⁍ Geraint Thomas was dropped during the third stage of the Giro d’Italia.

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⁍ Britain’s 2018 Tour de France champion hit the ground in the neutral zone before the start.

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⁍ Ineos-Grenadiers said the crash was caused by Thomas’s front wheel.

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– Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas crashed during the third stage of the Giro d’Italia on Monday and is expected to miss the rest of the race, reports Reuters. The British cyclist, who won the Criterium du Dauphine race for Team Sky last month, hit the ground before the start of the Mount Etna stage after his front wheel struck a rider’s bottle. “He immediately felt a lot of pain in the left leg but after the start he was better,” said a team spokesman. “In the end, with 45km left, the pace went up and it was steeper so he felt pain again and preferred to get dropped and pace himself to the end, wait until after the stage finish to see the doctor.” Thomas is currently 12 minutes behind stage winner Jonathan Caceido of Ecuador, who crossed the line 51 seconds ahead of overall contenders Jakob Fuglsang and twice winner Vincenzo Nibali, and 39 seconds before Dutch challenger Wilco Keldermann. On a bad day for British riders, Simon Yates of the Mitchelton-Scott team was dropped about nine km from the finish, losing 3:31 to the other leading overall contenders. “It was about limiting our losses,” said Mitchelton-Scott sports director Matt White. “It’s a long race, everyone has a bad day. Unfortunately for us it’s early in the race. We’re looking at the race from a different angle. Now we’re coming from behind.”