Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-Sram Zondacrypto) and Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal), two riders who figured among the favourites for Milan-San Remo Women, were forced out of contention in the final of the race on Saturday after getting caught in a serious crash on the descent of the Cipressa.
The pair were among the riders at the head of the thinned-out peloton on the way down the penultimate climb of the 156km race, but went down hard on a blind corner with 19km to go.
Niewiadoma-Phinney was unable to continue the race, and we await updates on her condition, while Le Court-Pienaar remounted to finish in 99th place, 7:34 down.
The Mauritian champion was quick to check on Niewiadoma-Phinney in the aftermath, something she recounted when questioned by reporters at the finish line.
"Everyone came and fell in front of us. At that point, I knew the race was over. My first thought was to go and check if she's OK because she didn't look good," Le Court-Pienaar said.
"I asked if she was OK. She was reacting, but I think she hit her head.
"I think she maybe went too fast, I'm not sure. I think she was leading. It's a blind corner, so I couldn't see around the corner when she crashed, but they didn't look good."
The two favourites weren't the only riders who hit the deck in the fall. Two Visma-Lease a Bike riders also went down, one falling several metres over the guardrail.
Seconds later, British road champion Millie Couzens (Fenix-Premier Tech) and riders from Human Powered Health and EF Education-Oatly also fell after being left with nowhere to go coming around the bend.
Deborah Silvestri (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi) appeared to be among the worst affected. She also crashed over the guardrail. Her team later announced on social media that "She is conscious and on her way to the hospital to receive care" without revealing any more about her condition.
Le Court-Pienaar said that she had felt in great condition before the crash and was able to respond to attacks on the way up the Cipressa. However, the fall left her with a sense of what might have been in San Remo.
"I was feeling probably the best. Cipressa was good, but it was quite easy to follow. I was waiting for my turn on the Poggio," she said.
"It is what it is. It's racing. It's just really disappointing because I didn't really get the chance to show what I have, really."
The race concluded with a reduced bunch sprint on the Via Roma in San Remo, with Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) beating Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) to the line.
Speaking after the race, Canyon-Sram Zondacrypto director of sport Rolf Aldag hinted that Niewiadoma-Phinney has avoided any major injury as a result of the crash.
"I'm not a doctor, so I will not give any medical updates on this, but we took her with us in the car, we had her here," he said.
"Our team members are looking after her, and I think she's going to be OK."
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