Geraint Thomas has vowed to go ‘full gas’ when he leads Team Sky for the first time at the Tour de Suisse which starts Saturday.

The nine-day event will likely be the Cardiff-born flier’s last race before he lined-up at July’s Tour de France.

Thomas is keen to boost his standing as a potential Grand Tour champ in the future by adding to this year’s wins at the Volta ao Algarve and Paris-Nice.

The 30-year-old said: “I’ll be going full gas, emptying the tank, and getting the most out of myself.

“When you’re in a race you have to go full gas. I don’t go to races just to roll around, even if you haven’t got the condition to win you still turn yourself inside out – that’s just the way I am.”

Thomas finished second last year missing out by just five seconds to Simon Spilak but showed that he could be a major stage racer.
Thomas has mixed emotions from the Tour de Suisse; he missed out on overall victory to Simon Spilak last year by an excruciatingly slim margin but it was a race that provided a ‘groundbreaking’ moment in his emergence as a stage race contender.

“It’ll certainly be a tough race and one that leans more towards the climbers,” added Thomas. “But I’m just looking forward to getting stuck in, and obviously I’m there to try and go one better.”

“It’s all learning as well. Even if I don’t win or get on the podium, it’s all a good learning experience leading the team, especially racing for the GC up tough climbs, which I don’t get to do too often.

“So it’s all part of growing as a rider.”