Watch: Geraint Thomas crashes in bizarre fall on stage 16 of Tour de France
The Team Ineos leader appeared to lose the front wheel on an innocuous corner
Geraint Thomas suffered a strange fall on stage 16 of Tour de France, being bucked off his bike on a gentle corner.
The Welshman appeared to lose the front wheel on a right-hand turn with around 130km left to race.
Team Ineos leader Thomas may have clipped the curb and was thrown from his bike and slid along the floor on his left side, luckily avoiding the rest of the peloton.
>>> Wout van Aert set to leave hospital in Pau four days after Tour de France crash
Thomas was straight back up but suffered a mechanical in the fall and had to wait for his team car for a mechanic to provide him with a new machine.
After losing around a minute, Thomas’s team-mates dropped back to help the reigning champion chase back onto the bunch, and he was able to successfully regain the race without much drama.
He appears to have suffered a graze to his left knee and received some attention from his team car, but other than that he hasn’t suffered any further injury.
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Stage 16 was expected to be a relaxed day in terms of the general classification battle, covering 177km starting and finishing in Nîmes.
Blisteringly hot conditions, with temperatures hitting around 40 degrees, will make it a brutal day nonetheless, and there was a potential crosswind that could have split the race later in the stage.
Thomas currently sits second after an exhilarating stint in the Pyrenees and is 1-35 down on surprise yellow jersey Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick-Step).
>>> Rumours of Mark Cavendish move to Bahrain-Merida resurface
Alaphilippe survived the first high mountains of the race on the Tourmalet and Prat d’Albis, but did crack on the latter in the closing 5km of stage 15.
Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) also appears to be a serious threat for the overall, having clawed his way back into the fight with attacks on consecutive mountain days.
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Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers. Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.
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