Geraint Thomas hopes of adding the Giro d’Italia’s maglia rosa to the Yellow Jersey of the Tour de France are over – after he ran over a water bottle.
The 34-year-old crashed heavily on his left hip side in the neutral zone before the real action got underway on stage three in Sicily.
A video filmed by a fan in Enna as the riders headed through the town shows Thomas suddenly losing control and falling heavily with no riders near him.
Thomas ran over a bidon discarded by a fellow rider which got caught in his front wheel.
He is having medical checks amid fears he will not be able to continue.
— Salvatore Bertuccio (@salxber) October 5, 2020
Thomas started to slip off the peloton with 27km of the stage left – even before the start of the near 18km climb up Mt Etna to the finish.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider came home 12 minutes 19 seconds behind the stage winner and around 11 minutes behind his GC rivals.
The 2018 Tour champ slumped from third to 53rd overall more than 11 minutes adrift.
Ineos Grenadiers Race director Matteo Tosatto said: “Around one or two kilometres into the neutralised start G got a bidon caught in 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.
For Thomas, it was a repeat of his Giro nightmare in 2017 when he looked to be a serious contender until a crash on stage nine after another rival swerved to avoid a police motorbike on the edge of the road.
The team initially dismissed the crash as minor and for much of the stage the only sign he had been involved in an incident was his badly-ripped team kit.
But he suddenly started dropping back off the pace with team-mates Filippo Ganna, who was leading the race, and Ben Swift dropping back to try and guide him back.
But when Swift was sent back up to rejoin the peloton there was clearly no-way back for Thomas.
The Cardiff-born rider had gone into the stage in third place but having opened up an advantage over his maglia rosa rivals on Saturday’s opening time trial.
Thomas has said before the race that he had unfinished business with the Giro after his crash three years ago.
But, once again, injury has put paid to his hopes.
Ecuador’s Jonathan Caicedo won the stage and is now second on the same time as new race leader Joao Almeida.
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