Remco Evenepoel has been given the all-clear to continue in the Volta a Catalunya following his crash during Wednesday's third stage, which tore away a possible stage win in the final kilometre.
The Belgian suffered cuts and road rash after hitting a pothole on the run-in to the final roundabout just 500 metres from the end of the stage to Vila-seca. He had spent the previous 29km at the head of the race with Jonas Vingegaard in a two-man escape on the flat run to the finish.
It was a surprise move provoked by crosswinds hitting following the descent of the day's final climb, and the pair had looked set to hold off the charging peloton behind and contest the stage 3 win.
The late spill, however, put paid to Evenepoel's hopes of glory. The day ended with Dorian Godon sprinting to his second victory of the week as Vingegaard soft-pedalled to the line, not wanting to take advantage ot Evenepoel's fall.
The good news is that he is fit to continue in the race on today's abridged stage, which was set to be the first mountain test before wind warnings forced organisers to cut the final climb to Vallter 2000.
"Hey guys! Good news, all is good," Evenepoel said in a text update posted to Instagram by his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team on Thursday morning.
"It stopped me yesterday, but not for the week."
There had been doubts over whether Evenepoel could continue following the crash. He said on Wednesday evening that he felt pain in his elbow, while also suffering road rash in multiple areas of his body
"My elbow is hit quite hard, so we have to see what is and isn't possible," he said.
"I'm in a bit of pain everywhere. My elbow is open, my back is open, and my hips are open."
Evenepoel figures to be among the main contenders for the overall victory in Catalunya, which features mountain finishes at the Coll de Pal and Queralt in the coming days before Sunday's finish at Montjuïc Park in Barcelona.
He'll continue the race later today on the 151.2km stage 4 to Camprodon. Evenepoel lies second overall, 11 seconds down on race leader and double stage winner Godon and seven seconds up on Vingegaard. He may well be thankful for the lack of a mountain-top finish the day after his fall, too.
