Geraint Thomas found himself a sole Team Sky leader for Ronde van Vlaanderen after Ian Stannard was forced to withdraw from both cobbled monuments following his crash in Gent-Wavelgem. The Welsh rider didn’t manage to live up to Team Sky expectations as he finished tenth, sharing his team-mates’ fate earlier in the race, and not is happy to ride in the supporting capacity of Edvald Boasson Hagen and Bradley Wiggins in the Paris-Roubaix on Sunday.

Thomas has showed a good disposition in Flemish classics finishing on a podium at E3 Harelbeke, but an accident in which Team Sky captain badly hurt his back derailed his chances to fight for a victory in the Ronde van Vlaanderen and forced him to fight for a minor placings instead.

Still suffering from the effects of his recent accident, Welch rider is happy to take the pressure off and ride in a support of his team-mates Boasson Hagen and Wiggins in the Hell of the North.

“I’m happy to ride for the team, I’ve said it all winter. I’m happy to ride for [Ian] Stannard or Edvald. Obviously Stannard’s not starting [due to a fractured vertebrae] so now I’m happy to commit 100 percent to Eddy and do my bit for him,” Thomas, who briefly forgot 2012 Tour de France winner Wiggins, told VeloNews.

“Obviously Brad’s got some great form, he’s physically one of the strongest in the race. Positional-wise he was there (in Flanders, where he finished 32nd, 1:43 back). He did a great job for the boys.

“Roubaix probably suits him even a bit more. Edvald, him, Bernie’s [Bernhard Eisel] good, it suits Luke [Rowe] a bit more than this as well. I think we’ve got a good team and we can get stuck into that.”

Thomas certainly hoped for more when the first of cobbled monuments kicked off in Brugge last Sunday, but claimed to be happy with a final outcome while taking all of the circumstances into consideration.

“I was feeling my back all day. I felt terrible all day but managed to just hang in there, it’s just frustrating,” he said. “I think I can still be happy with how it went considering how I felt because I didn’t feel anywhere near half as good as I did last Friday in E3. But I managed to just hang in there.

“My back is just real stiff and sore now; just the left side of it. From the bike it’s one of the places you don’t want to be weak because it’s one of the places you feel it.”

Asked about major favorites to excel on cobbled parcours on Sunday, Thomas had nothing but admiration for Cancellara’s (Trek Factory Racing) strength, however, he pointed out to Sep Vanmarcke (Belkin Procycling) as the only man capable of keeping up the pace of the three-time ronde van Vlaanderen winner.

 “He’s obviously the strongest guy here and to be able to follow him you’ve got to be good,” said Thomas.

“I don’t think he was as dominant as he was before but he’s obviously the strongest and for Sep to follow him [when Cancellara attacked on the Kwaremont climb] shows he’s got really good form and shows he’ll be in there next week.”