Geraint Thomas loses time after dislocating shoulder in Tour de France crash

Thomas continued the race after doctors put his shoulder back in at the scene. Credit: PA Images

Geraint Thomas has dislocated his shoulder during stage three of the Tour de France as another day of crashes again brought chaos to the race.

The Welshman was the first to fall but completed 140 kilometres after having his shoulder put back into place.

Thomas lost control on a bump in the road as rain fell early in the stage.

Welsh teammate Luke Rowe initially seemed to signal Thomas' race was over, but after receiving treatment he remounted and with the help of Rowe and two other teammates he recovered what had been a three-minute deficit to the peloton.

Ineos Grenadiers confirmed he did not sustain a fracture and he will be reassessed on Tuesday before moving onto stage four of the race.

Thomas finished stage three in 18th place. Credit: PA Images

It comes as police search for a spectator who caused a huge pile-up of riders in the first stage after reaching out with a placard aimed at the TV cameras.

The road was almost entirely blocked by stricken riders and broken bikes.It took a full 25km for the peloton to fully regroup but the pack was ripped apart again by a high-speed incident on the downhill approach to Landerneau.

Four-time Tour winner Chris Froome was among the worst-affected. 

A number of riders complained after stage three that requests for time gaps to be taken eight kilometres from the line, removing some of the danger, did not receive a response.