Rod Ellingworth, director of Ineos Grenadiers, was lulled into a support role for Geraint Thomas in the 2022 Tour de France. Now, two stages later, he has dramatically changed that assessment.

Thomas, an unknown rider earlier in the year, is now "on fire" and, according to the team's racing director, "the best rider ever."

Thomas won the Tour de France in 2018 and was runner-up to teammate Egan Bernal the following year, but has endured a difficult few seasons since. Last winter, after protracted negotiations that were "difficult," according to Thomas, a contract extension was signed through 2022, but the 36-year-old has played a largely low-key support role.

Even the Tour de France looked that way until Thomas suddenly won the Tour de Suisse two weeks ago. He had enjoyed a good week leading Tom Pidcock in the sprint, but after Adam Yates retired for COVID-19, he finished the week as the favorite to win the Tour de France.

"G has done really well to pull himself up to this level. He's doing really well and he's at the right weight. He's really on fire," Ellingworth told Cycling News at the Tour de France in Denmark. [Honestly, I think he's the best rider I've ever seen. It's really exciting to watch."

When asked about this comment, Ellingworth continued: "I would say the best I've seen him, the way he is, his attitude, the way he gets along with his teammates, the whole thing. He's ambitious, as ambitious as he was when he was younger.

Ellingworth regularly checked in on Yates and Daniel Martinez as Tour de France leaders for Ineos Grenadiers throughout the season. Thomas' name was rarely mentioned, and there were times when it was unclear whether he would even make the eight-man squad. Now, however, he is part of the leader trio.

"G was always open to discussion. You never know; you can never write G off. You can never give up on G. He's a true motorcycle racer. He is a true motorcycle racer.

"I've really enjoyed working with G again this year. He has a great relationship with the young racers. He also told me, 'I really enjoyed it too. My gut feeling is that he didn't enjoy racing much last year. But I think he's enjoying the race again.

Thomas is now riding the Tour as part of the leader trio with Yates and Martinez. The British team has had multiple leaders in the past, but the difference this time is that they probably don't have the strongest rider.

Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) has taken over the dominance in the Tour de France, and Jumbo Visma has its two strongest riders, Primoš Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard. Therefore, the old tactic of dominating the race from start to finish has been shelved, with new lead director Steve Cummings proposing a more creative approach.

"I think Pogachar is the favorite to win, but anyone could lose. Everyone could crash."

"We want a fair race. We want to race fair, but there is a group of people who are up for the challenge and want to race. We're going to race our rivals." [25] [26] "Steve Cummings has done a really good job. He went on a trip with a group of young people and brought the group together. They know exactly how they want to race. We have a plan and we have days when we feel we are strong and can make a difference. Hopefully we can stick to that plan."

After the opening time trial and two stages, Yates is in the best position of the Ineos, in 12th place, 16 seconds behind Pogachar, while Thomas, who made the schoolboy mistake of forgetting to take off his gilet in the time trial, is 17th, two seconds behind. Martinez had a bad start, losing 37 seconds to Pogacar in the time trial and crashing on the run-in on stage 3, but lost no time or suffered any serious injuries.

Yates developed COVID-19 at the Tour de Suisse and suffered fever and chills for four days the week before the Tour.

"All three riders have an equal chance and they all deserve a chance," Ellingworth said.

"We are fortunate to have three guys who are in great shape. They all get along well and have a lot of sense. They have helped each other in different races this year, as you can see from what G. Dani did in Switzerland. It will show on the road."