Ineos Grenadiers' Geraint Thomas will resume racing this week in Tirreno-Adriatico. He told reporters that he was left out of the Tour de France team because he was "not 100% fit."

Instead, Thomas will lead the British team in the rescheduled Giro d'Italia (October 3-25), which will hopefully feature three individual time trials, after only one in this year's Tour.

"It was disappointing not to be at 100% for the Tour. I think the six weeks (until the start of the Giro) will help me," Thomas told Cycling News and La Gazzetta dello Sport in Tirreno-Adriatico.

"I've spent a lot of time in Italy, so I have plenty of motivation for the Giro, the three time trials suit me and I'm really looking forward to it."

"Obviously the Giro was my big goal for 2017, but I crashed. I always said I wanted to come back and this year is perfect for that," Thomas continued. 'It was always in the back of my mind to come back and go for the GC result.' [Teammate and four-time winner Chris Froome was also not selected for the Tour and will target the Vuelta a España later this season.

Thomas said of team principal Dave Brailsford leaving Thomas at home, "I think a lot of things happened. There were a lot of little things going on, and I wasn't feeling 100%."

"I know it sounds bad, but I didn't want to go to the Tour de France and ride for the team at 100%. 'But I didn't want to go to the Tour de France, I wanted to ride for the team. This year I felt the Giro suited me better."

"I didn't want to go to the Tour in another role because I feel I am still at a level where I can perform on my own," Thomas said.

The 34-year-old Welshman added that he still watched defending champion Eoghan Bernal and his other Ineos teammates on television at this year's Tour and wished them success.

"It's definitely a weird feeling because I haven't watched it on TV since 2009. The athletes seem to be doing okay and I hope they make it to the end."

The Tirreno-Adriatico starts on Monday and runs through Monday, September 14, and after two stages, Thomas is safely within a group of about 140 riders, with Bora-Hansgrohe's Pascal Ackermann, who has won both stages so far, overall He is 20 seconds behind the leader.

"I feel good," said Thomas. "I knew there would be two relatively easy sprint stages compared to the other days. I felt a little bit down, but that's normal."

"It was good to get back into the groove with everyone. You find your rhythm after a while. It's been a while since I've had to stay out of trouble in a group sprint, so I need to get used to the stress. (Filippo) Ganna put on the turbo and led the pack for the last three kilometers."

On Wednesday, the riders face a much steeper third stage, with an uphill finish in Saturnia.

"It's not a mountain finish, so on paper it's not a GC day, but it's a hard, racing course with a tricky final stage, so a lot can happen," Thomas said. 'The last climb is with like 8km to go, so if you move with the right opportunity, it could work out.

"It's a similar run-in to the stage I won a few years ago."

"I'll have to switch it up, get out front, and be ready."

Following Tirreno this year, Thomas hopes to represent Great Britain at the World Championships in Imola, Italy, at the end of September.

"I think I will ride the TT at the World Championships, but I don't think the team wants me to ride the road race. He said. I'll decide after Tirreno-Adriatico."

"At the Giro d'Italia in Monreale on October 3, his rivals for the overall will be two-time champion Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) and his former Astana teammate Jakob Fuglsang.

"Vincenzo has won all three Grand Tours. 'He's a great bike rider, one of the best of his generation. So he can definitely win again.

"Fuglsang has had great results this year and last year. 'There's also Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) who had great results in 2018 and 2019.'