Geraint Thomas returned to hospital on Sunday as he continued to suffer from his injuries sustained in the crash on Saturday's opening stage. After a scan, the hospital discovered that he has a small fracture in his pelvis - but he still took to the start line of stage three on Monday.
"It was like a win itself to get to the finish," Thomas said to journalists after Sunday's stage to Ajaccio.
"I had so much pain around my hip; I couldn't get out of the saddle and couldn't follow the accelerations today. I was out the back, trying to use the motorbikes and cars to get in. Fortunately, the break went quickly that helped me out and managed to get back in."
Thomas finished 17-35 minutes back in 196th, third from last, today from winner and new race leader, Jan Bakelants (RadioShack-Leopard).
He said that he feels better, but is still "really sore". As a precaution, he went to the hospital for a CT scan, specifically of his pelvis, and a fracture was discovered.
When he stood up, he walked with a limp on his way to another team car. "Today," he added after Sunday's stage, "felt like an eternity."
He crashed on Saturday in the final five kilometres with riders including Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep). He went over his bars and landed on his back.
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"I didn't think it was really bad as in broken bones, but it hurt and I felt like I had a dead leg," Thomas explained. "I needed a while to get back together."
Team principal, David Brailsford said they are monitoring Thomas' situation closely. "This morning, he was maybe not even starting," Brailsford explained before stage two.
"Our medical staff is doing everything possible. It's a very fine line, you can agitate and make it worse or [it] might be possible to make it better depending on the injury. Sometimes you have to protect them from themselves. These guys won't quit unless there's something actually worse."
Ian Stannard is also suffering from injuries sustained in a seperate crash, but is better off than his team-mate Thomas.
Tour de France 2013: Related links
Tour de France 2013: Who will win?
Tour de France 2013: The Big Preview
Tour de France 2013: Cycling Weekly's coverage index
Tour de France 2013 team tracker
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