Geraint Thomas in ‘freak crash’ during Tokyo 2020 cycling road race as ex-Tour de France winner and London 2012 gold medalist pulls out after teammates’ wheel came off
Geraint Thomas’ hopes of claiming a third Olympic gold medal were ended early in Saturday’s road race, as the Team GB cyclist withdrew after a ‘freak crash’.
The Welshman hit the deck hard after his teammate’s front wheel incredibly came off his bike, leaving Thomas ‘with nowhere to go but the floor’.
The former Tour de France winner picked himself, dusted himself down and caught up with the peloton, but pulled out with 60km of the race to go.
Thomas' Ineos Grenadiers teammate Richard Carapaz went onto win the race to claim gold for Ecuador - the nation’s only second gold medal ever.
Wout van Aert of Belgium won silver and reigning Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar from Slovenia won bronze.
Team GB’s Adam Yates was in the mix for a medal in the final sprint, but ended up ninth - the highest placed Brit.
Thomas collided with Great Britain teammate Tao Geoghegan Hart around 70 km into the 234km race in Japan after Hart's front wheel came off, with Thomas falling hard on his right side.
After a trip to the medical car, the Welshman - who won Commonwealth gold for Wales in the road race in 2014 - set off again and caught the peloton, but struggled towards the back of the main group as it made its way up the race's biggest climb at the foot of Mount Fuji.
It meant more Olympic heartbreak for Thomas, who suffered the same rotten luck in Rio 2016 where he also crashed out of the road race to end his medal hopes.
The 35-year-old also crashed twice during this years's Tour de France which harmed his chances of challenging for the coveted yellow jersey and repeating his winning race in 2018. He dislocated his right shoulder early on, but battled on valiantly to finish the 23 day race.
It appears the heavy fall on the same side in Tokyo was too much for him to finish the race, but confirmed he was feeling OK on social media, although bemoaned his lack of luck.
"All good with me. Thanks for the messages," Thomas wrote soon after the race on Twitter.
";Think I must have done something bad in a previous life.
"Freak crash, Tao lost his front wheel and decked it in front of me. I had nowhere to go, other than the floor as well."
He will have another shot at gold, though, with the men's time trial next week.
Thomas already has two Olympic gold medals, but they were both won on the track.
The Welshman is one of a handful of British cycling stars who made a successful transition from the road, to the track and back again, having won gold in the team pursuit on the track at Beijing 2008 before repeating the win in the same discipline at London 2012.