Geraint Thomas (right) wears the leader's jersey during the Tour Down Under in Adelaide in January. The Welsh Team Sky rider started the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday despite suffering from a fractured pelvis. (AFP/File)
L'ILE-ROUSSE, France (AFP) – Britain's Team 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-kilometre ride up Corsica's west coast from Ajaccio to Calvi.
The two-time Olympic team pursuit gold medallist 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 of the Astana team the first to abandon the 2013 race, at the start of the third stage.
Soon after, Frenchman Yoann Bagot of Cofidis became the second rider to withdraw.
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