'It was my fault' - Geraint Thomas downplays effects of Tour de Suisse crash

Geraint Thomas has downplayed the effects of his crash on stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse, despite coming home more than fifteen minutes down the day’s winner Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek).

Thomas injured his left knee after falling at low speed on a tight corner with 60km remaining on Tuesday’s stage to Heiden. He spent a minute or so seated on the road before he remounted gingerly and resumed the stage.

Ineos Grenadiers teammates AJ August, Bob Jungels and Lucas Hamilton dropped back to try to pace Thomas up to the peloton, but he was unable to regain contact before the field fragmented in the punchy finale to the stage.

Thomas eventually rolled home in a sizeable group that came in 15:01 down on Simmons. On reaching the finish line, Thomas indicated that the crash would not affect his participation in the remainder of the Tour de Suisse, a race he won in 2022.

“I just hit a lip on the side of the road, really, so it was my fault,” Thomas told Swiss broadcaster SRF. “I just kind of got my foot caught behind me and twisted all my knee and my hamstring. It was just a dead leg. 

“I struggled to bend it for the first minute or so but once I got on the bike and got rolling, it freed up a bit. It’s just a bit sore, the muscles and stuff are a bit strained. But it’s all ok.”

Thomas now drops to 75th overall, 18:22 behind leader Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ). The Tour de Suisse is Thomas’ last outing ahead of his final Tour de France appearance next month. The 2018 Tour winner is set to retire after this season, and The Times has reported that he is in line to take up a management position at Ineos Grenadiers in 2026.