Geraint Thomas presses on at Tour despite broken pelvis
British rider was injured in a stage 1 crash; elsewhere, two riders abandoned before the start of stage 3
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L’ILE-ROUSSE, France (AFP) — Britain’s Sky rider Geraint Thomas started the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday despite suffering from a fractured pelvis.
The 27-year-old Welshman underwent tests in Bastia on Saturday after falling in a mass crash towards the end of the first stage, and the official Tour medical report after the second stage confirmed that he was receiving treatment for a sore left hip.
French television reports on Monday indicated that new tests revealed the fracture, and Thomas was visibly struggling during the short but tricky 145-kilometer ride up Corsica’s west coast from Ajaccio to Calvi.
The two-time Olympic team pursuit gold medalist was seen receiving treatment from the Sky medical team at the back of the peloton and his condition will be of great concern ahead of Tuesday’s team time trial in Nice.
Elsewhere on Monday, the Tour’s 198-man field was reduced by two, with Kazakh rider Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) the first to abandon the 2013 race, at the start of the third stage. Soon after, Frenchman Yoann Bagot (Cofidis) became the second rider to withdraw.