Team Ineos: Geraint Thomas shows form at Tour de Romandie but Egan Bernal injury hurts Giro plans

Chris Froome said he would not be stepping up to fill the gap in the Giro, saying: 'I think that spot's already been filled'

Geraint Thomas finished third in the Tour de Romandie on Sunday after a fourth-placed finish in the final time trial stage, suggesting he is starting to find form again after a slow season thus far. Primoz Roglic, the Slovenian all-rounder who finished fourth in last year’s Tour de France, won the race for the second successive year ahead of Portugal’s Rui Costa.

Bt it wasn’t all good news for Team Ineos this weekend as talented young rider Egan Bernal was ruled out of the Giro d’Italia, which starts next week, after breaking his collarbone during a training ride in Colombia.

With Thomas determined to defend his Tour de France crown and Chris Froome desperate to earn a fifth yellow jersey, both of Ineos’s senior riders had ruled themselves out of the Giro, leaving the 22-year-old Bernal an opportunity to be the leader at a Grand Tour for the first time. But the Colombian will now miss the Giro and is likely instead to race at the Tour de France after his recovery, perhaps in a supportive capacity as he did last year to great effect.

It leaves a space at the head of the team which could be filled by promising British rider Tao Geoghegan Hart, the 24-year-old Londoner who has long been talked about as possessing outstanding Grand Tour potential, and who finished second in last month’s Tour of the Alps.

Meanwhile Froome was riding in the final stage of the Tour de Yorkshire on Sunday from Halifax to Leeds. Asked before the fourth and final stage whether he might race in the Giro, he responded with a smile: “I think that spot’s already been filled.”