Geraint’s gutted as his Tour ends on sorry note
GERAINT Thomas rode on with a broken collarbone as he fought desperately to stay in the Tour de France before being forced to bail out.
The Whitchurch-raised Olympic gold medallist crashed heavily midway through an incident-packed stage nine from Nantua to Chambery, hitting the deck on the descent of the first hors-categorie climb of the day, the Col de la Biche.
Although the Sky team doctor Juan Mercadel – known to the riders as Jimmy – told Thomas his collarbone looked broken, Thomas got back on his bike and tried to keep going.
“Jimmy said he thought it was broken, but I got back on the bike and carried on down the descent, but when I got on the flat I knew something was wrong,” Thomas said.
“Then the race doctor said exactly the same so I ended up stopping then, went for a scan, and it’s broken.”
It comes as a bitter blow for Thomas, who was second in the general classification here having led the race for four days after winning the opening time trial in Dusseldorf.
The 31-year-old had built his season around a tilt at the Giro d’Italia in May, but his race there likewise ended early after a crash on stage nine – though he also tried to continue in that race, staying in the saddle for three more stages before his injuries got the better of him.
Although he heads home with four souvenir yellow jerseys in his suitcase, Thomas’ disappointment was clear.
“I can’t really think about that at the moment,” he said.
“I’m just thinking of the devastation of leaving the Tour and another Grand Tour. I crashed at the Giro on stage nine, and it’s stage nine again here. I was lying second overall on both days as well.”
Thomas’ crash was not caught on camera, but he said he had let BoraHansgrohe’s Rafal Majka overtake him on a corner, only to crash into the Pole on the next.
“Everyone was nervous, everyone wanted to be at the front and a few people were battling to get between myself, Froomey and the rest of the boys,” he said. “I let (Rafal) Majka in and then he came down right in front of me on a straight bit of road. I had nowhere to go, went over the top of him, and landed on my collarbone.”
Although Chris Froome managed to extend his lead in yellow – albeit slightly – to 18 seconds over Fabio Aru in the stage, the loss of Thomas means it will not be a night of celebration for Team Sky going into today’s rest day.
“G has broken his collarbone for sure which is devastating for him,” team principal Sir Dave Brailsford told Eurosport. “He had the crash in the Giro, then the rollercoaster of coming here and being in yellow after winning the first stage, and then breaking his collarbone today.
“We’ll get our arms around him and make sure he’s alright. We’ll get him back on track, but that’s not nice to see.”