Geraint Thomas has withdrawn from the Giro d’Italia after scans revealed he suffered a fractured pelvis in a crash during Monday’s stage three to Mount Etna.
Thomas, the pre-race favourite, hit the deck hard when he rode over a water bottle that rolled across the road during the neutralised start of the stage in Enna.
The 34-year-old finished the stage more than 12 minutes down before being sent for X-rays. Although those initially showed no broken bones, fresh scans on Tuesday revealed a “small undisplaced fracture in the lower part of the pelvis”, according to his team, Ineos Grenadiers.
“It’s so frustrating,” Thomas said. “I’d put so much work into 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. So for it just to end like this is gutting.
“I was really up for starting today. 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. ”
Earlier on Tuesday, Thomas used Twitter to lament his luck, saying: “2020 you can just do one now. Thanks for all your well wishes though guys.”
The injury appears to indicate a premature end to Thomas’s 2020 season. He had targeted the Tour de France but was short of form at the Critérium du Dauphiné in August, leading to a rejig and a switch to the Giro.
His second place overall at Tirreno-Adriatico and fourth place in the time trial at the UCI Road World Championships had underlined his status as a favourite for the Giro and he emerged from Saturday’s opening time trial the best placed of the overall contenders.
Out on the road the focus shifted to the sprinters given the long downhill approach to the finish line and Arnaud Demare edged out Peter Sagan and Davide Ballerini to win stage four on the seafront in Villafranca Tirrena.
It means another second place for the Giro debutant Sagan after he finished runner-up to Diego Ulissi on Sunday, an all-too familiar feeling for a rider who now has 30 second-place finishes in Grand Tours to go with his 16 stage victories.
Almeida used the intermediate sprint 25km from home to pad his slender lead in the pink jersey, picking up two bonus points on Monday’s stage winner, Jonathan Caicedo, who had begun the day on the same time.