Tour de France 2019 news - Geraint Thomas suffersdramatic crash

The collision occured when EF Education First rider Michael Woods swung out in front of him.

Woods then took out Thomas and his Ineos team mate Gianni Moscon. Thomas was able to continue, aided by Wout Poels and rejoined the leading pack 13km from the finish.

Thomas said: "I'm fine, but it's just frustrating – obviously it was a key moment in the race.

"Woods crashed, and just took out Gianni [Moscon] and me. I got tangled in Gianni's bike and took some time to get going."

Ahead of the current champion, Julian Alaphilippe of Deceuninck-Quickstep attacked the course and ended the race with the yellow jersey.

"The boys did a great job. I caught up for the final bit, and moved up through the group, but by the time I was in the first 10 or 15 positions that's when they sprinted over the top for the bonus seconds," continued Thomas.

"So I was kind of gassed for a bit. It's annoying, and frustrating, but at the same time, to come back like I did shows I had good legs. You just don't want to give any unnecessary time away. If I hadn't have crashed I could have followed, and it's a totally different story today. That's how it goes."

Thomas came away thinking the crash had dented his chances on the race, "I just didn't want to ride on the front and tow everyone. Sunweb had numbers and a few others were trying to ride but there was just no speed in it. It's frustrating – I was just sat there thinking 'come on'."

However, he acknowledged that, "the worst thing was that Pinot got time – I'm fine," and is able to continue the tour.