{"id":69707,"date":"2024-09-24T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/f4a40099-b291-4f43-9786-3d0466d51a22"},"modified":"2024-09-24T13:25:24","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T11:25:24","slug":"geraint-thomas-my-training-secret-maintain-a-sense-of-adventure","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/rss_feed\/geraint-thomas-my-training-secret-maintain-a-sense-of-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"Geraint Thomas | My training secret? Maintain a sense of adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2018 Tour de France champion tells us why 18 years into his racing career it’s still vital to keep exploration and fun central to your sessions <\/p>

By Geraint Thomas\n <\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 24 September 2024 at 11:00 AM<\/p>

\n\n

Never stop adventuring. That\u2019s always been my approach to training rides.<\/p>

Yes, I might have certain efforts to do in training, but I still want to ride to new places and to see new or interesting things.<\/p>

I really enjoy that sense of exploring. It\u2019s the reason why I fell in love with this sport to start with.<\/p>

When you\u2019re younger, you know you can travel so much further away from home on a bike than if you are just walking.<\/p>

And that feeling of exploration is something I\u2019ve never lost. Trying new routes on my training rides keeps things fresh.<\/p>

When you\u2019re in your 17th year of racing, you have got to mix it up a bit to stay interested.<\/p>

This is actually how I ride my bike most days. I have a general plan of where to go, but then I just go off and do whatever.<\/p>

I change up my routes all the time. I know some guys like to do the same routes.<\/p>

My former teammate, Richie Porte, liked to do the same loops over and over again, but I am the total opposite.<\/p>

It means I\u2019m not good at following a Garmin because I don\u2019t ever really do it. But if I\u2019m concentrating, I usually know my bearings.<\/p>

Maybe if I\u2019m somewhere totally new, like when I went to do some training in New Zealand in 2023, I have my routes planned out.<\/p>

I\u2019m not fanatical about it. Swifty (Ben Swift) has every ride planned out to the precise kilometre, but I love an adventure.<\/p>

That is why I like to visit new training destinations. When I went to New Zealand with my wife Sa and son Macs, just for something a bit different, my team were pretty sceptical.<\/p>

But it was great cycling: river valleys, coastal roads, mountain passes. I was still training hard, just riding spectacular roads.<\/p>

I also went to Sierra Nevada in Spain for the first time, and Andorra. I have had some great rides in Los Angeles as well. Cam Wurf (the Australian pro) was raving about it to me.<\/p>

When you think of L.A., you think of Hollywood Boulevard, but once you go out into the hills it\u2019s really quiet and beautiful, with lots of climbs and canyons and sunshine.<\/p>

It\u2019s always fun to retrace old adventures too. I still love a ride in Wales when I\u2019m home, especially around the Vale of Glamorgan. It feels like going back to being 16 again.<\/p>

I revert to the same mentality too and think: \u201cOh, it\u2019s quite a long ride to that place!\u201d But actually it\u2019s only 10km. I forget I\u2019m bigger now. But I love it. There are so many memories.<\/p>