Almost a year after his defeat on the final day of the Giro d'Italia, Geraint Thomas is preparing to return to the Italian Grand Tour at the Tour de l'Alps after a more consistent preparation, without any interruptions due to illness.

In 2023, a urinary tract infection (UTI) prevented Thomas from training regularly early in the season, the cause of which was not determined until the spring.

"I'm feeling pretty good, a little better than last year. I'm feeling pretty good, a little bit better than last year," Thomas said at a press conference before the Tour de l'Alps in Neumarkt/Egna.

"Last year I had a urinary infection from Christmas and was on and off the bike until I found the real cause in March.

"This year I've been much more consistent, and while I can't say I'm a million miles better obviously, I feel like I'm running smoother.

For the Welshman, this was a slower 13-day race, but Thomas is ready to immerse himself in the competition after spending so much time in the high Sierra Nevada.

"I'm really looking forward to racing here. It's an ideal place for the Giro," Thomas said.

Today, the tough five-day race through the hills and mountains of South Tyrol begins in Egna. Thomas sees all the stages as potential GC action, along with the tough Queen Stage 4 from Rives to Borgo Valsgana.

"You have to be ready for a good start, it's always going to be a super hard race and this year it looks pretty punchy.

"The weather looks like it's going to be a little worse, but it's good preparation for the Giro. I'm just excited to get stuck in."

In addition to Thomas, the field also includes Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Hugh Carthy (EF Education Easy Post), Romain Bardet (DSM-Filmenig Post NL), Filippo Zana (Jayco Alura), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) and others are also preparing for the Giro d'Italia in the Tour de l'Alps.

Last year's winner Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek) is absent, while Thomas is without climbing superstars Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Ries-a-Bike), We expect this to be a very open competition.

"I think it's an open race. It will be a very difficult race to win and I hope I enjoy it."

"Obviously it will be an open race if there are no so-called big teams (2, 3, 4, however many you want to call them).

Hearing midway through the press conference that his teammate Tom Pidcock had won the Amstel Gold Race, Thomas said that doing the Giro and Tour de France double "gets me out of bed every day" and that he was looking forward to another exciting 18th year!

"To be honest," he said, "it's been a great experience.

"To be honest, being my 18th year as a pro, I wanted to try something different.

"It's a really big goal and I think it's a tough challenge to do my best in both.

"At the beginning of the year I was trying to be a little more consistent, I didn't want to fly in March and keep it up until July and Tom Pidcock could have won in Amstel.