Two of the contenders in this year's Tour de France suffered bad crashes on Monday's third stage.
2018 winner, and 2019 runner-up, Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) sustained a dislocated left shoulder in a crash just 37km into the 182.9km trek from Lorient to Pontivy.
A touch of wheels at the front of the peloton brought down several riders, with Thomas seen clutching his shoulder afterwards.
The Welsh rider suffered a similar injury during a training ride last year.
Last year's runner-up Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) also came a-cropper on day 3, falling inside the final 50km of the stage.
As they wound up for the final sprint, Caleb Ewan and Peter Sagan also hit the deck.
The stage itself was eventually won by Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix), with Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin–Fenix) second and Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa–Samsic) third.
Merlier's teammate Mathieu Van Der Poel retains the leader's yellow jersey, holding an 8-second advantage over Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck Quick-Step).
"I'm living a dream I think"
The first interview with Stage 3 winner 🇧🇪 @MerlierTim#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/CAXCM3jMob— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) June 28, 2021
"I'm living a dream, I think. After the Giro, I was already very happy, but now to win a stage at the Tour, the biggest race in the world. I can't believe it," Merlier said.
"Mathieu said he was going to do the lead-out, and I said, 'you are crazy' but he loves to do it, so then Jasper Philipsen took over for the last 700 metres.
"It was a great lead-out and I just needed to go the last 150 metres. I looked back and I couldn't believe it, there was nobody else on my wheel. There was a crash, and so that would be the reason, I think.
"I can't believe this, it's a dream".
T20 World Cup makes second move due to Covid-19 situation in India
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
