Geraint Thomas (Sky) risked adding his name to the list of victims of the infamous descent of the Col de Manse, but he recovered from a heavy fall in the finale of stage 16 of the Tour de France to limit his losses and remain in sixth place overall.
Thomas was part of the select yellow jersey group that was descending the Col de Manse some 18 minutes down on stage winner Ruben Plaza (Lampre-Merida), when he was bumped off the road on a sharp right-hand bend by Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin), who had taken the corner on the inside.
Reporters and spectators watching on the big screen at the finish five miles away in Gap assumed that Thomas’ Tour was surely over, given that he struck his head square against a wooden pole before falling down the embankment below.
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There was no further update on his status until yellow jersey Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana et al reached the finish, when the race speaker breathlessly announced that Thomas was now entering the same straight in the company of his teammate Wout Poels.
Thomas eventually came home 18:50 down on the stage, but just 38 seconds behind the Froome group (he is now 5:32 down overall) and was immediately engulfed by a swarm of television crews and journalists as he crossed the line. He was typically pointed in his description of the crash.
"Barguil just wiped me out. It was a tight right and he just came around on the inside and knocked me straight off the road," Thomas said, before matter-of-factly describing his reaction to the incident. "I got back up and started chasing."
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