Fan videos show Geraint Thomas's nasty crash at Giro d'Italia
The Ineos rider came down hard in the neutral zone on stage three, later being dropped and losing more than 10 minutes to his rivals
>>> Update: Geraint Thomas abandons Giro d’Italia 2020 after scans reveal fractured pelvis
Video footage of Geraint Thomas' crash at the Giro d'Italia has emerged, showing the Ineos rider taking a nasty fall after slipping on a bidon in the neutral zone.
The peloton can be seen taking a slight descent through a town before the Welshman falls without warning, sliding to a stop in a heap further down the road.
News had filtered through during the stage that a loose bidon had caused the crash, and the video shows a number of bottles skittling around beneath the wheels of the peloton before Thomas appears to hit a Bahrain-McLaren bottle, the camera then panning down to show the bidon lying by the side of the road.
Another video from a different angle shows the crash in full, Thomas battling hard to stay upright before he falls and spectators rush over to help.
The 2018 Tour de France winner thankfully got back up and was able to continue, the peloton slowing to allow him to rejoin the bunch.
However, on the approach to the summit finish on Mount Etna, Thomas was detached, his jersey torn and wearing cuts and grazes as he soldiered on, clearly in some discomfort. He eventually finished 12-19 down on stage winner Jonathan Caicedo (EF Pro Cycling), losing more than 10 minutes to his GC rivals and likely out of contention for the maglia rosa.
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Speaking after the stage, Ineos sports director Matteo Tossato said: "After one and a half to two kilometres after the neutralised start a bidon went under his front wheel and he crashed. Immediately afterwards he had a lot of pain in his legs, but then on the bike he felt better.
"But in the final 45km it got faster and the climb got steeper and he had a big pain, we preferred for him to drop than take a car to finish the stage and now we wait for the analysis from the doctor."
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Hi. I'm Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor. I like writing offbeat features and eating too much bread when working out on the road at bike races.
Before joining Cycling Weekly I worked at The Tab and I've also written for Vice, Time Out, and worked freelance for The Telegraph (I know, but I needed the money at the time so let me live).
I also worked for ITV Cycling between 2011-2018 on their Tour de France and Vuelta a España coverage. Sometimes I'd be helping the producers make the programme and other times I'd be getting the lunches. Just in case you were wondering - Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen had the same ham sandwich every day, it was great.
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