Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) will take the final step toward the Giro d'Italia on Monday at the Tour of the Alps, a five-day mountain race in Austria and northern Italy.

The Welshman will turn 37 during the Giro d'Italia, but he looked ready for his 18th career Grand Tour during the Tour de Alps team presentation.

His 2023 was affected by a series of illnesses requiring antibiotics, but he moved directly from his high altitude camp in the Sierra Nevada to Austria for Monday's first stage.

"For me personally, the Tour of the Alps requires five days of hard racing," he said.

"Then I can refresh and have time to work. The Tour de Romandie is too close to the mentality of the Giro.

"It was good to be back racing in Catalunya and the Sierra Nevada was a new place for me to train on new roads. It was a good group and a great atmosphere. Now I am looking forward to the race."

Ineos Grenadiers selected most of the Giro d'Italia contingent for the Tour of the Alps, with Tao Geohagan Hart, Timen Arensmann, Pavel Sivakov, Lawrence De Plus, Salvatore Puccio, and Ben Swift were named to the start list. They will join Giro d'Italia's Philippa Ganna for the time trial.

Sports director Matteo Tosatto indicated that Geohagan Hart and Allenman are the GC riders for Ineos Grenadier for the Tour of the Alps.

"For me, it's about racing well and working hard," Thomas said.

"Whenever I get a chance, I want to seize it. I also want to help my teammates and see what we can do as a team."

"I want to help my teammates and see what we can do as a team.

Thomas chose to compete in the Giro d'Italia in 2023 after seeing the very limited time trials and steep climbs of the Tour de France. He completed the Giro d'Italia twice earlier in his career, but crashed in 2017 and 2020.

In 2017, a stopped police motorcycle sparked the crash, leaving him battered and bruised; in 2020, he had the misfortune of hitting a rolling bidon on stage and breaking his pelvis.

Thomas won the Tour de France in 2018 and finished third last year, proving his credentials as a Grand Tour contender. However, he and Ineos Grenadiers will face a battle with Lemko Evenpoel and Primos Roglic at the 2023 Giro d'Italia.

"I've only been unlucky twice. [My career has its ups and downs, I hope 2023 will be a good year.

"Since December, I've been on and off antibiotics and haven't been feeling very well. That put me in a bit of a slump, but I've done everything I can now. All I can do is keep working hard and get to the start line in the best shape I can. A lot can happen in the last week of the Giro.

Before starting the 2023 season at the Tour Down Under in Australia, Thomas said he would decide in the spring whether to continue racing in 2024. A final decision has now been postponed until after the Giro d'Italia.

Thomas was initially demoted from the 2022 Grand Tour leaders, but later defended his Ineos Grenadier pride and finished third in the Tour de France behind Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) and proved his critics wrong. If Thomas continues to race in 2024, it will be ineos grenadiers.

"I'm talking to the team. I want to continue," he stated.

"That's the way it is. Once we talk it over properly, I'll have a long talk with my family and we'll decide from there. It will probably be after the Giro, so I can concentrate on being in the best shape possible and enjoying the race. Then we'll figure out what our plans are for the future.

Thomas is part of an older generation that is being replaced by the new Pogachar-Evenepaul-Vanderpol-VanArt-Pidcock generation.

He defends the veteran generation better than most and sees both the good and the bad aspects of the current race.

"I like the new style of racing. It's aggressive, it starts fast, and there are a lot of changes. I'm not really into all the data," he said, emphasizing why the current generation is unlikely to race until they are 37 like Thomas.

"I'm not one to sit there and look at different things, from nutrition to sleep to tire pressure. I just get on the bike and ride. I think young riders worry too much about those things," Thomas said.

Thomas is still curious about his competitors. Before attending a team presentation in Alpbach, northeast of Innsbruck, he watched Pogachar win the Amstel Gold Race.

"Pogachar looked pretty vulnerable in the finale. He usually wins by two minutes," Thomas joked.

"No, I can't believe what he's doing. All I can say is 'chapeau. But he's a phenomenon. There's no other word for it."