Geraint Thomas crashes during Tour de France Stage 3

PONTIVY, France (AP) — Former Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas was involved in a crash during the third stage of the three-week race on Monday but managed to keep on racing and was paced back to the peloton.

The Ineos-Grenadiers leader fell off his bike and hit the ground hard with about 145 kilometers left in Monday’s third stage in the Brittany region.

The 2018 champion sat on the road for a while clutching his right shoulder and grimacing in pain as he was tended to by the race doctor. It looked like he would retire but ultimately went back on his bike.

Tour organizers said the peloton was riding at 43 kph when the crash took place. Robert Gesink, a teammate of last-year’s runner-up Primoz Roglic, also fell and was forced to abandon.

With his racing kit lacerated, Thomas struggled at the back of the race afterwards. His teammate Luke Rowe waited for him and the Welsh pair lagged 2 minutes and 30 seconds behind the main pack. With the help of more teammates they eventually caught the peloton after Thomas changed bike.

Thomas was 20th overall before the start of the stage, 41 seconds behind race leader Mathieu van der Poel. He had predicted “a stressful day” because of the bad weather conditions.

The race started under rain in the town of Lorient and a group of five riders surged ahead immediately.

Behind, the peloton rode at a pedestrian pace and riders were accompanied by scattered showers making the roads slippery and dangerous.

The crash-prone Thomas has shown in the past he can soldier on in pain.

When riding the Tour de France in support of Chris Froome back in 2013, he fell off his bike on a Corsican road in the opening stage and broke his pelvis. Against all odds, Thomas kept on racing on for 3,000 kilometers to the finish line in Paris, where he celebrated the first of Froome’s four victories with the rest of their Team Sky teammates.

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