Geraint Thomas had comfortably coped with the hardest part of the day - a sharp surge of pace on the climb of Sima Zapada, but in the finale of Stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia, the carelessness of the moment on the climb proved to be almost expensive.

Despite steady rain and rugged terrain, the Pink Jersey Group had endured a relatively comfortable afternoon at Friuli, but Thomas endured a belated scare when he was sent spread to the ground after cutting the rear wheels of Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain victory) in the shade of less than 6km.

Thomas stood up quickly, but had to wait a little longer for a replacement bike from the Ineos team car. For a moment, his prospects of beating Daniel Martinez in this race seemed as if they were doomed by a surprisingly simple error, but no one tried to benefit from his misfortune.

Instead, the Pink Jersey group stalled and the Bora-Hansgrohe team car helped Thomas regain pace. Overall remains third, after he rolled home safely with his podium rivals, shade more than a quarter of an hour to the winner of the day Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon-AG2R).

Thomas stopped just beyond the hotel Corona Ferreia, Carrera tried to keep Steven Roche hidden from the press after he sold his teammate Roberto Vicentini's entire lead in 1987. Given his late autumn, Thomas would have been allowed to enact his own silenzio stampa here, but Welshman told reporters

through his unexpected slow drama, "It was a stupid little mistake," Thomas said. "I was just looking over my shoulder and they moved a little bit and I just overlaid the wheel and touchdown. Fortunately, I quickly got a spare bike and the Mullet's car was actually good, they gave me a bit of a draft up to the group again.

"When it happened, I just said on the radio, "I need a new bike."The car felt like it was miles behind, but in the end it was only a few seconds, so it came straight back," he said.

Thomas' Giro challenges in 2017 and 2020 ended prematurely with injuries in heavy crashes, but he escaped relatively lightly here. He downplayed the severity of his wound here, but it appeared to be limited to a cut in his left elbow. "It's new skin from the old crush: after 18 years of pro, you have some of them," Thomas said. "It was just a stupid mistake.

When this giro route was first announced on May 10 last year, Friday's leg through the Karnik Alps appeared to have the potential to provoke a frisson among popular classification candidates. But in fact, the time difference in the gap already open by leader Tadej Pogañar (UAE team Emirates) meant there was no real prospect of a move from the Gc candidate, only Movistar's Einer Rubio climbing to Cima Zapada

"Obviously, we were all ready," Thomas said in a statement to the Monitor. Said about the coercion of Bistar. "It was a bit of a surprise, but obviously when they came it was about staying on the wheel and getting over the best possible thing.

Thomas remains 3rd overall, 8:04 behind the impregnable Pogagnal and 22 seconds behind his old teammate Martinez on Saturday's final to 2nd stage, with Montegrappa's twin ascent ahead of the final drop to Bassano del Grappa. It's a great place to start. With only passerrella in Rome following, Monte Grappa is the last chance for Thomas to raise his place in the standings.

"Today was really, like we thought. I wanted the rain to stop, but it wasn't," Thomas said before pedaling toward the Ineos bus. "But it's tomorrow, big, big day."