By Gareth James

Geraint Thomas will ramp up his season when he competes alongside one of Britain’s hottest talents in France this week.

The 2018 Tour de France champ will compete for the second time this season at the three-day Tour de Var which starts on Friday.

Thomas will be joined in the Ineos Grenadiers line-up by Yorkshire’s Tom Pidcock who will make his eagerly-awaited World Tour bow.

Pidcock, 21, has had a stellar career in cyclocross and mountain biking and will use the race to prepare for the spring one-day classics.

Beyond excited to start this next chapter this weekend with this group of big dogs! https://t.co/r9S0F98dFt

— Tom Pidcock (@tompidcock) February 15, 2021

Thomas will also be joined by team-mate Tao Geoghegan Hart in a high-class field.

His fellow Brit started last October’s Giro d’Italia as a support rider for Thomas but after seeing him forced out by a fractured pelvis in a. freak accident went on to win the maglia rosa.

Thomas – who has been told he will lead Ineos at this year’s Tour de France – finished 49th on his season’s debut at the Étoile de Bessèges in January.

The Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var Var will feature three demanding days of climbing in the south of France, just the test Thomas will be looking for as he builds towards June’s Le Tour.