Giro d’Italia: Tao Geoghegan Hart crashes out of race on slippery stage

The former Giro d’Italia winner Tao Geoghegan Hart was forced out of the race on stage 11 after crashing heavily on a slippery descent with around 70km remaining.

The Ineos Grenadiers rider, who won the Giro in 2020, was riding with his teammates including the overall leader, Geraint Thomas, who also hit the deck but managed to continue.

Geoghegan Hart, third in the overall standings, was attended to by medics before being loaded into an ambulance. “The Brit will head to hospital for checks and we will have further updates in due course,” said Ineos Grenadiers on Twitter.

The race favourite, Primoz Roglic, was also involved in the crash but managed to continue on a Jumbo-Visma teammate’s bike. Shortly afterwards, the Movistar rider Óscar Rodríguez suffered a scary crash in which he came into contact with a roadside sign and almost hit a house.

This year’s weather-affected Giro has been hit with several high-profile withdrawals, with former race leader Remco Evenepoel having to abandon after testing positive for Covid. A further round of tests were made on the riders and staff which showed Soudal Quick-Step quartet Jan Hirt, Josef Cerny, Louis Vervaeke and Mattia Cattaneo had contracted Covid too.

Wednesday’s stage is the longest in the race, a 219km ride from Camaiore to Tortona.

More details to follow …