Geraint Thomas not picked by GB during his final Olympic cycle

Geraint Thomas has missed out on selection for the final Olympic Games of his career, with the Welshman not picked as part of the men's road squad, which was announced on Monday.

The 38-year-old, a double Olympic gold medallist on the track, was omitted from the five-man team for the road events, meaning he will not take part in the road race or time trial.

It will be the first Games the Ineos Grenadiers rider has missed since Athens in 2004, as the GB team looks towards the future. He is set to retire at the end of 2025.

Thomas won gold in the team pursuit at Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, before racing the time trial and road race at both Rio in 2016, and Tokyo in 2021.

In his place, the Welsh time trialling sensation Josh Tarling - last week crowned British champion for a second year in a row - and Ethan Hayter will likely compete in the race against the clock, with the latter also taking part in the track events.

Tarling will be joined by Fred Wright, Stevie Williams and Tom Pidcock in the road race; Pidcock will also compete in the XCO mountain bike event.

Thomas recently finished third overall at the Giro d'Italia, and is regularly a high finisher in time trials, coming fourth on stage 14 at the Italian Grand Tour. He also came second on two of the three individual time trials at the 2023 Giro. 

However, he is not known for his proficiency in one-day races, especially in recent years, although he has won gold in the Commonwealth Games Road Race in 2014.

Stephen Park, British Cycling's performance director, told The Guardian: "In his time-trialling, he’s not been in great form in our view. We try to think carefully and consider all the evidence in front of us. Clearly he had a good Giro and is in the [Ineos] Tour de France team. But there is some incredible competition and in the road race we have only four riders we can pick.

"We decided that the younger riders would be in better form getting to the end of the Tour, physically and mentally. With a one-day race, it’s different and Geraint will be at the end of a very long season by the time he gets there."

Thomas is part of Ineos Grenadiers' eight-man squad for the upcoming Tour de France, although he is not thought to be a leader, that being Carlos Rodríguez instead.