Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) put in his best performance of the season on stage 5 of Tirreno-Adriatico, finishing second behind stage winner Simon Yates (Mitchelton Scott) at the summit finish of Sassottet.

The result moved Thomas into third place overall with three days remaining. Yates is 16 seconds ahead of Rafa Mica (Bora-Hansgrohe), while Thomas leads the eight-day race by 39 seconds.

On stage 5, Yates attacked with around 5km to go, and while race leader Michael Woods (EF Pro Cycling) was unable to chase, Thomas formed an elite chase group with Majka and Astana's rising star this season Alexandre Vlasov The three formed an elite chase group with Yates at the finish. The three were unable to catch Yates in front of the finish line, and Mitchelton-Scott's climber won by 35 seconds.

Thomas, however, succeeded in dropping Vlasov, and earned a valuable bonus second: Thomas, a Welshman who won the Tour de France two years ago but missed out on a spot on Ineos' Tour de France team, is making steady progress toward a new goal at the 2020 Giro d'Italia. He is making steady progress toward his new goal of competing in the Giro d'Italia in 2020.

"I felt good, but when the riders started attacking I decided to follow Woods.

"He was running very strong and I thought he would pull away from everyone, but I don't think he had it in him today.

The lack of unity between Thomas, Majka, and Vlasov hampered the chase. For Thomas, however, stage 5 was a step in the right direction.

Since the race resumed in August, the 34-year-old Thomas had struggled, losing significant overall positions in both the Tour de l'Ain and the Criterium du Dauphiné.

Thomas said of the lack of cooperation in the chase group behind Yates, "It probably wasn't ideal, but we managed to get across and then the three of us were messing around. Not so much me, but the other two. They kept attacking each other, shaking each other, and complaining that the others weren't coming in. If we had run together it would have been better, but that's the way it is.

Thomas is using the Tirreno-Adriatico as a tune-up before the Giro d'Italia, which starts in Sicily on October 3. Thomas, who is from Wales, has competed in the Giro three times before, the last time in 2017. That year, he tried for GC, but crashed on stage 13 to Tortona due to the actions of his bike during the race.

With both he and Chris Froome (who also competed in Tirreno-Adriatico) out of the Ineos Tour team, his return in 2020 has been controversial, but with the Giro just a few weeks away, Thomas seems to be heading in the right direction.

"I'm pretty happy with where I'm at in the standings and all the work I've done has paid off. It's encouraging and I think this race will be really good for me."