A horrendous crash in stage 4 of the Itzulia Basque Country has seen numerous riders injured, with Tour de France contenders Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel amongst the injured.
Six riders were transported to hospital following the incident, including Vingegaard and Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates).
For up to date news on the injuries of riders from this crash please read: Jonas Vingegaard suffers broken collarbone, ribs, Evenepoel fractures clavicle, scapula in Itzulia Basque Country crash
The crash took place with some 35 kilometres to go in the main bunch on a sweeping right-hand bend in dense woodland, with multiple riders falling, some landing in concrete drainage ditches that were not protected by any barriers. Around at least 10 riders were affected by the fall.
Evenepoel came down after powering through the trees, limping with his right arm held close to his side, while Vingegaard ended prostrate on the side of the road, only moving several minutes later.
Race leader Roglič, already a crash victim on Wednesday, fell heavily and was also forced to abandon, but was not injured as seriously and left the race in the team car.
It appeared that one rider slid out in the front half of the pack, bringing more riders down, sparking the mass crash.
EF Education-EasyPost confirmed that Alexander Cepeda and Sean Quinn were involved in the crash.
"Sean Quinn was forced to abandon. Medical evaluation is ongoing. Further updates to come," the team stated on social media.
Lidl-Trek confirmed that Natnael Tesfatsion was also involved in the incident.
It was initially unclear how the crash happened, although it appeared that one rider slid out in the front half of the pack, bringing more riders down.
Later, local rider Mikel Bizkarra (Euskatel-Euskadi), who was not taking part in the race, observed on X, formerly Twitter, that “On that road, there are a lot of tree roots under the asphalt, which makes the road very bumpy. It's "easy" to go flying."
Several riders remained inert on the ground as ambulances rushed to attend them, at least three vehicles reaching the stage rapidly in a relatively isolated area. Riders from UAE Team Emirates were also affected, with UAE reporting, via X, formerly Twitter, that Jay Vine had been taken to hospital.
The race itself was neutralised shortly afterwards after what was one of the worst multiple-rider crashes in a long time. The race organisation stated:
“The mountain pass of Untzilla is canceled and the race is neutralised until Eskoraitza. The race organisers are waiting for the doctors to rejoin the peloton.”
After a lengthy delay following the huge drama, the decision was then made by the organisation that six riders in the break would continue to fight it out for the stage. The peloton itself would simply ride to the finish, with the GC battle effectively neutralised for the day.
Reports continued to trickle in as they did so, with Visma-Lease a Bike saying that Vingegaard was in an ambulance but conscious and messages of support beginning to arrive as well.
“Horrified by the crash we witnessed today. Our team was spared, but we feel for those who got caught. We can only wish that all riders involved are not injured too seriously,” Decathlon-AG2R commented on X.
