Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) says he is on track to defend his 2018 Tour de France title when the race rolls out of Brussels on July 6 despite a relative lack of race days so far this season and his high-speed crash last week at Tour of the Basque Country. In an interview with the BBC`s BeSpoke podcast, Thomas said he`s not far off the form he had last year at this time, and he knows what he`s got to do to reach Tour de France fitness. Thomas has raced rather anonymously in the peloton over his 16 race days of far this season, starting the Volta a Valenciana in February. He finished 12th in Strade Bianche, but a stomach bug forced him out of Tirreno-Adriatico on stage 4 last month. Thomas most recently rode Tour of the Basque Country, where he emerged relatively unscathed from a high-speed crash on stage 3 that sent teammate Jonathan Castroviejo to the hospital with a broken collarbone. The 32-year-old Briton finished the six-stage race 40th overall, more than 35 minutes behind winner Ion Izagirre (Astana).ADVERTISEMENT `I feel like I really needed that,` Thomas said of the Basque Country race days. `I`ve had a bit of a lack of racing, but I`m improving all the time.` Thomas is provisionally headed to Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Flèche Wallonne next, then he`ll take on the six-day Tour de Romandie from April 30 through May 6. `Romandie wasn`t the best time for me last year, but that`s what gave me the kick up the backside to knuckle down from there on and really push towards the Tour,` he said, referring to his 33rd-place finish at the race in 2018. `I`m trying to get [to the Tour de France] in the best shape I can, purely because I won it last year, otherwise I might have looked to the Giro.`
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