Commonwealth Games: Wales win 18th medal despite Geraint Thomas crash

Geraint Thomas' hopes of Commonwealth Games men's time trial gold disappeared after he crashed during the early stages of his ride.

Thomas came off in the opening stages of his ride after his back wheel slid out on a corner and he caught the barrier.

He managed bronze behind Australian Rohan Dennis and Fred Wright.

It was Wales' 18th medal of the Commonwealth Games with four gold, four silver and 10 bronze.

The crash was a bitter blow for Thomas, who had arrived at the Games in fine form after finishing third in the Tour de France.

The time trial was considered his main hope of victory, as he also goes in Sunday's road race.

After his early crash on the 37km course, Thomas lost 30 seconds on the first checkpoint to Dennis and appeared to be contemplating a bike change.

The 2018 Tour de France champion battled manfully but missed out on second place and will wonder what might have been as he finished 28 seconds behind the winner.

Thomas, 36, claimed gold in the Commonwealth Games road race in Glasgow in 2014 but there was drama in that race when he suffered a late puncture before winning.

This was a second time trial Commonwealth Games bronze medal after his efforts in Scotland eight years ago.

Thomas admitted fault but was happy with a medal after the crash.

"I am content," insisted Thomas.

"To come away with a medal after crashing is all right but I wanted more.

"I wanted to come here and win. I was not too far off that and two seconds off silver, so that makes it a bit bittersweet.

"I just went into that corner a little bit hot and decked it. To get back up and try and refocus and get round as best as possible is what I did. But it's never straightforward with me anyway is it?

"It's racing and at least this was my fault, although I am not sure whether that makes it easier or worse.

"At least I came away with a medal because if I hadn't it would have been a lot harder to take.

"I have to try and put it behind me now. Once you finish and as soon as you see the times and how much you were off silver and gold, you maybe think what could have been.

"But it's pointless thinking like that, just try and be grateful to have got a medal out of it."

Wales' Owain Doull was seventh, while Elynor Backstedt-Calvert, Leah Dixon and Anna Morris finished eighth, 15th and 16th respectively in the women's time trial.

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More medals pending

There will be at least seven more guaranteed medals for Wales with six coming in boxing and one in para-bowls.

Identical twins Ioan and Garan Croft, Jake Dodd and Owain Harris-Allan joined Rosie Eccles and Taylor Bevan in Saturday's semi-finals.

Welterweight Ioan Croft secured his place with the second-round stoppage of Malawi's Luwis Zakeyu Mbewe.

Light-middleweight Garan Croft beat Mauritius' Merven Clair by unanimous decision.

Flyweight Dodd produced a third-round stoppage victory against Northern Ireland's Clepson Antonio Dos Santos Paiva.

Bantamweight Harris-Allan made it a clean sweep by beating James Chang of Papua New Guinea by unanimous decision to face Ghana's Abraham Mensah for a place in the final.

In bowls, Julie Thomas and Gordon Llewellyn, assisted by Mark Adams and John Wilson, are guaranteed a gold or silver in the the para mixed pairs B2/B3 after reaching the final with 13-10 victory over Australia. Wales will play Scotland in the final on Friday.

The women's triples of Laura Daniels, Ysie White and Anwen Butten lost in the quarter-finals against Malaysia.

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In athletics, Olympic finalist Jake Heyward is through to Saturday's 1,500m final after finishing third in his heat, but Piers Copeland misses out after finishing seventh in his heat, which was won by new world champion Jake Wightman.

Amber Simpson qualified fifth for the women's hammer final, while 200m runner Hannah Brier eased through to the semi-finals.

Julie Rogers finished eighth in the F42-44/61-64 women's discus final.

Joel Makin and Tesni Evans are through to the mixed doubles squash quarter finals after a 2-0 victory over Malaysia.

The Wales duo will now play England's Adrian Waller and Alison Waters on Friday evening.

Wales' netballers finished the pool campaign with a 60-44 win over Barbados.

Wales hockey women lost 5-0 to England in the final group game and finished fourth in Pool A. They will face South Africa in the seventh-place match on Friday.

The men's hockey side lost the final pool match to India 4-1.

Lucy Hawkins finished 12th in the women's 10-metre platform final behind England duo Andrea Spendolini and Lois Toulson.

Hawkins is next in action in the women's synchronised event with Ruby Thorne on Saturday.

Josh Stacey has made his way into the men's para-table tennis semi-finals after three wins, but Grace Williams missed out on the last four.

The mixed doubles pair of Callum Evans and Charlotte Carey lost the last 32 match against Canada's Eugene Wang and Mo Zhang, while Carey, Anna Hursey and Chloe Thomas Wu Zhang are through to the women's last 16 singles.