Geraint Thomas has announced his pre-Tour de France race schedule. The Tour de Ain and Criterium du Dauphiné are scheduled, starting on August 29 in Nice.

In an interview with Welsh broadcaster S4C (opens in new tab), Thomas said that there will only be eight days of racing before the Tour begins, although there will be time after the Dauphiné to reconsider the course.

Thomas added that the main reason is that stage 3 of the Tour de l'Ain runs on the same road as stage 15 of the Tour de France.

"The team starts the race on August 1, but I have a three-day stage race [Tour de Ain] in France, and one of the stages is the same as the Tour, so I start there," he told S4C. [Then we have two days off and go to the Dauphiné, which is the traditional final race before the Tour. Normally it's eight days, but now it's five. Then we race two or three more times, and then we go to the Tour a week later."

Thomas, who won the Tour in 2018 and was runner-up to teammate Egan Bernal last year, said he misses racing this year, with the COVID-19 pandemic also on his mind. The Welshman has not raced since February's Volta ao Algarve, when he finished 21st overall.

"It was a shame to miss the race, but there were bigger things going on and you can understand why. But fortunately I finally returned to Cardiff for a little over 50 days"

.

"I was still able to get out on the road and train and spend time with my family, which I normally never get to do. It was especially nice to have a young boy named Maxen at home, which was a nice plus. [There are three, four, or five more years. So I want to make the most of those years and enjoy racing my bike," the 34-year-old added.

"It's been tough, but there are a lot of people in a worse position than us."

Instead of actual races, Thomas logged many hours on Zwift's virtual platform, participating in the Team Ineos eRace in April, the Team Ineos eRace Classic in June, and the second stage of the virtual Tour de France earlier this month.4 In June, he worked three 12-hour shifts in his garage at home, raising £375,528 for NHS charities.

Thomas said that racing on Zwift was an enjoyable experience and that competing against fellow professionals helped his training.

"It's not real, but it's very real.

"Racing on Zwift has helped me get more out of myself by racing with my teammates online. Even if you're not that into it at first, once you start running you get competitive and everyone races harder.

"I'm probably like, 'Well, let's see what happens.' But I'm going to have a little bit of fun. It's definitely a better option than hanging out alone."

Dave Brailsford, Ineos general manager, added that the online race has boosted team camaraderie and morale during the lockdown.

"It's good to see them working hard," Brailsford said. 'It's great to see them racing again. It's good for team morale, it's great for everybody."

"The camaraderie, the support, the human element is so important this time of year. Anything we can do to bring people together, including the fans, is worth doing. "

Rebroadcasts of the Team Ineos eRace (Friday, July 17, 9 p.m. BST) and the Team Ineos eRace Classic (Friday, July 24, 9 p.m. BST) will air on demand on S4C (open in new tab) and S4C Clic (open in new tab). The broadcaster will also broadcast live coverage and highlights of the 2020 Tour de France, which runs from August 29 to September 20.

.