Geraint Thomas took his best ever Tour of Flanders result when he finished 8th in the 2014 edition of the Flemish classic. Having already crashed in most of last year's monuments and in this year's Gent-Wevelgem and Paris-Nice, however, the Welshman went down early in the race and so was left wondering what might have been.

Geraint Thomas battled back from a crash to claim eighth place at the Tour of Flanders after Fabian Cancellara had sprinted to victory in Oudenaarde.
 

Thomas had taken a nasty tumble during the early exchanges but battled bravely to get himself back into contention before the real fireworks commenced.

Despite falling behind on the Taaienberg as a result of his injuries, the Welshman dug deep in the final hour of action and joined Edvald Boasson Hagen in an elite group of riders on the third approach of the Oude Kwaremont.

Just as the Welshman restored parity, however, Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) made the first of his race-winning moves, by forging ahead with Sep Vanmarcke (Belkin) and bridging over to Stijn Vandenbergh (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) over the top of the penultimate cobbled climb.

It was that quartet who stayed clear to duke it out for victory, with Cancellara igniting the sprint with around 200m to go and then holding off his rivals for a record-equalling third victory in the space of five seasons.

Amazingly, Thomas crossed the line just 37 seconds adrift after producing another determined chase in the closing stages with 2012 winner Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step).

Thomas was sent tumbling on the approach to the cobbled Padderstraat climb, and took a knock to his back and face before being guided back into the peloton and lighting up the race in the closing stages.

It was the Welshman’s second crash of the Cobbled Classics campaign following his fall at Gent-Wevelgem, and came just over a month after another heavy tumble at Paris-Nice robbed him of a potential race victory.

When TeamSky.com caught up with him back at the team hotel, Thomas admitted he had considered abandoning the race at one point before digging deep to claim a gutsy top-10 finish.

“My back is a bit sore after my tumble. It happened when I was taking a drink, everybody slammed on their breaks in front of me. Because I had a bottle in my hand, I could only grab my front break and hit a central reservation before falling on to my face.

“I felt terrible for the rest of the race. When you hurt your back you lose a lot of your power and I didn’t feel very solid on the bike. That said, still being able to finish in the top 10 after all that was pretty pleasing, especially because I almost got off the bike at one point.

“The boys rode really well to get me back into the race. Eddy was really strong and Brad did a lot of work for me.

“At the end, me and Eddy were taking it in turns to follow the moves and when I couldn’t hang on on the Taainberg, Eddy stayed ahead to keep us on the front foot.

“When the groups came back together, I’d just finished a turn and was towards the back of the group when Cancellara made his move. I didn’t have the legs to go with him after the day I’d had - and the efforts I’d just made - but considering how I felt, I’m pleased to have been able to stay with Boonen until the finish.

“I don’t know what I’ve done to piss somebody upstairs off, but I’ve just not had any luck,” he added to Cyclingnews. “It was nobody’s fault, mine if anything. It’s just frustrating. I had decent legs and it would have been nice to have a clean run and see how I do. That’s the way it is.”

Thomas was already scheduled to miss Scheldeprijs on Wednesday and will work with Team Sky’s physiotherapist throughout the week to ensure he is able to start Paris-Roubaix on Sunday.

The 27-year-old believes Team Sky have what it takes to be in contention for overall victory on Sunday, but admits luck will play a part in the race often referred to as the Hell of the North’.

“I think we can take a lot from today’s performance,” he added. “Gabba [Rasch] crashed as well today but I’m sure we’ll be good to go again for Roubaix next week.

“I think that race suits our team better than Flanders, so if we can stay out of trouble, we’ll be looking for a good result there.

“I’m just here to help the team in Roubaix. I’m happy to do everything for Eddy, It would have been Stannard, but he’s obviously had some bad luck. I’m happy to just ride for the team full gas and do what I’m told.”

Sports Director Servais Knaven was full of praise for Thomas’s efforts at Flanders, and insists Team Sky are getting closer to that elusive Monument win.

He said: “The Tour of Flanders is always hard, and this year’s changes to the parcours made it even harder. It was an exciting race to watch and our guys did a really good job. For Geraint to get a top 10 under the circumstances today is really pleasing.

“G’s a tough guy and deserves huge praise for the strength he showed after his fall. His injuries meant he lacked a bit of power in the climbs, but he worked so hard on the flats, and should be really proud of his result.

“Eddy deserves a mention as well because he rode a really good race today – the whole team was strong and they really helped each other out.

“We wanted to be on the podium today, but circumstances meant that was out of our control. If G’s crash wasn’t enough, the fact that Cancellara attacked as soon as the two groups came back together meant he was never able to respond.

“We tell them the race is never over, so G battled to the end and eighth position is really good when you take his crash into account.”

Knaven was also able to provide an update on the condition of Gabriel Rasch following his early tumble. The Norwegian rider is retiring from professional cycling after Paris-Roubaix to become a Sports Director at Team Sky and Knaven is hopeful the 37-year-old will not have to call time on his career prematurely.

He added: “Gabba crashed with around 100km to go and the injury he sustained to his knee meant he couldn’t finish the race. We’ll have to see how he recovers overnight, and if he can do a recovery ride tomorrow.

“He’s only got two races left before he swaps the bike for the car, and we’re all hoping he’ll make a speedy recovery. He’s certainly still on the start list for Scheldeprijs and Roubaix right now, but we’ll have to see how things go in the next few days. It would be a massive shame if he didn’t make those races but fingers crossed, he’ll be OK.”