Geraint Thomas is confident he and team-mate Egan Bernal have the relationship they need to handle being co-leaders of Team Ineos at the Tour de France.
Thomas will begin the race on Saturday as the defending champion, and the Welshman was expected to be Ineos' sole leader after Chris Froome suffered a horror crash at the Criterium du Dauphine which ruled him out.
But the 22-year-old Bernal has now been elevated to the status of co-leader after Thomas suffered his own setback in the build-up to the Tour with a spill at the Tour de Suisse last month, with Bernal going on to win that race.
Waiting and waiting... Almost time to start my 10th Tour 👀 #TDF2019 #timeflies pic.twitter.com/NeTqzfKeeh — Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) July 4, 2019
Co-leadership can create levels of intrigue within a team but Thomas believes he and Bernal can handle it just as well as he did with Froome 12 months ago.
"I think he's a good, honest guy," Thomas said of Bernal. "As long as we communicate well and we're open with each other like me and Froomey were last year, it can work well.
"Obviously, it will be a great advantage to have the two of us together in the finals."
The crash in Switzerland forced Thomas to withdraw early from his final warm-up race for the Tour, but the 33-year-old said he was fine now.
Great crowds and a warm welcome for #TDF2019 in Brussels. Team presentation complete. One day closer to stage one! pic.twitter.com/UflqWv87nC — Team INEOS (@TeamINEOS) July 4, 2019
"No lasting damage at all really," he said. "I was lucky. Obviously, it was disappointing to hit my head, that was the reason I couldn't carry on, but I still did some good training and it hasn't really affected me that much."
Bernal had been due to get his first Grand Tour leadership role at the Giro in May but suffered a broken collarbone in a training crash, forcing him to sit it out.
That means he has still only ridden one three-week race, last year's Tour when he finished 15th after riding in support of Thomas and Froome.
Despite his lack of experience, some bookmakers have elevated Bernal to the status of favourite, but the Colombian insisted he has no thoughts of yellow himself at this stage.
Is @Eganbernal thinking about yellow? "To be honest, no. I just try to do my best. @letour is a really big race and I have a lot of respect for the race. I'm just 22 and we have in the team the last winner of the Tour. I don't want to put a lot of pressure on myself." #TDF2019 pic.twitter.com/180yoISTZC — Ian Parker (@iparkysport) July 4, 2019
"I'm really happy to be here, at my second Tour de France, and for sure I want to do my best," he said. "I think the Tour is a really big race, and I have a lot of respect for it.
"I'm just 22 and we have in the team the last winner of the Tour. I don't want to put pressure on myself, I just want to go day by day."
Bernal, who won Paris-Nice in April, said his focus had immediately switched to the Tour once his Giro dream was over.
.@GeraintThomas86: "I can't bet on the races anyway so the odds don't matter to me" #TDF2019 pic.twitter.com/x0D2veO0tx — Ian Parker (@iparkysport) July 4, 2019
"I had a lot of pain but my coach was with me and I was asking him, 'How many days until the Tour?'" he said. "I was already thinking about the Tour because the Tour is the biggest race in the calendar."
Thomas will be the one wearing the number one on his back after last year's success but he said he was not paying any attention to what others were predicting.
"That's for everyone else to talk about," Thomas said. "I can't bet on the races so the odds don't really matter to me.
"I'm feeling in a good place and I'm looking forward to the race. I just want to get going now."
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