Geraint Thomas came down on his front and while cut to pieces this could have been much worse. He got up, dusted himself down and came back strong. On the basis of his time, despite the crash, he looks in great form. Fellow Team Sky rider Michal Kwiatkowski, above, took the stage and yellow jersey.
Michal Kwiatkowski wins Critérium du Dauphiné TT
Geraint Thomas has suffered a heavy fall in the opening TT at the Critérium du Dauphiné. He came down hard on a right hand corner.
Thomas was riding at a decent speed at the time and he came down on his front; lucky not to bang his face off the tarmac.
His leg and hip were cut to pieces. But he got back on his bike and continued down the 6.6km course in Valence.
Advertisement
"It was just the last fast right-hander. I thought I was going in quite steady but the front wheel just went,” he said after the stage.
“Even before the start we said 'it's fast, but it looks like it could be dusty, so take it easy'. And I felt like I was, but obviously not.
“I must have been going too fast to slap off, but it didn't feel any faster than the recon really to be honest.
Related News
“But it must have been a slightly different line, and one little stone or whatever, and that's it.”
In the end Geraint Thomas lost 21 seconds to Team Sky team mate and stage winner Michal Kwiatkowski.
And on the basis of that ride, it looks like Thomas is in good form despite his nightmare start.
The only Irish rider in the race, Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates), was in 73rd place, losing 29 seconds on the day.
We'll have more to come.
OUCH! Che botta!!! ??
Il modo peggiore per iniziare una corsa, feat. Geraint Thomas...#EurosportCICLISMO | https://t.co/yeuDfSfQxW | #Dauphiné pic.twitter.com/1BoLhDtpk6
— Eurosport IT (@Eurosport_IT) June 3, 2018
Topics
