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.
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.
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