britain finished second at the fourth day of UCI Track World Cup in London as Team Australia won with a total time of 3 hours 54 minutes and 60 seconds.
Geraint Thomas, Steven Burke, Peter Kennaugh and Edward Clancy are optimistic to overcome the Australians at the mega event scheduled from July 28-August 12, 2012.
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