"Twisted my knee and my hamstring" - Geraint Thomas goes down hard on stage 3 of 2025 Tour de Suisse

In the final season of his professional career, Geraint Thomas' main target in 2025 is one last Tour de France appearance for the former Maillot Jaune winner, with a smooth preparation ideal for a successful final Grand Tour. Sadly for the Welshman however, he has suffered a hard crash on stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse this Tuesday afternoon.

Whilst things were calm in the peloton for the most part on stage 3, inside the final 50km there was a scare for the INEOS Grenadiers leader. In a somewhat innocuous moment, the Welshman fell almost in slow motion in the middle of the peloton, staying down for a while afterwards too, sparking concern. Thomas did get back on the bike though, and the INEOS Grenadiers sent half the team back to help Thomas try and limit his losses. In the end, after a long and hard chase for the remainder of the stage, Thomas crossed the line in 133rd, more than 15 minutes down on stage winner Quinn Simmons.

"I just hit a lip on the side of the road," the 2018 Tour de France winner explained in a post-stage interview at the finish line. "It's my fault, but then I just kind of got my foot caught behind me and twisted my knee and my hamstring. It was a dead leg."

As mentioned, the INEOS Grenadiers sent back half the team to help guide Thomas back, but despite looking on the verge of connecting back to the peloton for around 20km, he ultimately paid a big price for the efforts. "I struggled to just bend it (his knee ed.) for the first minute or so," Thomas says. "Once I got back on the bike and got rolling it freed up a bit, but I'm just a bit sore. The muscles are a bit strained. But it's all okay," he concludes.