Geraint Thomas admitted he was devastated after being forced out of the Tour de France with a bust right shoulder.

The Cardiff-born rider was lying second to Team Sky team-mate Chris Froome in the overall standings when he suffered the injury on stage nine.

He tried to carry on after the crash before realising a second Grand Tour in a row was being cruelly cut short by injury.

Thomas was taken to hospital on Sunday after the crash on the descent of the Col de la Biche about 65 miles from the stage nine finish in Chambery.

The double Olympic champ has crashed four times in nine days on the Tour which he led in the first week after his superb victory in the time trial.

Thomas said: “Everyone was nervous, everyone wanted to be at the front and a few people were battling to get between myself, Froomey and the rest of the boys.

“I let [Rafal] Majka in and then he came down right in front of me on a straight bit of road. I had nowhere to go, went over the top of him, and landed on my collarbone.

“Team doctor Jimmy [Juan Mercadel] said he thought it was broken but I got back on the bike and carried on down the descent, but when I got on the flat I knew something was wrong.

“Then the race doctor said exactly the same so I ended up stopping then, went for a scan, and it’s broken.”

Thomas was sat second overall at the start of the day having enjoyed an excellent start to the race.

He won the opening prologue in Dusseldorf to become the first Welshman to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, but his disappointment at leaving the race early is clear.

He added: “I can’t really think about that at the moment. I’m just thinking of the devastation of leaving the Tour and another Grand Tour.

“I crashed at the Giro d’Italia on stage nine, and it’s stage nine again here. I was lying second overall on both days as well. It’s just so disappointing.”

He was only 12 seconds behind his Froome on the overall standings but was expected to play a key role to the defending champ in the remaining stages.

Thomas won the opening stage in Dusseldorf and held it until stage 5.

He also crashed on Saturday’s stage 8 after following Froome into a ditch and hit a hay-bale.

Of that incident, he said: “I had just gone back for bottles and had just got back to the front when I went into the corner a bit too hot.

“I was looking to my side and the boys were breaking, there was a split second delay then I hit the gravel.

“It was a choice between going into the trees or the hay bales, so I chose the hay. I front flipped but it was a better option than the woods.

He had switched his focus to the Tour after crashing out of the Giro d’Italia in May in a pile-up caused by a police motorbike.