Geraint Thomas had a nightmare experience in the Commonwealth Games time trial, crashing within the first two minutes of his ride and then later complaining of further problems later on.
Thomas returned to the UK after his Tour de France podium looking to wring out the last drops of his Grand Tour form in the red of the Welsh national team.
He was the joint favourite for the 37.4km time trial in Wolverhampton alongside Australian Rohan Dennis but his hopes of gold effectively evaporated on the second bend.
After negotiating his way out of West Park, Thomas took too much speed into the second left-hand bend, where only half the road was available. He squeezed the brakes, his back wheels started to slide, and he looked to have kept balance only to clip the foot of one of the barriers, which sent him tumbling.
Thomas shouted out as he landed in a heap before getting to his feet and fumbling with a chain that appeared to be jammed. He was on his way soon enough and was clearly riding strongly as he reached the first intermediate checkpoint at kilometre-8.9 in second place, but he was already 30 seconds behind Dennis – approximately the amount of time he lost in the crash.
Thomas continued strongly but as he made his way through Dudley towards the half-way mark he raised his arm in the air and called for his team car. He then started talking into his race radio, taking his hands from the aero bars in order to hit the microphone on his device and communicate with his team.
It is unclear what the problem was, and he did not stop again to get a new bike.
More to come.
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