Geraint Thomas has abandoned the Tour de Suisse after a heavy crash rounding off a disasterous seven days for Team Ineos's Tour de France ambitions. The Welshman hit the deck after a crash in the peloton with 27km to go on Stage 4 from Murten to Arlesheim.
The crash saw Thomas hit the ground with Astana rider Andrey Zeits. The Kazakh fared a lot worse than the Ineos rider and was immediately taken to hospital in an ambulance.
Television cameras showed Thomas on the roadside after the crash nursing a damaged right shoulder. As the rider changed from his ripped jersey, he was seen to have substantial road rash on his shoulder as well as a cut just above his right eye.
The TV coverage then showed that Thomas had withdrawn from the race while Team Ineos confirmed the rider had been taken to a local hospital for further checks.
Team Ineos will be hoping that Thomas's injuries are only superficial considering the recent horror crash of Chris Froome.
The four-time Tour champion found himself ruled out of the 2019 race after having sustained fractures to his neck, elbow, ribs and femur in a high-speed crash on a recon of the Stage 4 individual time trial at last week's Criterium du Dauphine.
More to follow as on Geraint Thomas's crash the story develops...