British veteran Geraint Thomas, winner of the Tour de France in 2018, said he wanted to have a "positive impact" on the Ineos team as they announced on Monday that he had extended his contract with them for a further two seasons at the age of 37. 

Thomas, who came second in this year's Giro d'Italia, has signed a contract with the British team that runs until the end of 2025 at which point he intends to retire. 

"I still just love riding my bike, racing and training with the boys, every single aspect of it," the Welshman said in a statement from the team.

"Although you should never say 'never', in my mind this is my last contract. But I know that I still have two great seasons in my legs."

If he rides through until 2025, he will have spent 16 seasons in the jersey of the British team, formerly Sky, which dominated cycling for a decade. 

"I wouldn't have continued in a different team," he said. 

"This team understands me and, importantly, knows what it takes to achieve success. This really does feel like home."

The former track cyclist, who was twice Olympic team pursuit champion, helped Chris Froome win the Tour de France four times before triumphing himself in 2018. 

The following year, his team-mate Egan Bernal succeeded him on the podium, but since then the Ineos team has failed to win the Grande Boucle.  

"The team's ambition is to again stand on the top step of the Tour de France podium and Geraint is going to play an integral part in realising that goal as we bring through a crop of young and exciting talent at the Ineos Grenadiers," said Rod Ellingworth, one of the British team's bosses. 

Thomas, who also won  Paris-Nice, the Dauphine, the Tour of Switzerland and the E3 Grand Prix, wants to remain "highly competitive" from classics to grand tours and help bring through the younger riders. 

"I'm at that stage where I'm still hungry to perform but at the same time, I am happy to help the team," said Thomas. 

"I want to try and help us push forward to get back to the very top of the sport... I just want to have a positive impact on the team."

jk/bsp/pn