Injured Geraint Thomas out of Giro d'Italia following crash
Welshman Geraint Thomas has been withdrawn from the Giro D'Italia after sustaining an injury during a crash.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider came off in a race-defining moment after a water bottle rolled under his front wheel just before the third stage on Monday.
Initial x-rays showed nothing broken but further scans ahead of stage four revealed an undisplaced fracture of the 34-year-old's pelvis.
Thomas had underlined his status as the overall favourite in the race by taking time on his main rivals in Saturday’s opening time trial.
Aside from some scuffing to his jersey, Thomas look unaffected as he rode in the peloton, but his pace soon dropped on the approach to the final climb.
Ineos Grenadiers Doctor Phil Riley said: "Geraint had an MRI and a CT scan this morning which revealed a small undisplaced fracture in the lower part of the pelvis which wasn’t picked up on the X-rays yesterday.
"As a precaution he will be withdrawn from the race as it's an injury that could easily be aggravated."
It marks a cruel end to Thomas’ hopes, three years after his last tilt at the Giro was effectively ended by a crash with a police motorbike on stage nine.He said: "It’s so frustrating. I’d put so much work in to this race.
"I did everything I could and feel like I was in just as good, if not better shape, than when I won the Tour. I was feeling really good.
"For it just to end like this is gutting."
He added that he had felt ready to start again on Tuesday morning.
"I woke up and wanted to start with the boys and at least help them go for stages over the next few days, but deep down I knew something wasn’t right, so we went to get these extra scans.
"It does make the decision easier when there’s a fracture in some ways, because obviously I don’t want to do anymore damage."