Even if Geraint Thomas wants to focus on stage races, he will be present at the start of the Ronde van Vlaanderen on Sunday. His 5th place at the Tour de France gives him confidence about his capacities to be competitive during three weeks but the Welshman can't skip his beloved classics completely.

Team Sky's head of performance Rod Ellingorth explained to Cyclingnews that the team wants to let him chase his goals. "He personally wants to do it, and I've always said that at the end of the day you've got to listen to what the lads want to do, and let them follow their dreams and give them some opportunities in other things."

"Last year before he won E3, he hadn't ridden on the cobbles in the lead-up. He hasn't touched the cobbles all year and then he shows up and wins Harelbeke. I think you can do it.It is a gamble, but I think G [Thomas] is up for it. He wants to do it and we're happy for him to do it. It's all about condition. If you've got the condition, you can do it."

"When you actually think about, G's still a current Olympic team pursuit champion and a world record holder. The diversity of what he can do is a bit like what we've seen at the past with Brad. These guys are talented bike riders. He has ambitions for stage races and obviously Paris-Nice was a huge objective and a job well done, so he's still on for the stage races, but this is just a personal hit at Flanders."

Team Sky selected a strong team for Ronde van Vlaanderen with former World Champion Michal Kwiatkowski, Luke Rowe, Ian Stannard and Salvatore Puccio.

"I think with him and Kwiatkowski, with Ian and Luke sat in behind them, we've got a bloody good group there. We still haven't won a Monument," he said. "We're still hungry. We believe in the lads we've got and we'll try again on Sunday. The lads are dead up for Sunday."