Remco Evenepoel was involved in a crash sparked by a dog early on the rain-sodden stage 5 of the Giro d’Italia, hitting the deck with 152 km to go during the 171 km race from Atripalda to Salerno.
The world champion, who led the race up until Tuesday’s fourth stage to Lago Laceno, was quickly attended to by the race doctor, several teammates and his Soudal-QuickStep directeur sportif as he sat at the side of the road.
He initially stayed sitting on the ground but eventually got up. He gave a thumbs up to the television camera as he started riding again.
Evenepoel crashed on the right of the road with a number of other riders after teammate Davide Ballerini was taken down by a dog on the left-hand side of the road. The dog ran into the road and Ballerini touched wheels with the rider in front of him as he moved away from the dog.
With 148 km of the stage remaining, Evenepoel and his teammates closed what was a two-minute gap and rejoined the slow-rolling peloton.
Evenepoel surged to a stunning victory in the opening time trial in Abruzzo on Saturday, cementing his status as perhaps the top favourite for glory at the 2023 Corsa Rosa.
Following stage 4's mid-mountain stage, where he was isolated on the final climb, he lay 28 seconds down on new maglia rosa Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM), while his main GC rival Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) stood in fifth place at a further 44 seconds down.
You can follow all the action on stage 5 with our Giro d'Italia live coverage.
⚠️ @EvenepoelRemco crashes .⚠️ Caduta per @EvenepoelRemco #Giro #GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/jnEa8AYWkIMay 10, 2023
👍👍👍@EvenepoelRemco - @soudalquickstep #Giro #GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/9QYlqKrpiuMay 10, 2023
