Geraint Thomas' bid for a second straight podium finish in the Giro d’Italia came perilously close to disaster on stage 19 as the Welshman crashed in the final kilometres and needed a replacement bike.
Thomas touched wheels with fellow GC contender Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) with some six kilometres to go, too far from the finish for any time loss to be automatically neutralised.
Uninjured by the incident, he swiftly remounted and after UAE Team Emirates Rafal Majka gestured to the bunch to slow down, was able to regain contact with the peloton.
Race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) had an incident-free stage, with his overall advantage of 7:42 remaining completely intact on a hilly trek from Montegliano to Sappada. The day’s honours went to breakaway Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale).
The Giro runner-up in 2023, Thomas himself remains in third place overall, 8:04 back, with just two days' racing to go.
Thomas’ woes began when he was in the pink jersey group of around a dozen riders roughly six kilometres from the line on the rain-soaked stage, coming to the summit of the Sappada climb.
The group was not moving fast, but when he touched wheels the wet tarmac all but ensured he fell, with both Pogačar and Martinez moving sharply leftwards to avoid him and his bike flying off the road.
Fortunately not injured, the Briton quickly walked off the road and remounted, but his original bike was no longer usable and he rapidly called for another. He rapidly regained contact as the maglia rosa group visibly sat up and waited, but it had been a near miss and with no distance left on the stage to recover.
"I think it shows that everybody has respect for everyone and it's not necessary," Pogačar said of not forcing the pace. "I think nobody - I mean some people, yes but here in this group, nobody wants to pass Thomas in that kind of way.
"There's a lot of respect and I hope he's OK after the crash - it was unfortunate, you know after all day going in control and then this stupid moment in the end, but I hope he's OK and that we can have a great show tomorrow."
More later...
