By Gareth James

Geraint Thomas saw his risky approach pay off as he regained second place at the Giro d’Italia following the individual time trial.

The Ineos Grenadiers rider set the fourth quickest time on the stage 14 race against the clock over the 31.2km Lake Garda course.

Thomas, who had gone into the stage third overall, is now 3:41 down on Giro leader Tadej Pogacar heading into Sunday’s queen stage through the Alps to Livigno.

“I wanted to be more aggressive and just attacked it,” said Thomas after a stage won by his teammate Filippo Ganna ahead of Pogacar.

“I attacked it a bit too much, because in the left-hander after about a kilometre and a half, I almost overshot it. That got the adrenaline going at least.

“There was another corner where I almost overshot it as well. And another I came in a bit too hot. It was a bit fast, I wasn’t necessarily in control all the time, which isn’t a good thing…”

Thomas, who had had a disappointing time at the p[revious time trail last weekend, eventually finished 1:14 down on Ganna. Another Ineos rider, another Ineos rider, Thymen Aresnsman, was third fastest at 1:06.

Thomas, who also plans to contest the Tour de France which he famously won in 2018, is happy with his display on the Giro where he again leads the field behind the dominant Pogacar.

He added: “It’s just Tadej, definitely it’s Tadej. We all know that, but you’ve just gotta keep trying, that’s all we can do.

“Now we’ll see how next week goes. It’s pretty good… It’s decent so far. So just a big, big week to come now.”