•3 min read
Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) believes the best legs of his career came well after his 2018 Tour de France victory, pointing instead to his performances at the Giro d'Italia in 2023 and 2024 as his true physiological peak.
Speaking on a December 2025 episode of his Watts Occurring podcast, Thomas was asked if his numbers were at their highest when he rode into Paris in yellow at age 32. His answer was unequivocal.
"No, I do not think so. I was still doing PBs in '23 and even in '24," he said, adding that his best data did not automatically translate into the most dominant results.
Thomas finished second overall at the 2023 Giro and third in 2024, twice carrying the maglia rosa deep into the race and repeatedly fighting with the sport's new generation of Grand Tour leaders. His long, steady effort on Monte Bondone in 2023, where he matched João Almeida on the decisive climb, has often been highlighted as one of the strongest sustained rides of his career.
By contrast, his Tour triumph in 2018 was built more on timing and explosiveness. Backed by a dominant Team Sky, Thomas seized yellow with back‑to‑back Alpine stage wins at La Rosière and Alpe d'Huez, then defended his lead through consistent, controlled riding and a solid time trial.
On the podcast, he drew a clear line between personal improvement and the shifting level of the peloton.
Thomas explained that he and other riders might be producing career‑best power in their thirties, yet find themselves lower on general classification because rivals have advanced even faster.
Co-host Luke Rowe echoed the sentiment. "Even in the last year of my career, I think in terms of where I was in the pecking order of riders, I probably went down the pecking order," Rowe said. "But that’s because everyone else got better."
The rise of all‑round superstars and steadily increasing climbing speeds mean that later peaks no longer guarantee yellow.
"It’s quite depressing, really," Thomas added.
Now installed as INEOS Grenadiers' director of racing, Thomas is taking those lessons into the team car, shaping a squad that includes new recruits such as Jack Haig, whose move for 2026 we covered in detail in our report on the team's rebuild.
For Thomas the rider, though, the verdict is settled. The Tour will remain the biggest win of his life, but the numbers that truly stretched his limits came, quietly and a little cruelly, several years later on Italian roads.
