Geraint Thomas in Tour de France scare as he crashes after shoulder barge but is unhurt

GERAINT THOMAS brushed off a Brussels tussle as he hit the deck in defence of his Tour de France title.

Stage one was won by Jumbo Visma’s Dutch rider Mike Teunissen, 26, who out-sprinted Slovak star Peter Sagan.

But Thomas was caught in a crash in the final two miles of the stage as he was shoulder-barged against the barriers and his pedal got caught in the railing.

It sent him flying and he hit the deck, amidst chaos in the final miles.

The Team Ineos leader still had a spring in his step though as he crossed the line and bounded on to the team bus.

He said: “I’m fine. I gave myself enough space and avoided the actual crash.

“The main thing is that it didn’t do any damage - the bike took the hit and I just toppled over.”

Thomas was 1min 52sec down on the stage winner, but because the crash happened in the final 3km of the stage, time differences were nullified.

In a far worse state was Dane Jakob Fuglsang, who had blood pouring down his head after a crash.

The Criterium du Dauphine winner, 34, needed stitches in his head but starts Sunday's 17-mile team time trial in Brussels.

'COWARDS'

Meanwhile Mark Cavendish's team was thrown into civil war over his Tour de France axing after as his wife branded team bosses “cowards.”

Stage one, which was won by Jumbo Visma’s Mike Teunissen, would have been the perfect chance for the Manx Missile to sprint for victory and claim another Yellow Jersey, just as he did in 2016.

Cavendish would have also had the chance to close the gap on Eddy Merckx’s 34 Tour stage wins, with the Brit on 30.

Sporting director Rolf Aldag and team principal Doug Ryder contradicted each other ahead of the stage in Brussels.

It prompted a tweet from wife Peta, saying: “The truth always comes out in the end. Cowards can’t hide forever.”

Cavendish headed to Nottinghamshire to surprise a young fan, Evan, 5.