WHAT TO DO WHEN IT REALLY, REALLY HURTS

THE BIKES WENT FLYING EVERYWHERE.  It was a spectacular finish line crash, but I suspect that was nothing compared to the pain felt yesterday...

... which must have been overwhelming.

So, what do we do when we're really banged up?

If you watched the last, incredible stage of the Giro today you might have missed it.

• Not the crash
• Not G Thomas' massive pull
• Not Cav's insanely dominant sprint

A couple of kilometers out, I saw something none of the pundits caught.

Did you?

Geraint Thomas began the healing process from what had to be a supremely bitter and painful loss...

... by helping a friend in need.

Go back and watch it.

He' not paid to pull Cav's lead out man, LL Sanchez, but he pulls along side and says Get on my wheel.

Then, Thomas strings out the race at just the right moment, keeping the pace extremely high and making all the other sprinters work very hard to get into position while Cav is cruising in the perfect position.

With 1k to go, the other sprint teams' momentum carries them around Cav and he's perfectly slotted in 10 guys back on the wheel of the guy rocking the Sprinter's jersey.

It couldn't be better,
it wouldn't have been better if Thomas hadn't done a very good deed.