Tour de France 2019: Geraint Thomas unfazed by Suisse crash ahead of yellow jersey defence

A bloodied Thomas was pictured lying still on the road during the Swiss race and was forced to pull out, but he suffered no serious injuries and has been passed fit to lead Team Ineos at the Tour

Geraint Thomas has said he is fully fit ahead of his Tour de France defence following his recent crash at the Tour de Suisse, and dismissed any worries over lack of racing time this season.

A bloodied Thomas was pictured lying still on the road during the Swiss race and was forced to pull out, but he suffered no serious injuries and has been passed fit to lead Team Ineos at the Tour, which begins in Brussels on Saturday.

“When I saw blood dripping from my face I knew the doc wasn’t going to let me continue, so I just stayed sat on the floor,” Thomas said. “It was more from just the anger and the disappointment, really. Just sitting there never looks great because if a guy doesn’t get up straight away it normally means something bad has happened, but I was fine.

“It was disappointing to have to pull out but it was the right call. I hit my head pretty hard and I was cut above the eye. However, there was no real concussion symptoms in the couple of days afterwards, so I was able to start training again on the Friday after the crash and I’ve had some decent rides since.”

Thomas has had limited opportunities to race this season and the Tour de Suisse was meant to give him a chance to test himself against some of the world’s top riders, but the 33-year-old believes it is only a minor setback to his preparations.

“The crash was not ideal, mainly because I wanted to see where I was and to be more certain about what everyone else was doing compared to me,” he says. “But purely from a physical point of view, I don’t think the crash is too much of an issue. I would have liked to have done all the race just to have a really good test.

“All I can do now is worry about myself in training and crack on with that. But the stages I was in during the Tour de Suisse, I was feeling OK and getting better as it was going on. But we’ll soon find out what form I am in.”

Thomas will co-lead Team Ineos at the Tour with Egan Bernal, the 22-year-old Colombian who went on to win in Switzerland.