Challenges continue to mount for Silke Smulders at the start of the 2026 season. After being forced to miss the Women’s Tour Down Under, the Dutch rider’s return to racing was cut short when she crashed during stage 2 of the Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana on Friday.
The 24-year-old was unable to finish the stage, and her Liv-AlUla-Jayco squad later confirmed the extent of her injuries. In a team statement, Liv-AlUla-Jayco said that Smulders “crashed on stage 2 of the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana yesterday and was taken to hospital where a lumbar vertebrae fracture was confirmed. The Dutch rider will now return home to focus on her recovery.”
“Speedy recovery, Silke,” the team added.
Chaos reigned on stage 2 when a crash at the head of the peloton disrupted the sprint trains with one kilometre to go. Smulders’ teammate Letizia Paternoster was able to avoid the carnage and took second place in Vila-Real.
Smulders, who recently extended her contract with the Australian squad through 2027, had been aiming to better her runner-up result from 2025 at the season’s opening Women's WorldTour event, the Santos Tour Down Under, a home race for the Liv-AlUla-Jayco squad.
Those ambitions were stopped by a crash during a training ride, forcing her to miss the stage race. At the time, the team said that “after being assessed, the decision was made by the team for her to focus on making a full recovery.”
