Great Britain head to road worlds without Froome and Thomas

Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome will not represent Great Britain at the UCI Road World Championships later this month, paving the way for a more open race.

Chris Froome (R) and Geraint Thomas (L) will not be on the Great Britain team for the UCI Road World Championships. Source: Getty

The pair are currently competing at the Tour of Britain where Sky teammate Wout Poels now sits fifth overall, 26 seconds in arrears of new race leader Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) following the Stage 5 team time trial.

Newly crowned Tour de France champion Thomas and four-time winner Froome at the beginning of the race both suggested they may not compete in the September 30 elite men’s road title in Innsbruck, Austria, tipped to be one of the most difficult in history.

“Unless you’re in absolute top condition, I don’t think it’s a race you can hide on the wheels. It’s going to show exactly what form you’re in,” Froome observed then.

The pair have each had emphatically successful but exhausting seasons, Froome winning the Giro d’Italia and finishing third at the Tour de France that Thomas won on the back of victory at the Critérium du Dauphine.

Froome was quick to interject when Thomas, speaking at a pre-race press conference, was asked what he’d done between his triumph in France and the Tour of Britain.

“What hasn’t he done?” Froome mused.

Thomas seemed more open to the idea of a tilt in Austria but has decided against it after a few days competing in Britain. The 32-year-old had little respite in the aftermath of the Tour where, outside of a start at the Deutschland Tour, he was busy navigating the perks and attention that comes with being a Tour de France champion, throwaway lines becoming front page news.

“I’ve had a good few nights out, a couple of [post-Tour] crits, I went to the Emirates for an Arsenal game, came back [to the UK] for the homecoming. A lot of two days here and there all the time and that takes it out of you anyway, then the late nights and early mornings,” said Thomas.

“There has been a lot of interviews obviously and getting stitched up about helmets and stuff. It has been a whirlwind and there is no time to really sit down and chill out.”

Great Britain is yet to announce its squad, which brothers Adam and Simon Yates, currently competing at the Vuelta a España for Mitchelton-Scott, could headline. Richie Porte is set to carry Australia’s medal hopes in the 258.5km race that covers almost 5000m of climbing.

Watch the UCI Road World Championships LIVE with SBS. Details TBA.