Tao Geoghegan Hart was forced to abandon the Giro d'Italia during stage 11 on Wednesday after crashing heavily. It was later revealed that the Briton had fractured his left hip.
The Ineos Grenadiers was one of several riders caught up in a crash with 69km to go, on the descent from the Colla di Boasi. Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates) slid out towards the front of the bunch, his front wheel coming out from under him, with a similar thing occurring to Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma). Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) and Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma) were also caught up in the crash.
However, it was Geoghegan Hart who came down heaviest, unable to cushion his fall, which left him in the road while other riders remounted and continues racing. Shortly afterwards, the 28-year-old was put into the back of a race ambulance on the back of a stretcher, heading to hospital in Genoa.
Later on Wednesday evening, his team confirmed that he had suffered a fractured left hip, which will require surgery.
"Immediately following his involvement in a crash during today’s stage 11 of the Giro, Tao Geoghegan Hart was transported to a local hospital in Genoa," Ineos Grenadiers posted on Twitter. "After further assessment, imaging confirmed that Tao had sustained a fracture of the left hip which will require surgery
"Tao, the thoughts and best wishes of all your fellow Grenadiers are with you tonight," the statement continued. "We wish you a speedy recovery and know you have what it takes to come back even stronger!"
It is disappointing news for Geoghegan Hart and his team, as the 2020 winner was sitting in third on the general classification heading into stage 11; he was one of the five Ineos riders in the overall top 11. Before the incident, the Londoner was five seconds behind his teammate Thomas on GC.
His third place in stage nine's individual time trial proved that he was in very good form heading into the last two weeks of the race. Geoghegan Hart had come into the Giro off the back of winning the Tour of the Alps, his first overall win since that Giro in 2020.
On Wednesday evening, Geoghegan Hart tweeted: "I’m devastated this is how my giro ended. Thankyou all for your messages and support. I was so excited about the remainder of this race and loving every minute of it. Arrivederci Giro d'Italia.:
It was not the only bad crash on the descent, as shortly after Óscar Rodríguez (Movistar) clipped wheels at the front of the peloton and went at full pace into a road sign, narrowly missing a house after it. He abandoned shortly after too.
There are now 140 riders left in the Giro after various abandonments due to Covid, other illness and crashes throughout the 11 days so far. The race started with 176 riders 12 days ago.
