After a long offseason, Geraint Thomas will get what he hopes will be his biggest and best season to date underway at the Tour Down Under tomorrow. The Welshman spoke to Team Sky’s website ahead of the big kickoff.

“I had the longest period I've ever had off the bike at the end of last season. It finished a bit sooner than I'd have liked because I was so tired after the Vuelta, and although I was disappointed to miss the World Championships, that extra downtime was really good for me. I got married and went on my honeymoon, and that mental break meant I was really motivated to get going again at the end of last year. I've had a great winter since then, the weather was good in Monaco and Majorca, and obviously it's brilliant here in Australia too.”

Turning to the Tour Down Under, Thomas says his teammates Sergio Henao and Peter Kennaugh are looking in good shape to perhaps challenge for the GC.

“Sergio Henao's looking good after spending the winter at altitude in Colombia, and Pete Kennaugh's in decent shape too. They're both motivated to have a good race, as is everyone in the squad. It's one of the strongest teams we've ever had here.”

Speaking about who he thinks can challenge the team, he picked out some top riders. “BMC are looking strong with Richie [Porte] and Rohan [Dennis]. Rohan's shown the better form so far this season, and is defending champion, but you can never count Richie out. Simon Gerrans is another - he missed the race last year but loves riding on home turf, and then there's guys like Jack Bobridge and Cameron Meyer who will also be looking to impress. As well as the Aussies, there's always a few surprises packages from Europe, so it's going to be a really open race.”

Thomas spoke about what his calendar will look like after the Australian race, saying he is firmly focused on stage racing.

“The spring block is very important to me. It kicks off with Paris-Nice and then I'll go on to the Volta a Catalunya, look to ride well there and then go into the Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Tour de Romandie. I want to change things up a bit this year. I've focused a lot on the cobbled classics in the past, so it'll be nice to have a different flow to my season.”