Tour de France 2018: Former champion Vincenzo Nibali abandons after freak crash

The Italian hit the deck with four kilometres remaining on Stage 12 after his handlebars appeared to get wrapped around a spectator’s camera strap during the claustrophobic finale.

He managed to get back on the bike and bridge the gap to the leaders, leaking just 13 seconds to the triumphant Geraint Thomas, but called it a day after learning the extent of his injuries.

Nibali said of the crash:

Fan footage later emerged of the crash which made it look pretty innocuous:

However, when it was slowed down by our analyst Cosmo Catalano, it seemed Nibali’s bike became tangled with a loose strap.

The 2014 champion was considered a major obstacle to Team Sky’s hopes of delivering another yellow jersey, whether through leader Thomas or four-time victor Chris Froome. He was fourth in the General Classification, 2:37 off Thomas and within a minute of Froome.

"The scan has confirmed what we feared," Bahrain-Merida team doctor Emilio Magni told Italian media. "There's a fracture of the T10 vertebra. It's a non-displaced fracture but it's clear Vincenzo can't ride his bike again for at least 15 days."

While there is plenty of racing to come, the race is already shaping into a three-way battle between Thomas, Froome and Team Sunweb’s Tom Dumoulin – although the likes of Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo), Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) and Mikel Landa (Movistar) will still hope to have a say.