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Team Ineos officially snakebit as Geraint Thomas crashes out of Tour de Suisse

Tour de France title defense in peril?

June 18, 2019
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Providence has frowned on Team Ineos’ Grand Tour aspirations since the team’s switch from Team Sky, with Geraint Thomas the latest victim. The 2018 Tour de France winner crashed out of Tuesday’s fourth stage of the Tour de Suisse while sitting in 8th place on GC, apparently hitting his head in the wreck. It’s unclear at this point whether he sustained any long term injuries and what the crash means for his defense of the yellow jersey eighteen days from now.

Thomas and Astana rider Andrey Zeits crashed while descending the route’s penultimate climb, the first passage of the Hochwald. Zeits was taken away in an ambulance, while Thomas sat dazed on the road.

On May 4, Egan Bernal broke his collarbone during a training crash one week before the start of the Giro d’Italia. Last Wednesday, Chris Froome suffered a frightful crash while pre-riding the Critérium du Dauphiné’s time trial route that caused a fractured right femur, a broken hip, a broken and fractured ribs. Froome hopes to be back in racing shape within six months.

Ecuadorian rider Jhonatan Narváez should be counted among the unlucky of the red and black: he broke his hand in a training accident on Sunday.

Elia Viviani took the flowers in Tuesday’s stage, but Peter Sagan, winner of Stage 3, retains the race lead.