Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) is confident that he`ll be competitive and ready to try to defend his Tour de France title this July following some extended post-win celebrations and a winter of media appearances. In an interview published on telegraph.co.uk on Tuesday, Thomas said that he`s now only about a kilogram away from his optimum racing weight of 67kg, and that his third place overall at the Tour de Romandie in early May was the confidence boost he needed to know that he was on the way back to his best, although he admitted that the competition he`ll face could be tougher than ever at this year`s Tour de France. `By the start of last November, even though I still had three weeks of doing stuff, I was itching to get back on the bike,` he said, referring to the multiple public appearances and media interviews he did in the aftermath of his win. `That`s when I knew I`d be OK. Because I didn`t want to be doing that anymore.ADVERTISEMENT `I was definitely coming back slowly,` Thomas admitted. `I just didn`t want to rush it and then overdo it. But yeah, I would say it`s all worked out well now. `Obviously Romandie was nice to get a little result - a boost for the confidence,` he said of his third place at the Swiss stage race, behind Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and UAE Team Emirates` Rui Costa. `And, yeah, I think we`re all on track now.` While Romandie was his last race, following an early-season programme that included Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Itzulia Basque Country, Thomas has continued to work towards July, with his weight continuing to drop, too, after a recent training camp in Tenerife. The 33-year-old British rider told telegraph.co.uk that he was `more confident than ever` of rediscovering the form that saw him beat Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) and his Team Sky - now Ineos - teammate Chris Froome to win the world`s biggest bike race last year.
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