Team INEOS star Geraint Thomas has been ruled out of the Tour de Suisse and taken to hospital following a crash on Tuesday.
The defending Tour de France champion went down with around 30 kilometres remaining of stage four in Switzerland and was quickly attended to by medical staff.
Thomas was alert and speaking to staff, but INEOS soon confirmed that he would not return for the remainder of the race.
The start of the Tour de France, where Thomas claimed his first Grand Tour general classification title last year, is less than three weeks away.
INEOS will already be without four-time champion Chris Froome, who sustained fractures to his right femur, elbow and ribs when he hit a wall on a recon at the Criterium du Dauphine last week.
Sadly @GeraintThomas86 has been forced to abandon the #TourDeSuisse . He was alert and speaking to the team after the crash and will be taken to hospital for checks. Further updates to follow
— Team INEOS (@TeamINEOS) June 18, 2019
Both Thomas and Froome missed the Giro d'Italia in preparation for the Tour, while team-mate Egan Bernal missed out on the year's first Grand Tour with a broken collarbone.
INEOS subsequently named their youngest Grand Tour line-up in Italy as Pavel Sivakov finished ninth in the GC race.
