Thomas loses time after stage three crash

05 Oct 2020

Thomas loses time after stage three crash

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Giro d'Italia - Stage three » Enna › Etna, 150km

Geraint Thomas dropped time on stage three at the Giro d’Italia following an unlucky crash in the neutral zone.
 
The Welshman went down in the opening metres as the peloton departed Enna, landing on his hip after a bidon rolled under his front wheel. After continuing through the stage, Thomas began to be distanced on the approach to the final climb and was helped up the finish by his INEOS Grenadiers teammates, including outgoing race leader Filippo Ganna. He eventually crossed the line over 12 minutes down before heading for medical checks.

Speaking after the stage, INEOS Grenadiers Doctor Phil Riley said: "Geraint crashed on his left side, so he took a significant blow to the back of his left hip and he has some abrasions on his left arm and leg. After the stage he was taken for x-rays at the finish. 

"The initial x-rays didn’t show anything broken, but we are awaiting confirmation in the morning. We will treat him tonight, continue to monitor him and then review it in the morning again."
 
Jonathan Castroviejo put in a gutsy ride to take eighth place on the famous summit. The Spaniard jumped out of an ever-reducing peloton and rode hard to build up an advantage, before being reeled in by lead group of contenders ahead of the final kilometre.

Tao Geoghegan Hart was also present at the front of the race heading into the closing stages. The young Brit now sits 24th overall, 3:12 back.
 
Up ahead it was Jonathan Caicedo (EF Pro Cycling) who held on the from the day’s breakaway and took a strong solo victory. The Ecuadorian came within a whisker of taking the pink jersey, with Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) moving into the overall lead courtesy of stage placings. 
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Reaction

- Matteo Tosatto

“Around one or two kilometres into the neutralised start G got a bidon caught under his front wheel and crashed. Initially he had some pain but as the stage continued he felt better. However towards the end in the final 45 kilometres the pace increased and the climbs got steeper – he had some pain and had to finish the stage at his own pace. Now we’ll check him over and get a verdict from our medical staff.
 
“It’s still a long Giro. We have Filippo and Rohan with some good chances in the time trials and we also have Castro and Tao riding well. We’ll take stock tonight and look at our approach for the rest of the race.”