PAINFUL CRASH COSTS MARTIN
AFTER AN EASY RIDE IT’S TIME TO SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL
THEY are more feared than any stretch of cobbles beyond Coronation Street – and Geraint Thomas is ready to be shaken up like a bag of bones.
For eight largely flat days, the peloton has barely encountered a bump in the road.
But today’s close encounter with flagstones from a Flintstones age is likely to blow the Tour de France wide open.
Team Sky wingman Thomas, second on the leaderboard and just seven seconds off Belgium’s Greg van Avermaet in the yellow jersey, warned the 15 sections of cobbles totalling 13.5 miles will make riders sore in places they never knew existed. DAN MARTIN had to be helped aboard his team bus after a late crash which saw him lose more than a minute.
Birmingham-born Irishman Martin, whose kit was badly ripped, tried to climb the steps to the UAE Emirates bus on all fours but he only made it halfway aboard before soigneurs drew the curtains.
Minutes later, there was an audible cry of pain and Martin said: “I was in the shower and it bloody hurt – but it was just the shock.
“At least there’s nothing broken, but it’s going to be sore getting over the cobblestones tomorrow.”
Martin is now 2min 47sec off the overall lead and trails defending champion Chris Froome by 101 seconds.
Britain’s Mark Cavendish finished eighth after a fifth sprint disappointment in eight stages, complaining of a late mechanical problem, adding: “At least it stops me having to think of excuses.”
The Manx Missile has now gone two years without adding to his 30 stage wins on the Tour de France.
Holland’s rising star Dylan Groenewegen claimed his second stage in two days.