Geraint Thomas is suffering during this first week into the Tour de France. The Team Sky rider was involved in the first major crash of the race that also involvedAlberto Contador (Tinkoff). He crashed on Sunday too. The Welshman took a blow to his chest.

"It's still pretty sore to be honest and it will take a few days to get over but it should be all right," Thomas told Cyclingnews. "I landed on my stem and got a bruise from there and on my ribs, which I have taped up. It affects my breathing and when I'm getting out of the saddle, so when I cough or tense my stomach it hurts."

Team Sky general manager Dave Brailsford is still confident.

"We didn't think it had been fractured but it's a muscular pain. He's hurt his ribs quite badly in the crash the other day and it's quite sore but he's done pretty well and is there or thereabouts. He's a tough guy. When the guys went into the barriers, he went into them and I think his stem hit him in the chest. He's a tough guy, though, and if he can ride around with a fractured pelvis then he can ride around after a whack in the ribs."