Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) is the best profile rider to tug out of the Critérium du Dauphiné after groups assessed the harm from the mass high-speed crash on stage 5.
The Spanish rider had signed on in Hauterives with bandages aplenty on his physique and accomplished the staff presentation however after testing his accidents, determined in opposition to beginning the 174.1km stage.
“I did a small journey round right here to attempt to see if the ache goes down and it’s not the case so I feel in all probability I gained’t begin immediately,” mentioned Ayuso as reported on CyclingProNet.
“It’s on each of my hips [the pain]. To be sincere, yesterday, I’ve to snort about it as a result of I don’t assume there are numerous guys that may say in the identical crash they crashed two occasions. I used to be sliding and I used to be scared folks from behind had been going to hit me so I attempted to face up and I fell once more on the opposite facet.
“So I’ve either side fairly banged up however the worst no doubt is the left facet which was the primary one after we all slipped.”
Six of the seven UAE Team Emirates riders on the Dauphiné went down in yesterday’s crash, 4 of whom are as a consequence of be a part of Tadej Pogačar’s assist squad for the Tour de France – Ayuso, Nils Politt, Tim Wellens and Pavel Sivkov.
Ayuso and Politt had been the 2 most visibly injured after the incident, taking for much longer to get again to the neutralised pack who waited additional up the street. The staff laid out their accidents on social media late final evening.
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“Fall onto left hip and knee with average abrasions. Also hit left lateral 4th-Sixth ribs on handlebar. No pulmonary damage and no clear rib fracture on ultrasound, solely delicate tissue. Haematoma. No concussion/spinal damage,” was how UAE characterised Politt’s accidents.
Ayuso revealed that Politt was the primary to go down within the UAE prepare after they crashed as he was main the road, however that the German might do nothing about it after he “acquired onto the black tarmac which was like an ice rink”.
The full staff had been all provisionally cleared to start out stage 6 by the physician with no fractures however Aysuo’s abandon made him one among seven non-starters on the day.
Teams assess the harm after round 50 riders crash
The different six riders to not begin stage 6 are Kobe Gossens (Intermarché-Wanty), Jasha Sütterlin, Kamil Gradek (each Bahrain Victorious), Odd Christian Eiking (Uno-X Mobility), Harry Sweeny and Lukas Nerurkar (each EF Education-EasyPost). However, the latter two are out as a consequence of respiratory sickness and COVID-19 respectively.
Despite stage 5 ending beneath neutralised circumstances after the crash, the likes of Dylan van Baarle, Steven Kruijswijk (each Visma-Lease a Bike), Laurens Huys (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Axel Mariiault (Cofidis) had been taken to hospital in ambulances and DNFed stage 5.
Both Visma riders left the Dauphiné and had been additionally dominated out of their deliberate participation on the Tour de France because the Dutch staff’s run of rotten luck continues, prompting staff boss Richard Plugge to query security on X, previously Twitter.
Aside from those that sustained extra critical accidents and fractures, the peloton was brutally affected with near 50 riders coming down on the moist street 21km from the end in Saint-Priest.
Bahrain Victorious began stage 6 with simply three riders after Sutterlin sustained a fractured hip, Gradek a fractured hand and Rainer Kepplinger was compelled out of the race as a consequence of concussion protocol and despatched for scans on the hospital.
Lidl-Trek began the day with a full complement of riders however Alex Kirsch has since pulled out “as a precaution to forestall any additional damage after yesterday’s crash”. GC chief Tao Geoghegan Hart additionally revealed to reporters pre-stage 6 that he had sustained a heavy affect to his ribs within the crash.
“I used to be truly modulating my pace fairly effectively. Saw immediately the blokes in entrance of me slip out and crash and I used to be discovering some house on the suitable aiming for the grass or in an excellent world, to cease,” he mentioned.
“Then I feel somebody hit me from behind, in all probability additionally not making an attempt to interrupt, and I simply went flying into the electrical energy pylon. So I’ve zero cuts or something which is constructive however I hit the pylon round 45kph on my bicep and my facet.
“Ribs is at all times fairly difficult as a result of even in case you don’t have fractures, you may endure lots with the respiratory.”
Alpecin-Deceuninck had been additionally badly hit with 5 of their riders on the Dauphiné coming down within the crash. Thankfully, the damage abstract posted to their Instagram revealed that it was primarily bruises and abrasions sustained by Xandro Meurisse, Juri Hollmann, Jason Osborne, Jensen Plowright and Luca Vergallito, with the latter additionally experiencing head trauma however with out concussion.
There had been many bandages all through the wounded peloton in the beginning location of stage 6 with Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Oliver Naesen (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) amongst these clearly left with superficial accidents. But they and plenty of riders determined to soldier on forward of the Collet d’Allevard summit end.
Race chief Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) prevented catastrophe after happening entrance flipping over his bars onto his head and shoulder. But he thanked his helmet after the stage and was in good spirits after not injuring himself too badly, leaving him in a position to begin stage 6 in yellow.
Second-placed Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) additionally mentioned he crashed onto a shoulder he injured beforehand however escaped largely unscathed and began stage 6, nevertheless, acknowledged this morning that immediately got here with no give attention to the GC or the outcome.
The affect of the crash will not be solely injury-related in that riders had been compelled to tug out however it’s more likely to have an enormous impact on how the remainder of the Dauphiné pans out within the ultimate three levels.