![Our thoughts are with Tao Geoghegan Hart as his Giro comes to an end The former winner leaves in an ambulance](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cycling/2023/05/17/TELEMMGLPICT000335961476_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqNJjoeBT78QIaYdkJdEY4CnGTJFJS74MYhNY6w3GNbO8.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Tao Geoghegan Hart suffers fractured hip after crashing out of Giro d'Italia
The incident involving the Briton came moments before Movistar rider Oscar Rodriguez crashed into a house
![Our thoughts are with Tao Geoghegan Hart as his Giro comes to an end The former winner leaves in an ambulance](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cycling/2023/05/17/TELEMMGLPICT000335961476_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqNJjoeBT78QIaYdkJdEY4CnGTJFJS74MYhNY6w3GNbO8.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Britain’s Tao Geoghegan Hart fractured his left hip in a crash on stage 11 of the Giro d’Italia on Wednesday, becoming the latest victim of what has become a brutal race.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider went down heavily in a multi-rider pile-up involving all of the main pink jersey contenders, a melee that included his teammate and race leader Geraint Thomas and Primoz Roglic (Soudal-QuickStep), the second-placed in the general classification.
Geoghegan Hart, who won the Giro in 2020, had been lying third on GC at the start of stage 11, just five seconds behind Thomas and three behind Roglic.
But while Thomas and Roglic quickly remounted and re-joined the peloton after the crash with 68km remaining of the stage to Tortona, Geoghegan Hart stayed lying on the tarmac and was eventually put on a stretcher and taken away by ambulance.
"After further assessment, imaging confirmed that Tao had sustained a fracture of the left hip which will require surgery,” Ineos tweeted on Wednesday night. "Tao, the thoughts and best wishes of all your fellow Grenadiers are with you tonight. We wish you a speedy recovery and know you have what it takes to come back even stronger!"
The 28-year-old's departure deprives the race of another of its big names and best storylines, with Thomas among the first to pay tribute after safely crossing the finish line in Tortona to retain the Maglia Rosa.
The Welshman admitted it could just as easily have been him leaving the race on a stretcher.
“A UAE guy [Alessandro Covi] was next to me and he went down first,” Thomas said of the crash on a wet turn. “Luckily for me, I just landed on him.
“And then behind it was chaos and obviously Tao was badly hurt. Pavel [Sivakov] also knocked himself about a bit and I saw Roglic at the finish and he had quite a fleshy cut on his hip. Hopefully they are all OK.”
On Geoghegan Hart’s exit, he continued: “It’s a big loss for us. It obviously changes our tactics slightly when it comes to the big mountain days, but we’ll cross that bridge when it comes to it.”
The 2023 Giro has been incredibly attritional with crashes almost every day.
Minutes after the pile-up involving the pink jersey contenders on Wednesday, Oscar Rodriguez (Movistar) crashed into a house – grabbing hold of a road sign to avoid a heavier collision. The Spaniard stayed down and later abandoned the race.
The race has also been ravaged by Covid. Race leader Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) was forced to abandon on Sunday night after testing positive for the virus, handing the Maglia Rosa to Thomas. The Belgian was joined by four of his team-mates prior to the start of Stage 11 on Wednesday morning, with Jan Hirt, Josef Cerny, Louis Vervaeke and Mattia Cattaneo all departing the race with Covid.
In terms of the stage itself, Mark Cavendish (Astana) went the closest he has come yet in this race to taking his 17th Giro stage win. The Manx rider sprinted to third in Tortona as Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) won in a photo finish from Jonathan Milan (Bahrain-Victorious).