Geraint Thomas Tour de France title defence in doubt after Swiss crash

Geraint Thomas’s hopes of returning to the Tour de France were given a huge scare on Tuesday after he suffered a heavy crash at the Tour of Switzerland and had to be taken to hospital for precautionary check-ups.

The accident happened less than a week after Chris Froome’s horrific crash at the Criterium du Dauphine, which saw the four-time Tour champion suffer fractures to his femur, neck, sternum, elbow and ribs after ploughing into a wall at 40mph.

Thomas, who last year became the first Welshman to win cycling’s greatest race last, escaped with “abrasions on his shoulder and a cut above his right eye”. In a statement, Team Ineos said that the 33 year-old’s involvement at the Tour was “not likely to be affected” and that their rider was “already looking forward to being on the start line in Brussels on July 6th”.

Ineos doctor Derick Macleod said that Thomas’s head bore the brunt of the impact - which was caused when an Astana rider went down in front of him - but that he had passed his initial roadside concussion test. Thomas was seen sitting up and chatting with Ineos staff immediately after the crash. He was also able to remove and put on his jacket, which suggested that he had avoided a fracture of the collarbone.

Due to the nature and severity of the impact, however, it was felt unsafe for him to continue in the race.

Thomas was taken to the Bruderholzspital in Basel where X-rays and scans came back clear. “He’s now back in the Team hotel and in good spirits,” Macleod added. “He’s been given the all clear which is great but we will continue to monitor him over the next few days. Knowing Geraint, it won’t take him long to get back on his bike but we’ll need to ensure he’s symptom free in the next few days before he does so. We’re optimistic he’ll make a full recovery over the coming days though and all being well he’ll be back on his bike very soon.”

Thomas is set to lead Team Ineos at next month’s race, with Froome out for at least six months.

Speaking to TeamINEOS.com, the reigning Tour de France champion - who was lying eighth at the start of Tuesday’s stage - said he had wanted to continue, with race days now at a premium. But he conceded it had been the “right decision” to abandon.

“There was a lip in the road that came out of nowhere,” he recalled. “An Astana rider hit the lip and crashed and I had nowhere to go. I landed on my shoulder and my face and there was quite a bit of blood. You’ve always got to be cautious with a head injury, and whilst I was keen to carry on, the doctors made the right decision to pull me out of the race.

“Clearly it’s frustrating and a small setback for my Tour de France preparations, but there’s still plenty of time before we start in Brussels in a few weeks’ time. We will recalibrate and I’m sure my coach Tim (Kerrison) will have a plan in place to ensure I’m ready for July 6th.”