Thomas targets Tour and Olympics double

Tokyo TT and road race for 2018 Tour champ

- Vern Pitt and Issy Roland

Geraint Thomas has been selected to ride the time trial at the Olympics in Tokyo just 10 days after he’ll complete the Tour de France.

The Welshman has also been selected to ride the road race, where he’ll provide an attacking option for the team alongside the Yates brothers and Tao Geoghegan Hart, who will also race the time trial.

Great Britain men’s road coach Matt Brammeier told CW: “He’s one of our most proven time triallists. Once the Tour route was announced with so much time trialing it gave us more scope to really dial in and focus on G’s aerodynamics. We’ve worked together well with Ineos Grenadiers.”

Thomas’s inclusion alongside Geoghegan Hart means that British national time trial champion Alex Dowsett, who had high hopes of going to Tokyo, won’t be going. Brammeier said it was a “tough decision”.