Thomas to miss Tour de France

Team Sky rider Geraint Thomas will skip next year's Tour de France in order to focus on the London 2012 Olympics, the Welshman said."The Olympics is the main goal for me so I don't want to jeopardise that in any way," the 2008 team pursuit Olympic champion told BBC Sport Wales."Riding the tour is a bit more of a gamble. I could be going really (well) but could also end up on my knees and pretty tired.The 25-year-old Thomas will ride the May 5-27 Giro d'Italia instead. "I'm going to be doing similar preparations to before Bejing when I rode the Giro and didn't ride the tour," he said. "That'll give me the work from a three-week race but also give me time to adapt back to the track and give myself every chance of making the team."The Tour de France ends on July 22, with the track cycling events at the London Games starting on Aug. 2.Thomas's move, however, means that both overall contender Bradley Wiggins and green jersey hopeful Mark Cavendish will be deprived of a top-class domestique on the Tour.