By Ian Gordon

Geraint Thomas’s hopes of continuing in the Tour de France after his stage three crash will be decided on Tuesday morning.

X-Rays on Monday night revealed that Wales’s 2018 champ did not fracture his right shoulder in the shunt following a touch of wheels just 37km into the 183km long stage from Lorient to Pontivy.

The Cardiff-born rider had scans and will be re-assessed by Ineos Grenadiers medics before the start of stage four.

Following a post-stage scan and x-ray we're pleased to confirm @GeraintThomas86 has not suffered a fracture in his right shoulder. He will be reassessed in the morning before stage four #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/Rgy0yBmZfF

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) June 28, 2021

Thomas hit the deck hard and needed medical treatment before several teammates dropped back to help him regain his place in the peloton.

Thomas came home 26 secs down on the stage winner and if he starts stage four on Tuesday will be in 18th spot, 67 secs off the Yellow Jersey which was retained by Mathieu van Der Poel.

The stage turned into demolition derby with several crashes with a later one involving Thomas’s Tour rival Primoz Roglic who lost one minute 21 secs  and is now 20th.

Sporting Director Gabriel Rasch said: “G went down and dislocated his shoulder. The race doctor put it directly back in but obviously he was in a lot of pain.

“He could go back on his bike and in the end he finished off the stage. Hats off to him for getting through it.

“Just after the crash he wanted to stay a little bit back in the peloton and find his feet again. After a while he could move a bit forward to the front of the group.

“We also had Castro with him the whole time just to make sure he was alright and to make sure he could do whatever we could to keep him in a good position on those tricky roads into the final.”

As Thomas went down, Jumbo’s Robert Gesink – a key domestique for Roglic – somersaulted over the stricken Welshman and was forced out of the race with his injuries.

.@GeraintThomas86 will head for an ultrasound post-stage, having suffered a dislocated shoulder in his crash. It was put back in at the scene by the race doctors. A full update will follow later #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/EJa4Jz9w48

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) June 28, 2021

Fellow Cardiff-born teammate Luke Rowe, Jonathan Castroviejo and Dylan van Baarle all dropped back and help Thomas return to the peloton making up the two minute deficit with 125 kilometres to go.

Belgium’s Tim Merlier won the first bunch sprint of the race in a 1-2 for his team with Jasper Philipsen in a crash-marred finish having been led out by van der Poel.