Elisa Longo Borghini will not start stage 6 of the Giro d'Italia Donne following a heavy fall on the descent toward Tuesday's finish line in Ceres, with her Lidl-Trek team saying that the rider is in considerable pain after the crash.
Longo Borghini was taken to hospital for an x-ray of her pelvis and right shoulder on Tuesday after the stage, which Lidl-Trek said that evening had ruled out the presence of fractures.
The squad also added that she had a brain scan which came back negative for injuries as well as a neurological consultation. In line with the concussion protocol, Longo Borghini also remained under observation by the team doctor, with any decision on whether or not she would continue deferred to Wednesday morning.
"She had a good night and checks performed this morning show no sign of concussion," the team said in a statement on Wednesday morning. "However, she is still in some considerable pain, and for this reason, with regret, the Team believes the right decision is for her not to start today’s stage of the Giro Donne."
After stage 5's crash, where she overshot a corner and went off the side of the road on a technical descent, the Italian had pedalled slowly to the end of the stage, with teammate Shirin van Anrooij for company. The stage 4 winner had been sitting in second on the overall classification at the start of the day and was in third place on the road and in pursuit of overall race leader Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) when she came down with under 8km to go.
The fall and time taken to remount instantly meant her chances of another overall podium had evaporated. Longo Borghini came over the line in 19th place, with a scratched up face and arm, while her Italian champion's jersey showed signs of the impact. The time loss of more than seven minutes sent her down to 17th overall.
Longo Borghini has long been a strong challenger at her home Grand Tour, with a fourth place overall finish last year, third in 2020 and second overall in 2017. She also won the youth classification at her second participation in the race in 2012.
The 31-year-old is now out of the 2023 Giro, but the team still has Gaia Realini as an overall contender, with the young Italian sitting in fifth spot at 3:14 behind Van Vleuten after stage 5. It's a much smaller gap to second place, however, with the 22-year-old just one minute and seven seconds behind Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM).
