Geraint Thomas was bloodied but unbowed after surviving a nasty crash on Saturday’s Milan-San Remo race.

The Cardiff-born ace fell in a pile-up near the start on the key Cipressa climb around 18 miles from the finish of the 180-mile long classic in Italy.

But the Paris-Nice winner will be fit to join Team Sky team-mate Chris Froome for the start on Monday of the Volta a Catalunya in Spain.

Thomas, 29, explained: “I hit my left side, I went down on a bit of a lip.

“I was just out of position a bit, so I was moving up on the right, and the next thing you know, everyone has crashed in front of me.

“I braked and manage to cut off most of my speed, but there was nowhere to go with a big wall and drain to the side. I hit my hip, but I’m fine really.”

Thomas was one of Sky’s leaders for the race and was hoping to play a key part in the final miles as team-mate Ben Swift took second place.

He added: “It’s annoying. You spend all day eating and just staying out of the wind, and the next thing you know, you don’t get to race when it happens.”

Thomas limped home in 169th place – almost 14 minutes 30 seconds behind the leading pack.

Team-mate and fellow Welshman Luke Rowe was 91st, two mins 43 secs down on race winner Arnaud Demare of France.